Athlone were hoping to bridge a seven year gap by reaching the semi-final but came up against an ever improving Killucan outfit that had other ideas. Killucan had flagged their form with a 10 point win over Maryland in the previous round and after kicking 1-18 in this game they have to be seen as genuine title contenders.
While Paul Greville did most of the damage up front helping himself to 1-6, they are far from a one-man band. Indeed no fewer than eight of their team got on the score-sheet. The midfield pairing of Conor Jordan and Padraig Leavy will be a match for any pairing in the county.
In defence Frank Boyle and John Shaw marshalled a tight defence from their central positions.
Killucan under the guidance of Dermot Brady and Aiden Lennon have plenty of speed and move the ball quickly. They deserve their place in the last four and, if they can maintain their current form, a county final appearance at least, is well within their grasp.
As an Athlone player, we are disheartened to have put in two disappointing performances back to back. We never fully clicked on Sunday and any day you conceded 1-18 you’re not going to come out on top. We now face neighbours Garrycastle in what should be a mouth-watering derby game in Moate on Saturday August 28 at 6.30pm. We know that a big improvement will be needed to overcome last year’s champions but given the nature of the game I expect it to be very tight on the day.
