Derry hurlers pay the price for a slow start at Owenbeg

Derry 0-19

Kildare 2-23

Derry paid the price for a slow start at Owenbeg as they slipped to a 10-point defeat to Kildare.

The final score was very harsh on Johnny McGarvey’s team, who really pushed Kildare all the way, with that sluggish opening, in which they fell seven points behind, coupled with a controversial late penalty decision, denying them what would have been a fantastic comeback.

McGarvey was particularly upset with an incident late in the game when he felt full forward John Mullan was clearly fouled for a penalty, only for referee Caymon Flynn to say no. Seconds later the ball was down at the other end in the Derry net with Kildare substitute Killian Aherne ending all Derry hopes.

Yet, McGarvey will know that despite the heroics of Slaughtneil’s Cormac O’Doherty, it was ultimately that poor start which really cost his team here.

After defeats at home to Kerry and away to Offaly, Derry needed to start well, but they were surprisingly slow out of the blocks at Owenbeg and they were chasing the game for the entirety of the game as a result. By the time the home side got on the scoreboard just eight minutes in, they were already trailing by three with a free and a ’65 from James Burke followed by a score from play by Gerry Keegan.

The first home score came as a result of determined work from Meehaul McGrath who didn’t give up a lost cause and won possession to set up Cormac Gough who hooked the sliotar over his shoulder and between the posts to make it 0-1, 0-3. 

It was all Kildare in the opening stages however, the white shirts dominating possession and territory, with the Gough score a rare blip in a one-sided game in the first 15 minutes. Cathal Dowling and Keegan provided the immediate response to that Derry point before the first goal of the game followed shortly afterwards.

It was as easy as you like for Kildare’s Brian Byrne as he was given all the space and time he needed to pick his spot, driving the sliotar low to the net, giving Derry goalkeeper Eoin Mulholland little chance.

With 11 minutes on the clock, Derry trailed 0-1, 1-5, and it was looking very ominous for the home side.

Resistance

Slowly but surely, Derry began to show some resistance as they finally settled in the game and they did their best to match their opponents stride for stride, with the early dominance of Kildare slowly fading from the game.

Cormac O’Doherty scored the first of eight first half frees and Callum O’Kane and John Mullan followed suit for Derry while Burke, Declan O’Flaherty, Brian Byrne, Cathal McCabe and Cathal Dowling added scores at the other end. It was still comfortably Kildare but they at least had some sort of a challenge heading towards the 20-minute mark.

Derry ended a largely disappointing half the better of the two teams and they really began to eat into Kildare’s lead, thanks in main to the deadly accuracy of Cormac O’Doherty who was lethal with frees. With the Slaughtneil man on form, Derry managed to get six of the next seven scores in the game, all from O’Doherty frees, while Burke managed a solitary response for Kildare as the score line was reduced to 0-10, 1-12.

It would have been fair to say that Derry didn’t want the half time whistle, but Kildare did manage a late flurry, Burke scoring the visitors’ first score in 16 minutes before Gerry Keegan quickly added another. The last say went to O’Doherty and Derry however as he fired over his eighth free of the half to make it just a six-point deficit heading into half time.

Half Time 0-11, 1-14

The second half was much more competitive than the first with Derry doing their best to eat away at the Kildare lead. It was turning into a battle of O’Doherty versus Burke in particular with both players trying to outdo the other as the sides traded score after score.

But with the Derry man flawless from his frees, Derry finally begin to see Kildare in the distance and by the time he notched his 11th score of the day, the deficit  between the sides was down to just four at 0-16, 1-17.

But silly mistakes and errors in possession crucially derailed Derry’s momentum here, and Kildare showed no mercy, with Keegan, Burke and McCabe taking it back to a seven point lead with 20 minutes remaining.

O’Doherty took every opportunity that came his way, scoring three more to make it a five point game with the end in sight, but it became clear that Derry would need a goal if they were to get anything from the game.

That goal almost came on 70 minutes. It was nothing more than a half chance for a goal for Corey O’Reilly whose close range effort was blocked by goalkeeper Paddy McKenna. Moments later Mullan went down after a challenge from behind and McGarvey and his team screamed for a penalty.

To add insult to injury, Kildare then went and ended the game when Keegan raced away and set up an easy chance for substitute Aherne, who rattled it past Mulholland to make it 0-19, 2-23. It was a real sickener for Derry, with the score line in no way reflecting the story of the second half. The last score then went to Kildare substitute Sean Whelan who added a point with his first involvement in added time.

For Derry, this was a real case of what might have been.

Teams and scorers

DERRY: Eoin Mulholland, Sean Francis Quinn, Mark Craig, Daire Kelly, Eamon Conway (0-1), Cormac Gough (0-1) Sean Cassidy, Meehaul McGrath, James Friel, Corey O’Reilly, Cormac O’Doherty (0-14, 14f), Callum O’Kane (0-1), Padhraig Nelis, John Mullan (0-2), Darragh McGilligan.

YELLOW: Sean Cassidy 6’,

SUBSTITUTES: Paul Cleary for Padhraig Nelis 42’, Cahal Quinn for Cormac Gough 62’,

KILDARE: Paddy McKenna, Niall O’Muineachain, Simon Leacy, Cormac Byrne, Cian Shanahan, Rian Boran, Conan Boran, Alan Goss, Cathal McCabe (0-3), Paul Dolan, Gerry Keegan (0-5), James Burke (0-10,1 ’65, 7f), Brian Byrne (1-1), Declan O’ Flaherty (0-1), Cathal Dowling (0-2).

YELLOW: Conan Boran 26’, Cathal Dowling 62,

SUBSTITUTES: Killian Aherne (1-0) for Declan O’Flaherty 44’, Jack Higgins for Alan Goss 47’, Sean Christanssen for Conan Boran 56’), Mark Delaney for Paul Dolan 59’, Drew Costello for Cian Shanahan 70’, Sean Whelan (0-1) for Gerry Keegan 70’.  

REFEREE: Caymon Flynn.