By admin
Brave Killala Girls Miss out on Glory
MANULLA 3 KILLALA 2
MANULLA were on the right end of an entertaining five goal contest at Milebush Park on Sunday afternoon, with goals from Hannah Flatley, two, and Emer Gilligan, proving the difference between the sides.
To their credit, Killala never gave up the battle, despite being three goals in arrears at the break, and no doubt the Yellow and Blue will be in another final in the not too distant future.
Despite the windy conditions at Milebush Park, Manulla began the game in positive fashion and just one minute into proceedings, they pinched the lead. Following some neat build-up play, Hannah Flatley won possession and she finished with some skill past Emma Munnelly.
Four minutes later, a cross from Megan Costello found Flatley but this time her header was saved by Munnelly.
Flatley was in inspired form and moments later, she was most unlucky to see her drive whistle inches wide.
Killala began to move the ball around the park with greater purpose as the half progressed and after some great work from Alison Munnelly, Ashling O’Donnell just missed out on guiding the former’s cross to the back of the net.
Manulla were wary of a Killala revival and on 14 minutes, Joe King’s troops added a second goal. A delightful through ball from Costello, released Emer Gilligan and after controlling possession, she unleashed an unstoppable effort beyond the reach of Emma Munnelly.
On 15 minutes, Manulla appeared to be out of sight, as they netted their third goal of the afternoon, courtesy of Flatley, who made a weaving run before applying a splendid finish.
Hannah Flatley almost completed a hat-trick shortly after, but this time her effort was thwarted by Emma Munnelly, with Flatley then seeing her rebound strike crash against the upright.
Manulla were eager to end the game as a contest and five minutes into the second half, they almost achieved that aim, but Chloe Tansey’s angled drive was thwarted by the alert Emma Munnelly.
As the half progressed, Killala upped the tempo and the coastal outfit went for broke. Alison Munnelly gave a busy display throughout this final and after making a neat run on 33 minutes (20 minutes per-half), she saw her strike hit the side-netting.
However, Killala did manage to peg a goal back on 37 minutes, courtesy of Collette Collins and this gave her team hope that all was not lost.
One minute later, Killala netted a second goal, as their captain Alison Munnelly’s sizzling strike hit the underside of the crossbar, before crossing the line, much to the delight of the Killala faithful.
During the dying embers of the game, Killala valiantly went in search of the leveller, but none was forthcoming, as Manulla held on to record the victory.
MANULLA: Jessica Nolan, Sinead Brennan, Chloe Durkan, Emer Gilligan, Megan Costello, Megan Staunton, Hannah Flatley. Subs: Lauren McLellan, Chloe Tansey, Kirsty Kelly.
KILLALA: Emma Munnelly, Alison Munnelly, Michelle Walker, Collette Collins, Niamh O’Donnell, Ashling O’Donnell, Caitlyn McLoughlin. Subs: Niamh Breslin, Ashling Bilbow, Rebecca Rooney, Shannon Cummins.
REF: Stephen Manning
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By admin
Goal-den Gallagher is spot on for cup chasers Killala
By Aoife Herbert
KILLALA 1 KNOCK/KILTIMAGH Utd 0
AFTER what was a fairly evenly contested cup tie, Killala progressed to the final on the back of a victory sealed by Rory Gallagher’s penalty kick in the 79th minute.
Killala had been reduced to 10 men when Eamon Knox was shown a straight red card 10 minutes earlier, but to their credit they kept pushing purposefully forward and were rewarded for their efforts when Johnny McNulty was chopped down just inside the Kiltimagh penalty area. Gallagher made no mistake.
The visitors did have two particularly good chances to draw level following the Killala goal. A fizzing effort from Ciaran Jennings was tipped over the bar by Killala goalkeeper Sean McHale and in the dying moments a shot from winger Shane Prendergast was desperately cleared off the line by a barricade of Killala defenders.
Killala held on, and over the 90 minutes were the side that looked most likely to progress to the final. However, it was Kiltimagh who started the brighter of the teams in the first half. Liam Groarke, Johnny Mulroy and Shane Prendergast were lively in the opening exchanges and created a couple of early half chances between them.
Killala, though, found their rhythm 20 minutes into the first half. Alan Murphy had a snapshot gathered by the Kiltimagh goalkeeper Ryan Glynn before Marc McDonnell sent Rory Gallagher through on goal but his attempted chip saw Glynn scramble backwards and recover just in time to palm the ball away for a corner kick.
Johnny McNulty had another chance a minute later when the Kiltimagh defence was guilty of letting the ball bounce and the Killala front man was causing the Kiltimagh defence problems in the air too. From one such flick on, his strike partner Rory Gallagher smashed a shot off the post on 38 minutes.
Kiltimagh, as in the first half, started the second half enthusiastically and had held the balance of possession before Killala’s Johnny McNulty dragged a shot wide of the far post following good work by John Clarke in the centre of midfield. The game drifted into a stage where neither team could keep hold of possession for a decent amount of time and no clear cut chances materialised.
Killala lost their strong and imposing centre-back Eamon Knox to a straight red card in the 69th minute following an off the ball incident spotted by the referee. Kiltimagh immediately tried to pick gaps in a restructured Killala defence and Ciaran Jennings tried for goal with a header, but this apart Killala looked relatively comfortable and kicked forward with no apparent disadvantage.
The game finally increased in intensity during the final quarter. Rory Gallagher had a busy evening upfront for Killala and when some neat footwork by Johnny McNulty drew a rash tackle in the box, it was the former who stepped up to put away the penalty with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Kiltimagh fashioned two fantastic opportunities to equalise in the final stages but the Killala defence held firm and survived to record a well deserved win.
KILLALA: Sean McHale, Matt Webb, David Cadden, Eamon Knox, Ollie Clarke, John Clarke, Mark McDonnell, Kevin White. Rory Gallagher, Johnny McNulty. Alan Murphy.
KILTIMAGH: Ryan Glynn, Brendan Clarke, Brian Gallagher, Ciaran Jennings, Brian McDonagh, Tommy Prendergast, Shane Prendergast, Kieran McNicholas, Kevin O’Brien, Johnny Mulroy, Liam Goarke. Subs: John Gill (for Clarke 59), Gavin Goarke (for McDonagh 62), Michael Walsh (for Mulroy 73).
REF Michael McCay
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