Kickhams make county Tipperary football B final after seeing off Mullinahone challenge in exciting contest

County minor B semi final

Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams ---------------------- 3.11

Mullinahone ---------------------------------------------- 3-7

Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams minor footballers came out on top after a hugely entertaining B county semi final in Monroe on Saturday afternoon to book their place in the county final.
It was a game of plenty of goals and quality performances from players on both sets of teams in what was an absorbing duel in the Monroe autumnal sunshine.
There was very little between the teams and the crucial moment in the game when Kickham punished Mullinahone after they failed to convert a penalty which would have brought them to within a point of their opponents.
There was four points between the teams when one of the stand out players on the field Eanna Ryan drove his penalty wide of the posts.#
Mullinahone had squandered a great opportunity to get back into the game and were made pay a heavy price in the space of two minutes as man of the match Devon Ryan converted a free before taking his third goal of the contest.
That Devon Ryan goal, all three goals were of the breathtaking category,doubled Kickhams lead out to eight points putting them in a very strong position.
Mullinahone , driven on by Michael O Shea and Matthew Thomson, rallied again and within four minutes had cut that deficit in half.
A point from Michael O Shea and a goal from substitute, who O Shea found with a perfect pass, brought Mullinahone to within four points of Kickhams with over a quarter of the game yet to be played.
Mullinahone goalie Cathal Brett pulled off a great save to deny one of the most influential playyers on the Kickhams team, Jamie Duncan and they went on to take the next two scores, two frees from full forward Eanna Ryan and they were closing in on Kickhams with just two points between the teams.
Mullinahone were pressing hard in the closing minutes but were caught when attacks broke down andn substitute Josh Browne and Lorcan Carr scored in time added on to give Kickhams a four point victory.
A resilient Kickams reco vered well from a poor start to the game.They foundthemselves four points down after eight minutes as they found it hard to c ope with Eanna Ryan at full forward who scored a goal and three points from play to just two Kickhams points in that opening period.
Kickhams responsed with great purpose turning a four point deficit into a eight point lead by the twenty ninth minute.

Of those twelve points the superb Devon Ryan was responsible 2.5(only one of those points came from a free) with the other score coming from Conor Horgan.
Ryans two goals were spectacular, both finished to the roof of the net after direct running at the heart of the Mullinahone defence.
Having done all the hard work however Kickhams took their eye of the ball in the time added on at half time when Martin Kehoe saw Stephen Hickey in acres of space and the half forward finished in style to give Mullinahone some hope for the second half cutting Kickhams lead back to five points.
Mullinahone picked off the first point of the second half before they were awarded the penalty .It was missed and Kickhams went up field to punish Mullinahone as Devon Ryan pointed before he scored his best goal with a quality strike.
That gave Mullinahone a lot to do and while they did rise to the challenge they ran out of time in the end and Kickhams marched on to the final.

Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kichhams
Declan Ryan, Hugo Bourke,ben Loughman,Cathal Carr,Shane Farrell,Ger O Dwyer,Jamie Duncan,Lorcan Carr,Turlough Breen,Stephen Browne, Devon Ryan, Eddie Daly,Aaron Browne,BenRyan,Conor Horgan.
Subs - Jack Ryan for Cathal Carr,Rubens Bourke for ben Ryan,Josh Browne for Hugo Bourke,Joe Fitzgerald for Rubens Bourke.
Scorers Devon Ryan 3-6,2f,Conor Horgan 0.3,1f,Josh Browne and Lorcan Carr 0.1 each.

Mullinahone
Cathal Brett, Diarmid White,Eoin Power,Cilliann White,Shane Morris,Daire O Bbrien,Conor O Brien,Martin Kehoe,Matthew Thompson,Eoghann O Brien ,Michael O Shea,Stephen Hickey Oisin Drennan,Eanna Ryan ,Danny Dunne.
Subs.
Scorers - Eanna Ryan 1.5,3f,Stephen Hickey 1-0,Eoghan O Brien 1.0,Michael O Shea and Martin Kehoe 0.1 each.