Kevin's saunter past Kill to seal quarter-final IFC showdown with Kilcullen
St Kevin's 4-18
Kill 0-11
Pittman Traffic & Safety IFC preliminary quarter-final
By Robert Cribbin
Three first half goals saw St Kevin's easily overcome Kill in the Preliminary Quarter-Final of the Intermediate Championship.
Ross Carew, Conor Murray and Declan Flaherty all saw the net in the opening period and with Garry Kelly also scoring late on, the overall forward power was too much for Kill.
As well as the goalscorers, Barry Noone and Ryan Casey also added six points from play each and they will fancy their chances going into a quarter final against Kill.
Kill had came into the game on the back of a heavy defeat to Nurney and they suffered the same fate here as they were outclassed all over the pitch.
St Kevin's went into the game as warm favourites and they performed like that early on as they went into a two point lead.
Ross Carew got the scoring underway with an opening minute score before the advantage was doubled with a Declan Flaherty effort.
Kill responded with their opening point in the third minute via Kevin Corrigan while Barry Noone maintained the Kevins lead with a nice effort from a difficult angle.
Kill were soon on level terms though with scores from play by Corrigan and James Condon.
That left the teams deadlocked after about ten minutes but Kevins soon powered clear again as they scored 1-4 without reply.
Noone and Ryan Casey got the points with Ross Carew finding the net with a lovely left footed strike on the back of a Flaherty pass inside.
Kill got back within five points with scores from Matthew Ryan and Stephen O’Leary but Kevin's were the better side and after Jack Kenny kicked over, Conor Murray palmed to the net when himself and Flaherty linked up behind the Kill defence.
Mark Fitzharris’s team thus had a 2-8 to 0-5 lead before Ryan and Eoin Murphy reduced the lead.
Goal number three would duly arrive a few minutes later though in very similar circumstances to Murray’s effort with the corner forward laying off for Flaherty to score on this occasion.
Ryan Casey then kicked a couple of good efforts from distance as St Kevin's went into the break leading 3-10 to 0-9.
If there was any doubt about the result it was certainly put to bed in the opening ten minutes of the second half as St Kevin's kicked five points in a row with Barry Noone getting a treble of scores with Ross Carew getting the others.
Kill finally got their first score of the second half in the 42nd minute with a Stephen O’Leary free and in dire need of a goal they had a shot from Dara Challoner well saved by Keith Fitzharris.
Casey and O’Leary then exchanged scores and that Kill effort turned out to be their last point as St.Kevins cruised to the finish line from there.
Flaherty scored a brilliant point on the turn while sub Garry Kelly had a palmed effort saved after a long booming ball into the square.
Casey kicked his sixth point in the final few minutes and Kelly also got his just reward when he forced in a stoppage time goal with fellow sub Cathal O’Leary setting him up as St Kevin's cruised to a facile victory.
St Kevin's
Keith Fitzharris; Alan Bennett, Jason Brosnan, Paddy Walshe, Jamie Smyth, Tom Barron, Brian Fogarty, Mick Kenny, Mark Grace, Jack Kenny 0-1, Barry Noone 0-6, Ryan Casey 0-6, Ross Carew 1-3, Conor Murray 1-0, Declan Flaherty 1-2. Subs: Trevor McDonald for Smyth 50 mins, Dean O’Regan for Walshe 50 mins, Garry Kelly 1-0 for Murray 52 mins, Owen Lenehan for Grace 56 mins, Dylan Brereton for Kenny 56 mins, Cathal O’Leary for Casey 56 mins.
Kill
Kevin Downey; Ruairi Connolly, Michael Skelton, Chris McCarthy, Eoghan O’Connor, Luke Purcell, Kevin Corrigan 0-3, Dara Challoner 0-1, David O’Kelly, James Condon 0-1, Stephen O’Leary 0-3 (0-3fs), Alan Gilger, Eoin Murphy 0-1 (0-1f), Matthew Ryan 0-2, Darragh Doyle. Subs: Ger Kelly for Condon 28 mins, Ross Mantle for Doyle 50 mins.Ref: Niall Colgan