Sharp Kildalkey get title defence back on track

As this SHC encounter at Pairc Tailteann on Friday evening meandered to its inevitable conclusion it might have been expected that Kildalkey would take the foot off the pedal, relax a little bit and slip into cruise control. Not a bit of it. Urged on by their manager Pat O'Halloran Kildalkey kept pushing forward, working for every ball, relentlessly looking for openings. And the man who was invariably in the right place at the right time to take full advantage of those openings was Derek 'Duxie' Doran. His haul of 3-6 says a lot about how the evening went for him. Every time he touched the ball it seemed to end up in a score for his team. The talented young player has had his fair share of difficulties with injuries in the past year or two. He is back fit and able and Clann na nGael found him as difficult to restrain as an eel. And even with his big haul of scores he was still looking for more when referee Donal Smyth blew the final whistle and put Clann na nGael out of their misery. Not that this win was in any way down to one player. This was a classic team display from the reigning champions particularly in the second-half. Maybe it's one of the main reasons why Kildalkey are in search of a third SHC title on the trot? They and their coach are all the time looking for new horizons to conquer, looking for ways to get better. O'Halloran sets the bar high and he expects his team to deliver. They hit a high quota of wides in their defeat to Kilmessan and clearly stung by that setback they were determined to make amends here - and they went about doing just that with ruthless efficiency. Not that there was an indication of what was to come at half-time when Kildalkey led by 'only' 1-8 to 1-5. Throughout the opening half Clann na nGael were competitive with players like Gearoid Breathnach, Matthew Mullen, Paddy Geraghty and Ciaran Fitzsimons putting in good shifts. Then, like a flick of a switch, Kildalkey came out for the second-half, upped the intensity a few notches and left their opponents trailing in their slipstream. Clann na nGael simply had no answer to the blitzkrieg. Many coaches would be happy with a 24-point victory. Not O'Halloran who saw in his team's performance more room for improvement. He sees the fitness levels as something to work on for a start. "I didn't have to say a whole lot at half-time, we were very disappointed with ourselves in the first-half, we played very well in the second-half but we've an awful lot of work to do," he said. "In fairness we haven't gone back to full-out training yet, we've a huge amount of work to do. Clann na nGael were very good in the first half, they made it hard for us." The Clann na nGael management will be left wondering how the wheels fell off so dramatically. They were desperately unlucky not to beat Killyon in their opening round game. This was far from the standards they set themselves that evening. Every aspect of their play was undermined by Kildalkey's powerhouse performance after the break. Alfie Devine's side made a textbook start to the evening when in the second minute Breathnach lofted the ball in from midfield. Kildalkey's young goalkeeper Conor Flynn lost the flight of the ball in the strong sun and before he knew it the sliotar was nestling in the net. Flynn recovered to display some good handling skills in the opening half. After the break he was a virtual spectator. Clann na nGael played neat, enterprising hurling in that opening 30 minutes. Fitzsimons lofted over three excellent points from placed balls including one mighty effort from 10 metres inside his own half while Geraghty also fired over two superb points. Then, in the second-half, they wilted in the evening sun as Kildalkey took control with Padraig Keogh, Enda Keogh, Tony Fox, Gary Kelly, Dan Fagan, Padraig Geoghegan and the irrepressible Derek Doran firing over a flurry of points from a wide variety of angles and distances. Padraig Keogh stood out in a commanding display at right-half-back, Geoghegan's pacy runs time and again opened up the opposition defence Fox and Maurice Keogh took a stranglehold at midfield and Fagan, Doran and Paddy Conneely, formed a very potent full-forward line. There was an air of inevitability about Doran's opening goal on 27 minutes. Conneely, who knocked over two neat points from play in the first-half, sent the ball long to Fagan who tapped it down for Doran who was fouled going through. Doran's penalty was forcefully despatched high to the net. The score was example of the kind of combination play Kildalkey could put together. Doran completed his hat-trick in the 33rd and 44th minutes with Fagan also knocking the ball home from close range on 43 minutes. Those who might have wondered if the champions were hungry enough to go at it again with the intensity required to win another championship after the defeat to Kilmessan got their answer here. The biggest task facing O'Halloran is playing down all the talk, and the inevitable pressure, that comes with seeking a three-in-a-row. He knows there will be a lot stiffer challenges ahead. On Friday evening Kildalkey sent out a warning that they're back and very much on song. Kildalkey - C Flynn; E Potterton, S Forde, D Lahart; P Keogh (0-2), E Keogh (0-2), M Doran; T Fox (0-1), M Keogh; G Kelly (0-1), P Geoghegan (0-4), D Brady; D Doran (3-6), D Fagan (1-2), P Conneely (0-2). Clann na nGael - V Doyle; A McCormack, P Shore, T Matthews; M Mullan, D Heaney, S Fitzsimons; C Fitzsimons (0-3, one '65'), G Breathnach (1-0); P Geraghty (0-2), P Daly, B Higgins; B Doherty, A Ennis, D Geraghty. Subs - S Ennis for Matthews 13 mins, C Dunne for Doherty 40m, C Bird for McCormack 41m. Referee - Donal Smyth (Navan O'Mahonys).