Kilmore claim Tonra Cup

Kilmore 1, Manulla B 1 (After extra time; Kilmore won 5-4 on penalties)

WHEN Kilmore conceded a 109th minute goal to fall behind in the Tonra Cup final, they could have been forgiven for fearing the worst.

In a game in which few clear-cut scoring opportunities had been created, Des Gibbons’ strike from the penalty spot to give Manulla B a 1-0 lead seemed to have been enough to win the game.

But Kilmore scored a last-gasp equaliser direct from a corner courtesy of Kieran Geraghty and so forced the game to go to penalties, which was probably the most appropriate way to decide a game that had been very even throughout.

In the shootout, Kilmore ‘keeper Gary Keane emerged the hero for Kilmore, saving two of Manulla’s penalties before Gerard McDonnell blasted in the winner after a marathon final at Milebush Park.

Robert Fletcher in the Manulla goal also saved a penalty, Kilmore’s fifth, which forced the shootout into sudden death. But Keane immediately blocked Gary Heneghan’s spot kick, having earlier denied Johnny Hennelly, and McDonnell made no mistake with his team’s sixth effort.

That 46-year-old Fletcher was in goal at that point wasn’t some sort of ‘Krul’ joke on Kilmore or an attempt by the Manulla management to gain the upper hand for the shootout. Rather, the sub ‘keeper had to enter the fray just before the end of normal time to replace Ian Durkan, who picked up a quad muscle injury a week earlier and exacerbated it with a kick-out.

Durkan had had little to do besides, but he did pull off a smart save to deny Tony Geraghty just after the 75-minute mark when the Kilmore substitute made an immediate impact to latch on to Kieran Geraghty’s through ball.

Geraghty grew into the game hugely the longer it went on and emerged as the dominant player in the latter stages. After putting Geraghty through, he repeated the trick to place another substitute, Michael Lavelle, in the clear, the latter driving a volley just wide of Durkan’s post.

Stretched
Keane wasn’t overly stretched at the other end either, though Manulla started the brighter in both halves of normal time. Kieran Kilkenny looked most likely to create a breakthrough for his side and a cross by him early in the first half clipped the top of the Kilmore crossbar.

In the second period, Barry Cuffe and lively substitute Roger Clarke went closest for Manulla but they were half chances at best. They did come close to opening the scoring at the end of the first period of extra time when Gary Heneghan was sent clear and won a rebound after Keane initially saved. The Manulla man was driven wide, however, and when he pulled the ball back to Clarke, Gerard McDonnell intervened with a timely tackle.

The major action was condensed into the very final minutes of extra time. Tony Geraghty thought he had won it with a good finish after Kilmore broke forward in numbers but the effort was ruled out for offside. Almost immediately Manulla won a penalty at the other end when McDonnell was adjudged to have illegally impeded the run of Roger Clarke, giving Des Gibbons the chance to put Manulla ahead. He made no mistake.

But that wasn’t the end of it at all. Kilmore piled on the pressure and deep into injury time they won a corner after Johnny Hennelly had made a miraculous block on his own line. Kieran Geraghty whipped in a wonderful corner that proved too hot for everyone, including new Manulla ‘keeper Fletcher, who could only get a touch to the ball as it flew into the net.

It took penalties to decide the issue, Kilmore prevailing with goals by John Noel Flannery, Michael Lavelle, Andrew Howard, Kieran Geraghty and Gerard McDonnell. Kevin Mannion, Dermot McNicholas, Barry Cuffe and Des Gibbons were the Manulla scorers in the shootout.
 
Kilmore: G. Keane, D. Lavelle, N. McLoughlin, G. McDonnell, D. Keane, K. Geraghty, J.N. Flannery, K. Fallon, T. Lavelle, A. Creane, A. Howard.
Subs used: M. Lavelle, T. Geraghty, B. McGovern.
Manulla B: I. Durkan, B. Cuffe, J. Hennelly, S. Fadden, P. Basquille, D. McNicholas, J. Monaghan, A. Lally, D. Gibbons, K. Kilkenny, G. Heneghan.
Subs used: R. Clarke, J. Griffin, R. Fletcher.
Ref: B. Blake (Castlebar).
*Star rating: Kieran Geraghty…grew into the game.