BRYANSFORD 1-06 – 1-17 KILCOO Match report by Peter McGrath Jnr This game will be more remembered by those who were at it for the incredibly changeable weather conditions as opposed to the football which was largely poor and unattractive apart from a couple of short spells during which Kilcoo played some scintillating stuff. From glorious sunshine when the ball was thrown in the weather suddenly turned and by the time Martin Grant gave his side the lead on three minutes the wind had strengthened, dark clouds had rolled overhead and heavy rain could be seen in the distance, beyond the mountains and looked set to give all those at the game a soaking. Oblivious to the brooding skies above him, Daniel McDonald aimed a kick from the wing into the penalty area and nobody got anything on it with the result that it bounced right through and over the bar. Unfortunately for Bryansford this was as good as it would get. David McKenna was caught waiting to receive a ball in the forwardline, the Magpie’s though weren’t in the mood for allowing the Ford such amounts of time and they nipped in, broke freely down the field. Barry Kane wound up with possession and cutting in from the right wing he shot low to the corner of the net. Keen to make up for his mistake McKenna fired over two quickfire points, the first coming from a bouncing ball held brilliantly by Marc Brannigan and layed out to his fellow corner forward who knocked it over and the second was a solo score as McKenna made an incisive run and fisted over. Cillian Laverty and Martin Devlin both pointed and then Dominic McEvoy got Kilcoo’s third successive point. A stunning point from Sean Devlin from practically the corner of the playing surface was followed with another fine point, this one taken by Oliver McClean. The last point of this six score run was again Cillian Laverty’s as he took advantage of the ease with which his side were ripping through the Bryansford defence to deftly chip over his second of the afternoon. By this stage the forecasted rain hadn’t come, the wind had all but disappeared and the threatening cloud had once again given way to glorious blue skies and warm summer sun. Bryansford’s fourth point again involved corner man McKenna who broke the ball to Brian McVeigh who took advantage of a little bit of time and space to point. Martin Devlin went on a strong run and despite stumbling to the ground at the end he did well to release the ball via a fisted effort and he directed it over the bar. At half time Kilcoo led by seven but in the second period things would get even better for the away side. They got their second half off to a lightning start with Oliver McClean pointing within 30 seconds of the restart. Martin Grant fisted over off the post before Brian McVeigh pointed a free into a stiff breeze. A brilliant score from Barry Kane was followed by a Martin Devlin point, slotted over using the inside of his left foot and another fisted score from Barry Kane had Kilcoo in cruise control but still they did not let up in their onslaught on the Bryansford goal and JJ McLouglin and Martin Devlin both pointed before, with seven minutes remaining, Jamie McKibben offered his side a ray of hope with a goal. Marc Brannigan won the ball in the corner, found Danny Savage who played it in to McKibben and he made no mistake in hitting the net. Oliver McClean and midfielder Sean Devlin rounded off Kilcoo’s scoring while the last point of the game came from a Danny Savage free on the final whistle. This largely forgettable match concluded with a comfortable and deserved Kilcoo win that leaves them sitting pretty at the summit of the Premier Reserve League. Bryansford scorers; J McKibben 1-0, B McVeigh 0-2, D McKenna 0-2, D Savage 0-1, D McDonald 0-1. Kilcoo scorers; B Kane 1-2, M Devlin 0-4, O McClean 0-3, N Morgan 0-2, M Grant 0-2, C Laverty 0-2, D McEvoy 0-1, J McLoughlin 0-1.]]>