Killyon underline title credentials

As if to underline that their opening round victory over Dunboyne was no fluke Killyon maintained their impressive start to the SHC with a narrow victory over Navan O'Mahonys at Kildalkey on Thursday evening. There were times when the Hill of Down side looked like they would undo all their great work that they did against Dunboyne, but when the going got tough they were able to dig deep and eke out a win that keeps them on course for a place in the knockout stages. Central to any teams chances of victory has to be a strong work ethic and an accurate free taker, Killyon had both in abundance. Wing forward Keith Keoghan showed amazing accuracy from play and frees and it was his seven-point haul that ensured O'Mahonys were left looking for their first win of the campaign. However, Keoghan wasn't the only key to unlocking victory for Martin Massey's side. Killyon's performance was build on sound foundations with Brian Perry, Shane Mitchell and J J Gilsenan impressing at the back. Thomas Raleigh and substitute Adam Gannon provide superb attacking options to back up the magnificent display for Keoghan, all of which O'Mahonys had no answer too. John Gorry's side will be disappointed with the defeat because they had enough opportunites to stake a claim for victory. They recovered from slow a start to lead by 1-6 to 0-8 at half-time, but another abysmal start to the second-half saw them slip 1-6 to 0-12 in arrears with 19 minutes remaining and that proved to be too much of a mountain to overcome. The highlights of the game were some excellent scores from play from both sides and brilliant free-taking from Keoghan and Paddy Skehan, but much of the play in between the scores was scrappy with plenty of niggling off-the-ball incidents keeping referee Paddy Foy busy. Even before the game started there was delay as Killyon's David Raleigh needed treatment after jostling for position with Cormac Reilly and throughout the contest there were late challenges and wild swings as tempers threatened to spill over. When play eventually got underway it was Killyon who burst from the traps with Ambrose Connolly showing great stickwork to set up Keoghan for the opening score inside 30 seconds. Raleigh showed no ill-effects from his pre-game clash to double Killyon's lead a minute later and when Keoghan added a free on six minutes it looked set to be a long evening for O'Mahonys. However, a brace of excellent Skehan frees closed the gap to the minimum before the end of the first-quarter and although Keoghan and Calvin Ryan restored Killyon's three-point cushion, O'Mahonys started to settle and looked a greater threat. Barry Regan and Shane McKeigue came to the fore and with Colin O'Rourke exerting more influence around the middle O'Mahonys took a grip on proceedings. Another Skehan free was followed by an Andrew Snowe goal and a fine McKeigue point for O'Mahonys to take a 1-4 to 0-5 lead. Thomas Raleigh responded, but the late flurry of first-half scores continued with Skehan and Snowe trading scores with David Kennedy and Mark Gannon to ensure O'Mahonys led by 1-6 to 0-8 at the break. However, then it fell apart for O'Mahonys. A brace from Adam Gannon, another Keoghan free and an excellent score from Kennedy made it 0-12 to 1-6. O'Rourke and Skehan responded for O'Mahonys to set up a tense final quarter, but instead of improving the play became scrappy.A free and a '65' from Keoghan cancelled similar scores from Skehan and as O'Mahonys ran out of steam it was appropriate that Keoghan closed the scoring with a terrific point to maintain Killyon's surprisingly good start to the SHC. Killyon - S Quinn; C Foley, B Perry, S Mitchell; P Ryan, R McKeown, J J Gilsenan; D Kennedy (0-2), K Canavan; D Raleigh (0-1), C Ryan (0-1), K Keoghan (0-7, three frees, one '65'); P McKeown, A Connolly, T Raleigh (0-1). Subs - M Gannon (0-1) for C Ryan 20 mins, A Gannon (0-2) for P McKeown half-time, C Ryan for D Raleigh 50m. Navan O'Mahonys - J Burke; D Moran, S Duignan, M Usher; C Reilly, K O'Rourke, B Regan; C O'Rourke (0-1), D Hogan; D Smyth, D Loughran, S McKeigue (0-1); M Kelly, P Skehan (0-6, five frees, one '65'), A Snowe (1-1). Subs - B Farrell for Hogan 3 mins, S O'Brien for Farrell 48m. Referee - Paddy Foy (Clann na nGael).