Clinical Kilcock punish Monasterevan's wastefulness to power through to IFC final

Monasterevan    0-9 Kilcock                  2-11 The Courtard Hotel Leixlip IFC semi-final A hugely wasteful performance from Monasterevan was punished by a clinical Kilcock side who have become the surprise package in this year's Intermediate Championship, making it all the way to the final after winning every game on their journey thus far. Their win was set up by a fine second half purple patch in which they scored 1-5 without response as they pulled away from their opponents, and Monasterevan will rue a clutch of missed opportunities as they crash out of the championship despite looking well poised to make it to a final in their first year back in the intermediate ranks. Monasterevan had all the territory and the lion’s share of possession throughout a first half that they seemed to dominate, so the fact that they went into the break level after enjoying the backing of a strong breeze would have been somewhat perplexing to Brian Longeran and his management team. They struck seven wides and also dropped a couple of shots into Kilcock goalkeeper Ciaran Heneghan’s hands, and were it not for a couple of late scores in the half from Padraig Nash and Eoin Stapleton, they would have trailed at the break. Kilcock’s decision to play Eoin Powderly as a sweeper on front of a Monasterevan two-man full-forward line paid dividends, with the supply lines to Nash and Kevin Mulpeter cut out for large swathes of the opening half. At the other end, Kilcock were efficiency personified, kicking just two wides as they made the most of their limited jaunts up the field. It looked good early on for Monasterevan – wearing a new all white strip – as they hit the front with their first shot in the opening minute when Nash looped over a fine score from distance, but they began to hit wide after wide from that point onwards. There was no score for the next 10 minutes, but when it did arrive it was against the run of play as Kilcock struck a vital goal. The space seemed to open up in a Monasterevan defence that had looked tight up to that point, and Conor Caulfield slipped a pass into Darren Acton whose tame shot down the middle crept past Monasterevan ‘keeper Colin McCabe despite him getting a hand to it. Nash responded with a free at the other end, but they could have easily conceded a second goal straight after when Caulfield again provided the pass to play Ferghal O’Brien in on goal, this time McCabe managed to save superbly from point-blank range however. A couple of points arrived at the other end for Monasterevan in the space of 60 seconds around the 20^th minute mark, with Wayne Fitzpatrick angling over his first free of the day, before Ryan Bannon drove over a close range point straight after. That score had put the south Kildare club back into the lead, but Kilcock soon enjoyed their best spell of the half when they clipped over three points in the space of five minutes. It was the hugely influential Caulfield who levelled matters with a fine effort, before David Duke slotted over a couple in quick succession, the first of which was well set up by the lively Acton. Despite their poor scoring return in the first half, Monasterevan managed to pull themselves level before the break thanks to those two points from Stapleton and Nash, leaving it a tied game at 0-6 to 1-3. When Wayne Fitzpatrick knocked over two frees early in the second half to restore the Monasterevan advantage it looked as if they were poised to kick on, but their challenge fell apart completely after that. They remained in their defensive shape for almost the entirety of the second half as they watched Kilcock kick 1-5 without response, and the only tactical changes made to their system was to bring Christy Dempsey back on in full forward after he had been substituted at half-time, with the midfielder coming back in when Gavin Worrell was black carded. The south Kildare men continued to kick wides and waste scoring opportunities throughout the second half, and once Kilcock hit their stride there was no stopping their momentum. Acton kicked off their purple patch with a point, and while another score took nine minutes to arrive, when it did it heralded their best spell of the game. Shane O'Rourke finally managed to wriggle away from the attentions of John O'Toole for long enough to kick two splendid points that put Declan Gibbons' side back into the lead, and further points from Sean Maguire and David Duke put them firmly in control. The game was over as a contest soon after as hulking full-forward Ciarán Murray got on the end of a pass from O'Brien and finished to the net. That put them six points clear, and judging from what had gone before, Monasterevan were never likely to make up the deficit. Their only point from play in the second half came late on from Cormac Stapleton, but late scores from Paul O'Brien, David Duke and Eoin Flanagan put the gloss on their final tally. Scorers for Monasterevan: W Fitzpatrick(3f) and P Nash(2f) 0-3 each, E Stapleton, C Stapleton and R Bannon 0-1 each. Scorers for Kilcock: D Duke 0-4, D Acton 1-1, C Murray 1-0, S O'Rourke 0-2, P O'Brien, S Maguire, C Caulfield and E Flanagan 0-1 each. Monasterevan C McCabe; J O'Toole, D Maher, D Dunne; K Dunne, G Worrell(C Dempsey BC 54mins), C Stapleton; C Dempsey(L Havens HT), P Maloney; E Stapleton, W Fitzpatrick, R Bannon; K Mulpeter(C Brady 45mins), S O'Loughlin(M Kelly 24mins), P Nash. Kilcock C Heneghan; C Sheridan, E Fitzpatrick, E Powderly; D Keane, J Gibbons, M Durkan(P Kelly 50mins); D Courtney, C Caulfield; D Duke, F O'Brien, D McArdle(C Murray 40mins); D Acton(P O'Brien 48mins), S Maguire(W Bright 53mins), S O'Rourke(E Flanagan 60mins).