Kildalkey take another step towards three-in-a-row

Over the past two years Kildalkey have developed the knack of finding form at just the right time. It's a habit that has twice helped them to win the Jubilee Cup and as they demonstrated in this SHC quarter-final at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday they are once more starting to press all the right buttons - and at just the right time. Last year these two sides met and it was a close affair. This time around Kildalkey looked the likely winners from very early on and in the end they won on the bridle. This was impressive stuff from the reigning champions who played with the type of confidence and conviction that indicated it will take a good team, performing at their best, to knock them off course. Kilmessan, of course, have the know-how to do just that and the forthcoming contest between the two teams should be a fascinating tussle. It will be a contest between the two best sides in the county and whoever wins will deserve the label of favourites going into the final. In this contest Kildalkey resembled a steam train at full power. They were remorseless, relentless, racking up the scores with a consistency that Trim manfully, if fruitlessly, battled to match. And then of course there was Derek 'Duxie' Doran (pictured), Kildalkey's irrepressible. prolific forward that various teams have tried various tactics to subdue this year, but so far to little avail. Trim were well aware of his scoring prowess going into this game yet once he won possession and had a half-a-metre of space to work with he became an artist creating room for himself where none seemed to existed and firing three goals in addition to four points from play. This was an impressive display of finishing by the young forward who hardly wasted a ball. The first of his hat-trick arrived on 19 minutes. Gary Kelly and Patrick Conneely combined to get the ball into Doran who escaped the clutches of his beleaguered marker and shot goalwards. Trim's netminder Brian Carley made a splendid save. The ball broke, the Trim defence couldn't clear and the persistent Doran swooped to fire home. That score helped Pat O'Halloran's side go in at the break with a 1-11 to 0-8 advantage. Midway through the second-half Seanie Corrigan delivered a long ball to Doran who turned sharply and made the net dance. Doran followed up with a fine point from play immediately afterwards to put Kildalkey 2-15 to 0-11 to the good and you felt there was no way back for Trim. The third goal with a powerful finish came just before the end and was the topping on a first-rate display. Doran also had a penalty shot blocked on the line in the first-half. Kildalkey must love playing in Pairc Tailteann because they revel in the wide open spaces. The champions are still a relatively young side and when they get a run at a team they are very difficult to contain. And their scores come from a variety of sources. Noel Kirby contributed his usual quota of points from long-range frees, as well as two from play. Corrigan, Tony Fox, Padraig Geoghegan, Patrick Conneely and Sean Heavey all fired over excellent scores. Heavey embellished his display with a series of superb sideline cuts. Heavey, Corrigan, Fox and Geoghegan won a world of ball around midfield while Maurice Keogh, Enda Keogh and Fergus McMahon made up a formidable half-back line. When the Kildalkey defence came under some sustained pressure late in the game they absorbed it with consummate ease and Conor Flynn's goal was rarely threatened. Trim always looked that step or two behind their opponents. They relied a lot on the free-taking skills of Alan Douglas with the bulk of his 12 points coming from placed balls. Significantly it took Trim until the 18th minutes before they rifled over their first point from play when Damien McGee arrowed the ball between the posts for a splendid effort. They struggled to get a regular supply of ball around midfield for much of the first-half and consequently their forwards had to feed off scraps. Niall Heffernan (two) and James Andrews managed to dig out a couple of points in the second-half, but impressive as they were those scores merely helped to put a better reflection on the increasingly lob-sided scoresheet. It says a lot that Carley was one of Trim's best players. He saved brilliantly from Doran and Barry Flynn as his side looked at one stage like they might be submerged by an avalanche of Kildalkey scores. That Trim, who were without Ciaran Joyce (injured) and Ronan Fitzsimons (suspended), managed to stay in the game will be of scant consolation to them. Kildalkey had one of those days when only the most determined of teams in Meath hurling could have halted them, Now only Kilmessan stand between them and another place in the final. The countdown is on. Kildalkey - C Flynn; C Dunne, S Forde, E Potterton; M Keogh, E Keogh, F McMahon; S Corrigan (0-1), T Fox (0-2); G Kelly, N Kirby (0-7 five frees), P Geoghegan (0-2); S Heavey (0-2), P Conneely (0-2), D Doran (3-4). Trim - B Carley; J Lee, S O'Toole, C Doyle; R Andrews, D Foley, S McGee; J Toher (0-1), N Murray; J Andrews, A Douglas (0-12 nine frees), S Doyle; N Heffernan (0-2), D McGee (0-1), D Higgins. Subs - G Kennedy for Lee half-time, C McGrath for Higgins 52 mins. Referee - Marcus Quinn (Clann na nGael).