Kilcullen 2-19
Amsterdam 1-8
Leinster JFC preliminary round
Kilcullen made light work of their Dutch counterparts with a superb display in their Leinster Championship preliminary round contest in Maastricht on Saturday afternoon.
An evenly contested first half finished with just one point between the sides as Kilcullen went in with an 0-8 to 0-7 advantage at the break. Playing against a strong wind, the Kildare champions kicked a number of wides and dropped a few shots into the goalkeepers' hands, but they continued to show well for the ball in attack and tagged on enough scores to take the initiative. Colm Fox was the main scorer for Kilcullen during the first half, dispatching frees whenever the chances presented themselves.
Kilcullen- known for that spells of brilliance at vital stages of games all year- struck five points without reply at the beginning of the second half, and with 13 minutes of the restart they held an unassailable lead of 1-15 to 0-8. Jarlath Gilroy's men continued to pile the pressure on top of their European opponents, and a second goal put the game to bed. Amsterdam managed to claw a goal back, but the fact that they were restricted to just 1-1 in the second half meant that Kilcullen ran out comfortable winners.
They will now play St Patrick's of Carlow in the Leinster quarter-final, and they will have home advantage for that game which is due to be played on October 22. That won't be on their mind at this moment in time however, and the Kilcullen lads will likely enjoy a well deserved night out in the Dutch city tonight.
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