Kilcoo reach Ulster semis

Kilcoo reach Ulster semis

13 November 2024

KILCOO battled hard against an aggressive Crosserlough side to secure their place in the semi-finals of the Ulster Senior Football Championship.

Karl Lacey’s men were brimming with confidence, coming off the back of their sixth Down title in a row, but faced tough opposition in a team that had been crowned Cavan champions for the first time in four years.

The game was marred in controversy when Crosserlough, who had previously suffered three black cards, lost star man James Smith when he was sent off for what the referee deemed to be a second yellow card offence, even though he had not been carded beforehand.

Kilcoo took full advantage, with seven-point man Paul Devlin garnering the majority of the plaudits.

It was Crosserlough who gained the ascendancy early on when Smith palmed the ball into the back of the net following a failed Kilcoo clearance.

A further five minutes would pass without any sort of response from Kilcoo, but they finally got off the mark via a Ryan Johnston point.

That seemed to jolt the match into life as Crosserlough’s Brandon Boylan and Kilcoo’s Callum Rogers exchanged points.

The Cavan side suffered a blow with their first black card, losing Oran Rehill for 10 minutes, and the Magpies did not waste their manpower advantage, racking up a further two points through Devlin and Jerome Johnston.

Peter Smith scored a point for Crosserlough and while he momentarily halted Kilcoo’s advantage, the Down men soon levelled the scoring courtesy of Ryan McEvoy and Devlin.

This was the encouragement they had craved and they kicked on in stoppage time, through Devlin’s third point, to take the lead for the first time.

Darryl Branagan gave Kilcoo a two-point lead at the beginning of the second half, but despite receiving their second black card, Crosserlough recorded back-to-back points.

The game was quickly developing into an end-to-end affair, with the two sides going back and forth to claim a further five points each.

Matthew Costello thought he had forced extra time when he brought the Cavan men level late on, however, Devlin had other ideas as he moved Kilcoo into a one-point lead.

Trailing late, things went from bad to worse for Crosserlough. Smith’s controversial essentially ended their hopes in reaching the semis.

Devlin was not satisfied with the slim lead however, taking it upon himself to send his side through with his fourth free conversion and seventh point of the match.

Kilcoo will the winners of this weekend’s quarter-final clash between Monaghan’s top side, Scotstown and Fermanagh champs Erne Gaels.

Kilcoo: N Kane, N Branagan, R McEvoy, C Rogers, M Rooney, D Branagan, E Branagan, A Morgan, R Johnston, My Hynes, A Morgan, S Johnston, C Doherty, J Johnston, P Devlin. Subs: C Laverty, J Devlin, C Rooney.

Crosserlough: S McManus, J Cooke, P O’Reilly, F Lovett, C Boylan, C Rehill, K Smith, J Smith, P Smith, O Rehill, D McVeety, H Boylan, B Boylan, E Boylan, M Costello. Subs: E Cusack, S Smith.