SFL Div.4
Round 1
02-04-26
Ballykelly 0-6 Kildangan 2-15
Kildangan maintained their recent solid league form with an impressive away performance against neighbours Ballykelly on Thursday last. The last meeting between the sides in the Dowling Cup in February saw Kildangan lose a comfortable six point lead, on this occasion however that never looked likely as the team pushed on right to the final whistle to claim a comfortable win.
Playing with the wind, Kildangan came out of the blocks early with Ryan Moran getting the opening point with the fist. Mark O'Donavan and Luke McKenna stretched the lead further with a point each. Kildangan were dominating around the middle of the field with Cian Reilly and Rob McGrath controlling matters and when Ryan Moran fisted a ball to the Ballykelly net clear daylight was put between the teams. Kildangan now had their tails up and Sean Behan landed a big two pointer from out the field. This was followed up by a Devon Abbey point to leave Kildangan with 1-7 on the board and Ballykelly awaiting their first score. Ballkelly were going to come into the game at some point and they did midway through the half when they hit two points on the trot. Aaron Schofield, operating at centre forward for Kildangan broke the Ballykelly momentum with a good score. This was was answered with a free from Ballykelly as they got a foothold the game. Good play at the back for Kildangan from Daragh Murphy, John Kelly and Alan Donaher stemmed Ballykelly's new found momentum in the game however, and points by Mark O'Donavan (2) and Oisin Irvin drew the half to a close with the score Ballykelly 0-3 Kildangan 1-10.
Ballykelly now had the wind at their backs for the second half and chipped into the Kildangan lead with an early point in the second half. Ryan Moran answered for Kildangan after good setup play from Devon Abbey. Cian Reilly extended the Kildangan lead with a free before Ballykelly answered with a point themselves to leave the gap as you were at the break. Ballykelly were unable to eat into the Kildangan lead with Paddy Neary and Eanna Sherlock tidying up anything that came their way in the Kildangan half back line. Kildangan superior fitness showed in the last quarter as we pulled clear firstly with points from Devon Abbey and Cian Reilly. This was followed by a goal when a through ball saw Devon Abbey race through the middle behind the Ballykelly defence and just as he was about to pull the trigger he was hauled down for a Kildangan penalty. Oisin Irvin stepped up to convert the spot kick. Cole Grattan brought the scoring to a close by knocking over a nice point to leave the final score Ballykelly 0-6 Kildangan 2-15.
The win puts Kildangan in the top half of Div.4 and in with a realistic shot of making the top half of the table when the league splits after round 7. Up next is high flying Ballymore who will visit Kildangan on the 11th of April. This should be an exciting encounter as we test ourselves against one of the promotion favourites.
Round 1
02-04-26
Ballykelly 0-6 Kildangan 2-15
Kildangan maintained their recent solid league form with an impressive away performance against neighbours Ballykelly on Thursday last. The last meeting between the sides in the Dowling Cup in February saw Kildangan lose a comfortable six point lead, on this occasion however that never looked likely as the team pushed on right to the final whistle to claim a comfortable win.
Playing with the wind, Kildangan came out of the blocks early with Ryan Moran getting the opening point with the fist. Mark O'Donavan and Luke McKenna stretched the lead further with a point each. Kildangan were dominating around the middle of the field with Cian Reilly and Rob McGrath controlling matters and when Ryan Moran fisted a ball to the Ballykelly net clear daylight was put between the teams. Kildangan now had their tails up and Sean Behan landed a big two pointer from out the field. This was followed up by a Devon Abbey point to leave Kildangan with 1-7 on the board and Ballykelly awaiting their first score. Ballkelly were going to come into the game at some point and they did midway through the half when they hit two points on the trot. Aaron Schofield, operating at centre forward for Kildangan broke the Ballykelly momentum with a good score. This was was answered with a free from Ballykelly as they got a foothold the game. Good play at the back for Kildangan from Daragh Murphy, John Kelly and Alan Donaher stemmed Ballykelly's new found momentum in the game however, and points by Mark O'Donavan (2) and Oisin Irvin drew the half to a close with the score Ballykelly 0-3 Kildangan 1-10.
Ballykelly now had the wind at their backs for the second half and chipped into the Kildangan lead with an early point in the second half. Ryan Moran answered for Kildangan after good setup play from Devon Abbey. Cian Reilly extended the Kildangan lead with a free before Ballykelly answered with a point themselves to leave the gap as you were at the break. Ballykelly were unable to eat into the Kildangan lead with Paddy Neary and Eanna Sherlock tidying up anything that came their way in the Kildangan half back line. Kildangan superior fitness showed in the last quarter as we pulled clear firstly with points from Devon Abbey and Cian Reilly. This was followed by a goal when a through ball saw Devon Abbey race through the middle behind the Ballykelly defence and just as he was about to pull the trigger he was hauled down for a Kildangan penalty. Oisin Irvin stepped up to convert the spot kick. Cole Grattan brought the scoring to a close by knocking over a nice point to leave the final score Ballykelly 0-6 Kildangan 2-15.
The win puts Kildangan in the top half of Div.4 and in with a realistic shot of making the top half of the table when the league splits after round 7. Up next is high flying Ballymore who will visit Kildangan on the 11th of April. This should be an exciting encounter as we test ourselves against one of the promotion favourites.
