Two Mile House 0-14
St Kevin's 0-9
IFC semi-final replay
Two Mile House sealed their place in next weekend's Intermediate Championship final After they produced a strong second half display to see off a committed St Kevin's side in Hawkfield on Friday night.
Going into the break trailing by a point, Two Mile House came out a different side in the second half and restricted their opponents to just three points, while going on to score eight themselves.
While the first half of football failed to provide an abundance of scores, there was plenty of quality and endeavour on display. The reason behind the rather low 0-6 to 0-5 scoreline at the interval had more to do with the fine defensive effort put in by both sides rather than any lack of imagination up front. Conditions played their part too however, and there were plenty of players who lost their footing on the rain-soaked Hawkfield surface.
Two Mile House began the game with plenty of promise as Aidan Casey curled over a wonderful effort from a tight angle to the right of the posts, but they failed to make any meaningful forays into their opponents half for the best part of 10 minutes after that. Much of that was down to a smart St Kevin's defensive system that saw wing-forward Aeneas Murphy drop in front of their full-back line almost every time Two Mile House had the ball around the middle. Acting as a sweeper, Murphy continually cut out passes aimed for the likes of Aidan Casey, Chris Healy and Mark Sherry, while he also mopped up any scraps that broke from his defenders.
When Kevin's gained possession they looked for their inside duo of Cormac and Barry Noone, whose smart movements off the ball were almost impossible to track. They scored a point each within a minute of each other to kick Kevin's into the lead, with both men landing fine scores from the left handside.
It wasn't until the 13th minute that Two Mile House raised a white flag again, this time through Chris Julian, but their opponents were continuing to dominate possession and proceedings. A brilliant point from the left wing courtesy of Cormac Noone re-established his side's lead, before he turned provider to set up Barry for a score on the opposite side of the pitch soon after. Barry Noone's 19th minute point pushed Kevin's into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead, and it was then that Two Mile House began to get going.
A fine free from Aidan Casey was cancelled out by a Cormac Noone point at the other end, but the 2013 All-Ireland Junior champions ended the half on the front foot with a point each from Peter Kelly and Caomhan Doolan. It could have been much better for Two Mile House had it not been for St Kevin's full-back Thomas Barron making a brilliant interception to claw Mark Sherry's fist pass away from the waiting Chris Healy, who surely would have palmed it to the net.
As the sides went into the dressing rooms for the half-time break, there was a serious feeling that Two Mile House had more scope for improvement in the second half; and improve they did.
They began on the front foot straight from the restart, and it was Shane D'Arcy who really sparked his side into life. Operating at midfield, he was a physical presence out the pitch, while he also got the scoring underway with a fine effort from distance.
Chris Healy influence began to become more visible in the second half too, and he showed all his class when jinking away from Thomas Barron before kicking a beautiful point that edged his side into the lead for the first time since the fifth minute.
Barry Noone responded with a free, but it was obvious that Two Mile House were the team in charge at this stage. Points from D'Arcy, Casey and Mark Sherry stretched the gap to three, while Casey added another soon after that burst to supplement their advantage. When Barry Noone kicked a score in the 52nd minute it ended a spell of 15 minutes without a point, but it looked like they were out of steam at that stage.
An exquisite effort from Healy out on the right wing went over with the aid of the post, and a couple of late points from Casey drove home Two Mile House's advantage as they ran out comfortable winners.
It sets up an intriguing county final with Glenn Ryan's Round Towers side, who really impressed in their victory over Raheens last weekend.
Scorers for TMH: A Casey 0-6(4F), C Healy and S D'Arcy 0-2 each, C Doolan, P Kelly, M Sherry and C Julian 0-1 each.
Scorers for St Kevin's: B Noone 0-5(2F), C Noone 0-3, M Kenny 0-1.
Two Mile House
J Goff; A Cregg(A Dowling 42mins), M Kelly, F Breen; N Sherry, P Kelly, C Doolan; M Sherry, Glen Burke; Gavin Burke, C Healy, C Julian(C Keogh 51mins); J D'Arcy, A Casey, S D'Arcy.
St Kevin's
K Fitzharris; D Reilly(B Fogarty 55mins), T Barron, D O'Regan; J Smyth, J Brosnan, T McDonald; M Kenny, P Reilly(M Fitzharris 25mins); A Murphy, M Grace, W Leonard; R Carew, C Noone(C McMahon 52mins), B Noone.
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