“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity “

I doubt Einstein was referring to our game tonight vs Kilcummin but a side shorn of many of our stalwarts down through the years were certainly not expected to do as well as they performed being somewhat unlucky to come away with nothing from the game.

Many of our fringe players, who have performed with distinction in the lower leagues, certainly put forward their credentials for more regular game time at this level and will have benefited enormously from the experience.

Darragh O’Connor was the only change from the starting XV with Daniel Bowler dropping to the bench.

We won the toss and played with the strong breeze and were quickly into our stride notching 3 early points through Darragh (2) & Gearóid Savage to a solitary Kilcummin white flag.

Kilcummin reduced the deficit but further scores from Darragh, Shane McElligott and the dangerous Gazza had us in the ascendancy and we retired to the dressing room , 0-07 to 0-05 ahead - perhaps we should have been a bit more ahead given the chances created.

Our defence was rock solid in this opening period, defending in numbers and not committing any fouls - Sam Pituch in particular along with Darragh McElligott and Ryan Carroll were unyielding. Seán Collins for a second week in row put in a good shift and can be happy with his display.

The half back line of TJ Heaphy and Stephen Nix too were solid and essayed forward at every opportunity - one particular sally upfield from Stephen saw him find Gearóid Dillane with a peach of a ball which resulted in a point following a foul on Gearóid.

The 2nd half saw the introduction of both Con Barrett and Conor Hayes and we found ourselves having to defend more as Paul O’Shea thundered into the game and the locals levelled by the 10th minute following two good scores.

Daniel Bowler was next to enter into the fray and he was not long in making his presence felt.

Firstly he tracked back to win a turnover and he was next involved when finding Con Barrett who offloaded to Conor Hayes to put us back in front again.

The pivotal moment of the game then took place in the 15th minute; we worked the ball upfield and this time Daniel again, popped a lovely ball into Con who was dragged back as he sought to find the net - the ref duly pointed to the spot but Kilcummin were saved any further damage as he did not deem the foul worthy of a card.

Ryan Carroll came forward and despite striking his shot well to this right, keeper Keith O’Leary dived to his left and with a strong hand deflected the ball away from the danger area - this save gave the homesters further oxygen and whilst they fired a number of wides they scored the final 3 points from Paul O’Shea, Cian Foley and Noel Duggan.

In the final analysis, we were perhaps unlucky to come away empty handed - we go again next week when we travel to Dirreen to take on Legion.

Team: Robert O’Connor, Sam Pituch, Darragh McEllligott, Seán Collins, Stephen Nix, TJ Heaphy, Ryan Carroll, Jake Foley, Fenton Collins, Padraig Griffin, Shane McElligott, Gearóid Dillane, Gearóid Savage, Conor O’Sullivan, Darragh O’Connor.

Subs used: Conor Hayes, Con Barrett, Daniel Bowler, Sam McCarthy, TJ McMahon.