Kilmessan stride into Leinster decider

It"s not too often that Meath sides make any significant impact on the Leinster club hurling scene, but Kilmessan changed that at Leixlip on Sunday when they booked their place in the Leinster Club IHC final with an impressive win over Kildare champions Confey. There are critics who might say that it was only the Kildare champions that Kilmessan overcame, but it must be remembered that Kildare hurling has enjoyed a revival in recent years and in 2007 the Lilywhites defeated Meath in the Christy Ring Cup semi-final. Kilmessan were under no illusions about the challenge that faced them against Confey. The sides have met in senior challenges on a few occasions and there was rarely more than a puck of a ball between them. 'It was tougher than the scoreline might suggest, but we were expecting that from Confey because they are a good team. We knew what they were like, but we hurled well in parts,' said Kilmessan manager Martin Curran. 'We were a little bit shaky on the ball in the first-half and we could have been further ahead at half-time, but we made a lot of mistakes. The second-half was a much better performance. 'We have shown great character, especially in the latter half of the year. We have been able to bounce back from everything we have been hit with and we don"t panic. 'That is a measure of a good team and this is one of the better ones I"ve seen in Kilmessan,' he added. For long periods of Sunday"s semi-final the teams were difficult to separate. However, a feature of Kilmessan this year has been their character and they showed plenty of that attribute against Confey. Lesser sides than Kilmessan might have crumbled when the Kildare men piled on the pressure and got scores at crucial junctures of the game, but the Meath men held their nerve and kept doing what they do best - maintain the pressure on their opponents. The Meath champions drifted in and out of supremacy. For periods either side of the break and during the final 10 minutes they were in complete control and looked a vastly superior side, but the Kildare side had their moments. Oisin Lynch was a constant threat to Kilmessan from midfield, while Keiran and Paul Divilly and Darragh Nolan also caused problems, but the Meath side had plenty of dangermen for Confey to deal with. Nicky Horan was magnificent throughout. He had a red card, which was picked up in Kilmessan"s mid-week A HL Div 1 victory over Rathmolyon, rescinded and that was a blessing for the champions. His courage and commitment resulted in four broken hurls, but also yielded several scores for colleagues with some outstanding play. David Donnelly was a rock at full-back and Ger O"Neill was a driving force from the half-forward line. Stephen Clynch had his hands full at centre-back, but when he moved to the half-forward line he started to have a greater say in proceedings. The contest was strewn with errors from both sides. Clumsy tackles, poor shooting and some terrible handling led to several patches of scrappy and broken play, but it also added to the excitement as there were chances galore and plenty to keep the large crowd amused. It was Kilmessan"s ability to take their scores when they were on top that proved decisive. Confey hit too many wides from decent possession, whereas Kilmessan rattled off score after score with Horan in sublime form. The opening nine minutes were tit-for-tat with O"Neill (two) and a Horan free cancelling out efforts from Nolan and a Lynch free for a 0-3 to 0-2 lead. Confey dominated the rest of the quarter and took a 0-5 to 0-3 lead with Lynch (two) and Nolan back on target. A brilliant Horan point was followed by another converted free to restore parity, but Lynch continued to threaten and pushed Confey 0-6 to 0-5 ahead with a magnificent score. However, Kilmessan then took over. The last three points of the half came from Horan (two) and Farrell to give them a 0-8 to 0-6 interval lead. That advantage was stretched to 0-11 to 0-6 within five minutes of the restart when O"Neill, Joey Keena and Farrell pointed. All the good work was undone when poor defending allowed Nolan get Confey back into the game with a goal and when Michael Divilly added an unbelievable point Kilmessan looked in trouble. But Kilmessan"s character rose again. Horan and Mal Doyle pointed either side of a massive free from Kieran Divilly to stretched Kilmessan"s lead to 0-13 to 1-8. Those scores broke Confey"s resistance and in the final 12 minutes Kilmessan out-scored their Kildare opponents by 0-4 to 0-1 with Clynch (two), Horan and O"Neill pointing before Kieran Divilly added a late consolation score from a close range free. 'The lads are very determined to do well in this competition. We want to go all the way. This is the one opportunity they have ever had and they have been waiting a long time for a long time. 'They are going to give it everything and if they are good enough and get a bit of luck then they will make it,' concluded Curran. SCORERS Kilmessan - N Horan 0-7, six frees; G O"Neill 0-4; S Clynch 0-2; P Farrell 0-2; J Keena 0-1; M Doyle 0-1. Confey - D Nolan 1-2; O Lynch 0-4, two frees; K Divilly 0-2 frees; M Divilly 0-1. THE TEAMS Kilmessan - M Brennan; P McGovern, D Donnelly, C Keena; V Reilly, S Clynch, M Reilly; M Horan, P Farrell; N Horan, P Reynolds, G O"Neill; M Doyle, A O"Neill, J Keena. Subs - P Donnelly for Reynolds 41 mins, E O"Brien for Doyle 59m, D Reilly for A O"Neill 59m. Confey - R Connolly; A Fennelly, P Keegan, B Dowd; S Lawless, K Divilly, K Chan; O Lynch, P Divilly; M Fennelly, P Quigley, E Fitzpatrick; P Keegan, M Divilly, D Nolan. REFEREE David Hughes (Carlow).