Ballyboden’s run ended by Kilcoo

ALL-IRELAND CLUB SFC SEMI-FINAL

KILCOO (Down) 2-8 BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S 0-11

Ballyboden St Enda’s All-Ireland dream was extinguished on Saturday afternoon when the more clinical Down and Ulster champions, Kilcoo, prevailed by three points in their AIB All-Ireland club SFC semi-final at Kingspan Breffni Park.

The Dublin champions, in front of an attendance of 4746, pressed hard in the later stages, including introducing Aussie Rules player (Brisbane Lions rookie) James Madden, but a packed Kilcoo defence stood resolute while Boden were also guilty of some poor shooting and shot selections.

Goals from Ryan Johnston and Daryl Branagan proved crucial for the Down men who advance to face Galway’s Corofin in the decider.

It was Kilcoo’s better counter-attacking game and ability to prise openings in the Boden defence which separated the sides in a tight battle.

Boden had points from Conal Keaney and Ryan Basquel on the board but 20 minutes in Ballyboden lost possession in their own half and a quickfire interchange between Conor Laverty and Ryan Johnston resulted in Kilcoo’s first goal to open up a 1-3 to 0-3 lead.

Before the interval points from Colm and Ryan Basquel saw Boden trail 1-5 to 0-6 at the interval.

Kieran Kennedy’s excellently judged shot for a point might have lifted Boden for a winning surge when reducing the gap to the minimum but Kilcoo struck decisively in the 46^th minute when Dylan Ward’s fisted point effort came back off the post to Daryl Branagan who made no mistake.

Boden lost Michael Darragh Macauley to a black card with ten minutes remaining, having also lost Aran Waters likewise six minutes into the second half and despite plenty of possession they could not work the scores to give them a winning momentum.

SCORERS - Kilcoo: R Johnson, D Branagan 1-0 each, P Devlin (0-3f), R McEvoy (0-2f) 0-3 each, A Morgan, S Johnston 0-1 each. Ballyboden St Enda’s: R Basquel 0-5 (0-4f), C Basquel 0-3 (0-3f), C Keaney, K Kennedy, W Egan 0-1 each.

KILCOO: M McCourt; N Branagan, Aaron Branagan, R McEvoy; Aidan Branagan, D Branagan, N McEvoy; D Ward, A Morgan; S Johnston, C Laverty, R Johnston; J Johnston, P Devlin, E Branagan. Subs: M Rooney for Morgan (ht), J Clarke for D Branagan (BC, 54), F McGreevy for Ward (60+ 3), A Morgan for Laverty (BC 60 + 5).

BALLYBODEN ST ENDA’S: D Gogan; C Flaherty, B Dwan, S Clayton; K Kennedy, R McDaid, B Bobbett; MD Macauley, D O’Mahony; D O’Reilly, C Basquel, A Flood; R McGarry, R Basquel, C Keaney. Subs: A Waters for Bobbett (36), T Hayes for McGarry (38), D Nelson for Waters (BC, 40), W Egan for Flood (47), J Holland for Macauley (BC, 51), J Madden for O’Reilly (53).

REF: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary).