AUL: Killumney United celebrate Saxone Cup win over Blackstone Rovers

Blackstone Rovers 0 Killumney United 2

DALIAN ROCHE’S classy finish in the 75th minute broke Blackstone Rovers’ resistance as Killumney United lifted the Saxone Cup following their 2-0 victory at Turner’s Cross.

Although Killumney will be well pleased with their achievement, the game itself lacked quality and at times became very scrappy as both sides found it difficult to settle.

But, some players did produce decent performances over the duration.

Getting the nod for the Man of the Match award was Roche and aside from his wonderful finish he produced a tireless performance over the 90 minutes.

A close contender was Dave McCarthy, Killumney’s captain, who was superb at the heart of his defence. In the final third Danny Kelly and Luke Denney caused the Blackstone defence many problems.

On the other side of the fence, Colin Bevan had a solid game and gave it everything as did Gavin Pepper in midfield.

Killumney threatened early when Dennehy’s cross saw David McSweeney steal in to slam narrowly wide of the upright. McSweeney then made progress in a tight situation inside the box but was crowded out as he was about to pull the trigger.

A dangerous cross from Dennehy looked destined for the in-rushing Kelly, but Pepper produced a very important interception.

A delicate pass around the corner from Kelly provided Roche with a half-chance, but he drilled the ball over.

Killumney nosed in front after that and the goal arrived in fortuitous circumstances when, from Kelly’s cross, Blackstone’s Gavin O’Connor skewed the ball into his own net while trying to clear the ball.

A prompt response from Blackstone almost put them back into the contest when Bevan came close with a headed effort that flashed narrowly wide following a corner.

And when Killumney struggled to clear their lines, the ball broke kindly for Timmy Sheehan, but he was foiled when Jamie Lynch produced a wonder save from his fizzing volley.

A corner ensued minutes later with Sheehan heading wide from Ken Kearney’s delivery.

Killumney were dominant at this point and after Dennehy played in McSweeney, he slammed the ball over from a good position before Kelly fired straight at Blackstone keeper Jamie Boland after an assist from Dennehy.

Moments before the break, O’Callaghan collected the ball from Kelly before drilling over from an acute angle.

Killumney pressed early in the second half and after Dennehy exchanged passes with Kelly, his plans were thwarted by a fine tackle from Jason O’Callaghan.

Although Killumney had the upper hand, they were still finding it difficult to break down a defence expertly marshalled by Bevan and when Kelly tried to reach David O’Callaghan with a lofted pass, Boland was quickly off his line to collect.

Then, Dennehy broke play up before cushioning a ball on for Kelly who made found Roche, but a sharp intervention by Evan Hourighan ended the threat.

A terrific effort then followed from David O’Callaghan when he was unlucky to see his crisply struck effort go wide.

Then, a goal worth waiting for arrived; instigated by McCarthy when he fed Roche, who went on a driving run deep into the final third before unleashing an unstoppable thunderbolt.

Blackstone refused to be bowed and came so close to giving themselves a life-line when Sheehan saw his well-struck effort from a free-kick come back off the crossbar, but it was to be Killumney’s day .

BLACKSTONE: Jamie Boland, Cian O’Donovan, Jason O’Callaghan, Colin Bevan, Gavin O’Connor, Gavin Pepper, Evan Hourighan, Warren Forde, Ken Kearney, Calum O’Mahony, Timmy Sheehan.

Subs: Leon Lucey for Calum O’Mahony (55), Ciaran McCarthy for Jason O’Callaghan (65), Adam Doran for Ken Kearney (81).

KILLUMNEY: John Lynch, Evan Hogan, Dave McCarthy, Jack O’Driscoll, Kevin O’Crualaoi, Kevin Browne, David O’Callaghan, Dalian Roche, Luke Dennehy, Danny Kelly, David McSweeney.

Sub: Jamie Manahan for David McSweeney (62),

Referee: Mick O’Flaherty. Assistants: Tony Thompson and Billy Noonan