Kilkerrin/Clonberne defeated Moycullen by five points in the County u-21 B final in Pearse Stadium on a score-line of 0-11 to 0-6.
The Moycullen men lead by 0-5 to 0-3 at half time, but there was only one team in it in the second half.
Former Galway star John Divilly, who is back with Kilkerrin/Clonberne this season, kept his charges out on the field at half time and, once his team refocused, they upped the tempo considerably in the second period and ran out easy winners.
The victors had stars in sturdy Brian Walsh at full-back, Cathal Heverin, and Adrian Ward at number six.
Up front Conor Rabbitte, who is a student in Holy Rosary College in Mountbellew, is a real speedster and his pace had Moycullen in all sorts of trouble all through.
Full-forward Brian Miskella hit a few nice points from play and young Shane Walsh also stroked over a few sweet scores. That trio contributed eight points of the team’s total and their competence was a key factor between the two sides.
Team captain Johnny Ryan worked hard, but his influence was nullified to a large degree by the fine man-marking job done on him by Moycullen’s Cillian Grant.
David Wynn also put in a solid hour’s work for the vanquished and Eanna Noone did well at midfield.
Their management team of Sean Gibbons and Oliver Wynn were gracious in defeat and acknowledged that the better side had won.
Kilkerrin will take comfort from this success and hope it will lead to a solid run in the senior championship in the coming months.
It is also another feather in John Divilly’s managerial cap and adds to his successes with Rathvilly (Carlow ) and Maynooth over the past few years.
