Robert Emmetts: 1-15

Kilburn Gaels: 0-8

 

Following a comfortable win over Brothers Pearse in Round 1, our hurlers travelled to Greenford to face a tougher test against our rivals Kilburn Gaels who had recently defeated us in the Collins Cup. Kilburn, playing against a stiff breeze, took the lead first and went three points to one ahead following a long range point and two frees against our solitary free. Robert Emmetts got the break we needed after 15 minutes though when, after good work by our inside forward line, Kevin McMullan stepped up to take a free just outside the 21 and to the right of the goal. While everyone on the field expected a 'tap-over' Kevin caught the Kilburn players off-guard and stuck the sliotar in the bottom corner of the net. This served to inject some real pace into the game as Robert Emmetts pushed hard to make the most of the advantage. However, the action boiled over a number of times during these close exchanges and after two different incidents two Robert Emmetts players and one Kilburn Gaels men were sent to the line. However, our lads didn't panic and continued to work hard until half time and were rewarded by going achieving a 5 point lead.

 

Facing the breeze and man down at the start of the sescond half it seemed like it would be a very difficult task to win the game. However, the Emmetts lads upped their work-rate even more and brought the fight to Kilburn. In midfield Paddy Breen worked tirelessly alongside Fergus McMahon frustrating Kilburn's efforts to supply good quality ball to their forwards. Despite a lot of positional switches and movement by the Kilburn attack our backs stood firm and were well marshalled by David Healy and Paul Horkan, who got a fine score himself after breaking through midfield. As we began to sense victory Kilburn appeared to panic and began dropping in some testing high balls into the goalmouth. Darren Russell in goal was equal to the task though and made several authoritative catches on his line and found an Emmetts man with every clearance. Kevin McMullan continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with frees while Tom Abernathy made a big impact when introduced with 15 minutes to go, cracking over a couple of lovely scores including a spectacular effort from the sideline after robbing his man of possession. The Emmetts had weathered the Kilburn storm and eased to victory then with further scores from Fergus McMahon and sub Eoin O'Sullivan.

 

It was a good day for Robert Emmetts and the whole team can be proud of a hard-earned victory that gives us some good momentum as the championship approaches.