PIHC R3 – Kilworth 1-14 Valley Rovers 0-16

With 20 minutes left on the clock, the odds were stacked against us. Trailing by seven points on the score board and playing well below what we know we are capable of, we knew we would need something extra special to pull off a win over Valley Rovers in Pairc Uí Rinn last Sunday. That’s when we saw the changes made and on came Paudie Lynch, Cormac Donnellan and Brian Tobin. There are subs but on Sunday we witnessed the display of three super subs as they completely changed the game - Paudie with a fantastic goal and a point from play; Cormac Donnellan with two wonderful points from almost impossible angles and Brian winning a superb free in the dying seconds game to help us secure a sensational victory following an unbelievable comeback.

Kilworth’s faith looked set to be defeat for 40 minutes of this game. Valley Rovers were by far the better team, leading throughout and dominating for major periods of this game. They had a six point cushion at the break and on the 40^th minute mark they led by seven points but as Kilworth’s replacements came on, they took full advantage of their time on the field and they changed the outcome of this game. The introduction of Paudie Lynch and Cormac Donnellan created a serious goal threat in the Kilworth full-forward line. After being desperately unlucky to see his first goal attempt go just inches wide of the right-hand goal post, Paudie Lynch made sure he wasn’t going to miss the second opportunity that came his way as he neatly placed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the Valley Rovers net for a deserved goal in the 53^rd minute to leave just one point between the sides, following three points before that from Paddy Moakley and Noel McNamara.

Kilworth were now well on top as our half back line began to take control led superbly by captain Mark O’ Connor who later had to be taken off with a slight injury but Jeremy Saich went back and made a huge difference alongside Tom Twomey and Eoin McGrath who were also getting the better of their opposition marker. Valley Rovers responded immediately to Paudie’s goal with a point but a second pointed free from goalkeeper Kieran Walsh and a point from play from Paudie Lynch meant the sides were level with four minutes of normal time left to play. That heart, determination and belief we had witnessed against Fermoy and even more so against Kanturk was once again on show heading into those final minutes and seconds as the lads dug deep and fought extremely hard to get ahead and finally the momentum had changed it was with us. Two over the shoulder points from almost impossible angles for Cormac Donnellan gave us a two point cushion heading into injury time. Although Valley Rovers clawed one point back, Brian Tobin came on and he won a fantastic ball in the middle of the field, was then fouled and this handed Kilworth a free to run down the clock. With nearly five minutes of injury time played, the final whistle was eventually sounded and it was like music to our ears as Kilworth had secured a memorable day and a memorable victory in Pairc Uí Rinn in front of all of our fantastic supporters. They could be heard from the stands when we needed them most and it made a huge difference. I think the picture accompanying these notes perfectly sums up the feelings and emotions of an entire village after last Sunday’s game, feelings of sheer joy, pride and passion.

Valley Rovers fully deserved their lead at half-time after dominating a half where Kilworth failed to get out of the stumbling blocks. Four points in the opening half with two of them from frees was not a good return for 30 minutes of championship hurling. We had numerous chances but often we over played the ball and lost it inside in our own full forward line only for the opposition to clear it down the field and get a score from our missed opportunities. As we continued to struggle, Valley Rovers continued to grow in confidence and they could have easily got the game’s first goal and increased their lead only to be denied by a brilliant block from goalkeeper Kieran Walsh mid-way through the first half. At half time we trailed 0-10 to 0-4 and we needed a big, big second half to turn this game around. Ten minutes into the second half it still didn’t look likely as Valley Rovers continued where they left off in the opening half but Noel McNamara kept us in it with a number of pointed frees and as the changes were made we eventually went on to pull off the comeback little would have ever predicted 20 minutes earlier.

It was another wonderful day for our premier intermediate hurlers, for Pat, Alan, Will, Dion, Darren and all associated with Kilworth GAA last Sunday. The lads once again showed great pride and passion in the red and white of Kilworth when we needed it most. They displayed a never say die attitude, something we have not seen from this team with a number of years but it is great to finally see it back. We now face into a quarter-final with Bandon providing the opposition. Bandon defeated us in the championship last year so we know it will be a tough encounter but this bunch of players are well capable of progressing even further in this year’s championship. If they continue to show the same belief and that want to win as they have demonstrated so far in this year’s championship, anything is possible. We are all behind ye and we will all be there again on August 13^th supporting you and roaring you on to what we hope will be another famous day for. On behalf of the club and all the supporters we would like congratulate Pat, Alan, Will, Dion and Darren for all their hard work and for getting this team to where it is today. It is fantastic to be heading into a quarter-final and we hope our good run continues well past that! Kilworth Abú!

Team and Scorers: Kieran Walsh (0-2f), Maurice McNamara, Kieran Lane, Dave Twomey, Eoin McGrath, Mark O’ Connor, Tom Twomey, Brian Sheehan, Jeremy Saich, Paddy Moakley (0-2), James McCarthy (0-2), Will Condon, Aidan Condon, Ned O’ Brien (0-1) and Noel McNamara (0-4f). Subs Used: Paudie Lynch (1-1), Cormac Donellan (0-2) and Brian Tobin.