Towers put five goals past Kilcullen to reach the knockout stages

Round Towers put five goals past Kilcullen to reach the knockout stages of the National Electrical Wholesalers IFC.

Sean Glennon and Dan Coughlan got scores in quick succession to the two teams off the mark in this game.

Towers were next on the scoresheet through Sean Gleeson after some fine combination play at the top of the pitch.

Max Cosgrove doubled their lead with a fine strike from range as the game crossed the 10-minute mark.

Dan Coughlan reduced the gap and Turlough Donnelly had Kilcullen level when the ball was worked back out to him from a previously fruitless attack.

Donagh McKivergan gave The Rags their first lead with a wonderfully struck free from outside the arc after 15 minutes.

Towers were level within five with replies from goalkeeper Colin English with a ‘45 and a point from play from Jay O’Brien.

O’Brien bagged another to put Towers ahead before back-to-back Neil Scanlon points, one from a free and one from play, had them three clear.

Kilcullen came forward in search of a score to stop the rot, having conceded the last five, but were turned over cheaply and Charlie Mahony punished them with a point at the other end.

Jay O’Brien took aim at the posts moments later but saw his effort come flying back out off the crossbar after it nearly dipped under.

O’Brien did add his third point in added time of the first half but there was still time for another key Towers attack before the interval.

Matthew Kelly won Cormac Barker’s kick-out that followed O’Brien’s latest score, passed to O’Brien who found Neil Scanlon on the run and the corner-forward took it past the Kilcullen stopper and found the net.

The green flag deep into added time did plenty to strengthen Towers’ position as they led 1-10 to 0-5 at the break.

Kilcullen’s prospects of progression to the knockouts pre-match were a long shot (needing to win by 24 points) but their chances of picking up any points from Group B looked fairly slim at the break trailing by eight.

Scoring was slow to recommence after the restart with just Jay O’Brien and Cormac Barker on the scoresheet at either end early on.

O’Brien then hit the ball straight as an arrow between the sticks to raise an orange flag which set Round Towers off on a scoring gallop.

After stellar work from Sean Gleeson, getting down the side of Kilcullen, he offloaded to Charlie Mahony who slotted under covering Kilcullen bodies to find the net.

Ben Ryan pointed soon after and Towers were 14 clear before Turlough Donnelly slotted a two-point free for The Rags.

With 15 minutes to go, Charlie Mahony got his second goal after Towers got down Kilcullen’s right hand side once again through Sean Gleeson and Mahony produced another cool finish when found.

Two-pointers at either end of the field arrived before Towers put up their fourth and fifth goals with Mahony completing his hat-trick thanks to hard-running and a fine pass from Ben Ryan. Kilcullen were consistently being torn apart by the Towers wing-backs in the second half.

The game’s final score was Towers’ fifth goal and it came when Jay O’Brien slipped in Max Cosgrove who found the roof of Cormac Barker’s net with his strike.

Round Towers reached the knockout stages following a resounding 5-16 to 0-12 win.

Round Towers: Charlie Mahony 3-1, Jay O’Brien 0-8 (0-1 frees, 2 x 2pt), Neil Scanlon 1-2 (0-1 frees), Max Cosgrove 1-1, Sean Glennon 0-1, Sean Gleeson 0-1, Colin English 0-1 (0-1 ‘45), Ben Ryan 0-1.

Kilcullen: Donagh McKivergan 0-4 (0-4 frees, 2 x 2ptf), Turlough Donnelly 0-3 (0-2 frees, 1 x 2ptf), Dan Coughlan 0-2 (0-1 frees), Cormac Barker 0-1 (0-1 ‘45), Jack Cronin 0-1, Paudy Clarke 0-1.

ROUND TOWERS: Colin English; Dee Kelly, Jack O’Neill, Hugh McDonald; Sean Gleeson, Stephen Comerford, Ben Ryan; Cian Walsh, Neil Scanlon; Max Cosgrove, Sean Glennon, Mark Byrne; Charlie Mahony, Jay O’Brien, Matthew Kelly. Subs: Danny Kelly for Mark Byrne (46 minutes), Aaron Geoghegan for Cian Walsh (49 minutes), Ollie Deller for Neil Scanlon (49 minutes), Keith Clancy for Jack O’Neill (54 minutes), Liam McDonald for Sean Gleeson (56 minutes).

KILCULLEN: Cormac Barker; Daragh Burke, Jack Dooley, Jack Redmond; Eddie O’Loughlin, Scott Fleming, Robbie Lee; Sean Knight, Ciaran Melinn; Sean Hurley, Donagh McKivergan, Jack Jordan; Ciaran O’Brien, Turlough Donnelly, Dan Coughlan. Subs: Paul Bell for Scott Fleming (22 minutes), Tim Carey for Jack Redmond (Half-time), Jack Cronin for Dan Coughlan (Half-time), Paudy Clarke for Sean Hurley (47 minutes), Jamie Buckley for Turlough Donnelly (47 minutes).

Referee: Frank Delaney