Shamrocks 0-9, Kilmacabea 2-12
Kilmacabea made the long trip from Leap to Shanbally on Friday evening last and came away with the 2 league points on offer. One look at the scoreline shows that Kilmacabea, sporting an unbeaten record in 2011, won by double scores. But this most certainly does not tell the story of the game as Shamrocks led with 13 minutes to go but Kilmacabea took over completely after that and finished much the stronger. They were the perfect opponents for a Shamrocks team going into championship battle next week against Carrigaline – they were big, physical, fit and were all good footballers and moved the leather real fast around the pitch.
The early exchanges were tight and it took a few minutes for the first score, from Shamrocks. Kilmacabea were putting the Shamrocks backs under sustained as they tried to work the ball in for scores but the Shamrocks defence were doing well. It was tit for tat up to halftime on the scoreboard with each side replying to the other; Shamrocks led at halftime, 0-6 to 0-5.
The second half started with light fading fast but Shamrocks got the best out of it early doors before the light faded and they couldnt see anymore. Shamrocks kicked an early beauty and led 0-8 to 0-5. However, Kilmacabea got on top around the middle third of the field and started to chip away at the loose passes from Shamrocks. They scored a fast goal and a point to lead by one and finished with another 1-6 to Shamrocks lone point to go home the winners. However, this was an excellent workout from a Shamrocks point of view with next weeks championship in mind and with another few to come into the team possibly, they will hopefully be ready for whats expected to be a strong Carrigaline XV. Training continues this Tuesday, 7.15pm.
Our thanks to Kilmacabea for travelling all the way up and no doubt their professional approach to the game which we saw tonight will pay dividends in the Carbery championship in 2 weeks time against St Marys. We wish them well.
