Mayo's Kilmeena all set for provincial championship opener
Kilmeena, the newly crowned Mayo intermediate champions, are about to attempt to make a big impact in the Connacht championship and emulate their junior success of two years ago, writes Aiden Henry.
First up for John Reilly’s charges is a home quarterfinal battle with the Leitrim champions, Annaduff, a game that will throw in at 2 p.m. in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park today (Sunday).
While many will feel this should be an easy assignment for Kilmeena, it is far from the case. Anytime you come up against any county champions it is far from easy, and it will be no different next weekend for Kilmeena.
Kilmeena will be taking nothing for granted, however, and will be expecting a massive challenge from their Leitrim opponents.
While everyone will be looking back to Kilmeena’s fantastic exploits in 2022/23, when they went on to win the Connacht and All-Ireland junior titles after collecting the Mayo championship, this is a different grade and any team you meet will be playing in their respective county senior championships in 2024. For this reason alone, Kilmeena will not be looking beyond today's game.
Having said all that, one couldn’t but predict a Kilmeena victory. Over the past number of years, they have gained a huge amount of experience and won a Mayo intermediate championship that was generally regarded as one of the best for many years. Since their first outing in the Mayo championship against Ardnaree at home, Kilmeena (who looked a bit sluggish that day) have come on in leaps and bounds with every game. To date, in most of their championship games they have been asked serious question and have come up with all the right answers.
There is little doubt that Kilmeena are a quality team. With a fine mixture of youth and experience, they have produced many eye-catching performances. In the county semi-final they were up against the championship favourites, Bohola Moy Davitts. It was in this game that Kilmeena made everyone sit up and take notice of their credentials.
Going into the game as underdogs and giving away two goals in the opening seven minutes would have seen most teams' chances of winning gone out the window, but not Kilmeena. They gradually fought their way back into the game and produced a second-half performance that showed what a great battling side they are. Of course, that semi-final went to extra time and you always sensed there was only going to be one winner.
In the Mayo final they faced Ballinrobe and again it was never going to an easy game for Kilmeena. Ballinrobe had been flying right through the championship and had impressed many. It was expected to be a ding-dong affair, and that is what it proved to be. However, when the game was there to be won, Kilmeena’s greater experience came to the fore. In the end they were very worthy Mayo champions and gained a lot of admires.
This great story continues until next Sunday at least. Regardless of what happens today, the fact that Kilmeena will be in the Mayo senior championship for the first time in their history next year means everything to them and their club.
BONUS TERRITORY
Kilmeena manager John Reilly said that their goal for 2023 was to win the Mayo intermediate championship title and with that now achieved, anything from now on is bonus territory.
He was at pains to say that now that they are in the Connacht club championship race they will be giving it their all to win – but he won't be looking beyond the quarterfinal meeting with Leitrim champions, Annaduff.
Reilly stated: “At the start of the year our goal was to try and make up for our 2022 intermediate final defeat by going one better this year. It was a tough Mayo championship, but we came out on top. It was a great achievement for the club, especially as we will be playing in the Mayo senior championship next year for the first time in the clubs history.
“But now that our goal has been achieved, anything else is bonus territory for us. Having said that, we will be going all out to add the Connacht title as well.
“After our great exploits after winning the Mayo junior championship title two years ago, we went on to win the Connacht and All-Ireland titles in that grade. It was a very long and tough road. When you go outside the county no game is easy. But we are aware of that, and we know it would be wrong to look beyond our next game.
“I have no doubt the lads will be anxious to do well in the Connacht championship and their focus at this moment in time is on Annaduff. We are well aware they will be a tough nut to crack. In their county final they beat a very good and experienced Melvin Gaels team by two points. Earlier in their championship they had been on the receiving end of a big beating by the same side. But they regrouped and it shows the great improvement they made before beating them in the final.”
The Kilmeena manager continued: “I know they are a very good side. While it was their sharpshooter Darren Cox who provided most of the scores against Melvin Gaels, it was their defensive resilience that was the rock that the Melvin Gaels ship floundered on. The likes of Hugh Moylan, Eoin Gill, Dillon Keane, Conor Reynolds and Aaron Duignan all had huge impacts as their workrate knocked Melvin Gaels out of their rhythm.
“But we will be ready for them. The lads are in good shape and there are no major injury worries. Hopefully the lads will continue to perform as they have been doing this year so far,” concluded Reilly.
NEXT GOAL
Let us not think for one minute that Kilmeena are happy with their lot for this year. They are now in a new championship, and they want to win.
We can be sure their Mayo intermediate championship celebrations were cut short on account of their next goal.
It is difficult to gauge how good or bad the Leitrim champions are. They were well beaten by Melvin Gaels in Leitrim group stage. Yet they ended up meeting them in the county final and, with altered tactics, ended up winning by two points. Maybe they just caught Melvin Gaels on the hop.
Speaking afterwards, the Melvin Gaels manager wasn’t overly impressed when asked about a final that didn’t live up to expectations of a free-flowing encounter: He said: “Finals never are. They were cute enough in the way they played the game in terms of going down and not letting us get a run at them. I felt now that the referee may have bought into the things they were at, they went down injured an awful lot, there was nothing in it and it wouldn’t let us get a run at it.”
It will be interesting to see what tactics Annaduff will use today. Whatever they are, we can be sure Kilmeena will be ready for them.
Overall, it could well turn out to be a great game. However, it is difficult to see anything other than a Kilmeena victory. This team has already proved themselves outside the county and they can do so again this afternoon.