No surprises as St Brigid's easily see off tame Kilbride

It was always going to be difficult for Kilbride to successfully beard the St Brigid's lion in its Newpark lair in the second offering on the Kiltoom double bill last Saturday evening. And so it turned out as the reigning county and provincial champions cruised to an easy 14-point victory over their Fourmilehouse opponents. Following the roller-coaster nature of the concluding stages of the opening Clann-Croan's encounter, a whirlwind start by the Brigid's team sent out the strongest possible signal to all and sundry that it was business as usual for a squad now under the management of Kevin McStay, with fellow Mayo native Liam McHale and local stalwart Brendan 'Dixie' O'Brien also at the helm for the 2012 season. Another Mayo hero of recent years Pat Fallon, manager of the Kilbride team for a second year, brought his charges due south on the N61, having narrowly lost to Elphin in last year's semi-final, but following a poor league campaign to date. Hero of many a conquest for club and county, Seamus O'Neill, though named on the programme at left corner-forward, started for Kilbride in his familiar midfield berth. But it was a clearly determined Brigid's who went for the jugular from an early stage. Though playing against the lively breeze they bombarded the Kilbride rearguard relentlessly building up a 2-4 to 0-1 commanding lead by the 20th minute of play. Fortified with a liberal supply of quality ball, the inside forward axis of Senan Kilbride and Conor McHugh were cruising havoc among the besieged visiting full-back line. Corner-forward Senan passed to full-forward Conor for goal number one after just three minutes, with the roles being reversed six minutes later; this time, Senan had Kilbride goalie Vincent Egan again picking the ball from the back of the net, after Conor had returned the compliment. Between these major scores, Karol Mannion, holding the whip hand at midfield with Garvan Dolan, made the road for two excellent points from play from the now rampant Senan Kilbride and Darren Dolan. A rare Kilbride attack in this Brigid's blitzkrieg yielded a point by Gerry Lohan but a further brace of points, this time from placed balls ensued for the holders as "twin towers" Kilbride and Mannion increased the lead to nine points. Pat Fallon's men, to their credit, did come more into the game in those final ten minutes up to half-time and were rewarded with a trio of points - from Colm O'Neill and Conor Devaney frees, and a good left-footed effort from play by Devaney. The Kilbride/McHugh duo were again to the fore as Conor pointed in the 28th minute. At the other end, however, a goal effort from Gerry Lohan, following good build -p play from Darren Clabby and Fergal Tully, drew an excellent save from Brigid's goalie James Martin just as the half-time whistle sounded, leaving Brigid's ahead by 2-5 to 0-4. Excellent interplay by Darren Dolan and Damien Kelleher produced a flying Brigid's point (32nd minute), but Kilbride, once again, briefly rallied with Fergal Tully and Conor Devaney registering a brace of points. The Kilbride trio of Darren Clabby, Fergal Tully and Gerry Lohan again combined in the 38th minute, for the latter to test Brigid's custodian James Martin with the latter keeping a clean sheet by bringing off another smashing block. The tide, however, was about to run out on any possible resurgence from the Fourmilehouse men, as Brigid's seamlessly moved up a gear to effectively and efficiently close out this match. From the 42nd to 60th minutes, they clinically added 1-8 (all but one point of this from play) while restricting the opposition to 0-3. The goal came in the 52nd minute when two substitutes Cathal McHugh and Richard Blaine combined for Richard to drill home his team's third major of the evening, while Senan Kilbride (0-3), Darren Dolan, Ger Aherne, Cathal McHugh, Ian Kilbride and Karol Mannion (free) completed the scoring tally. Though the outcome was now a foregone conclusion, Kilbride bravely battled away, with Gerry Lohan (free) and Colm O'Neill (2) getting on the scoresheet in the last quarter. Brigid's had long since secured both points on offer thanks to a watertight defence, dominant midfield and an effective attack superbly led by Senan Kilbride, Darren Dolan and Conor McHugh (Frankie Dolan didn't line out on Saturday evening). A late injury to Darren will cause concern but the reigning champions are once again the benchmark for all aspirants to the throne. Scorers S Kilbride 1-5 (0-1f); Conor McHugh 1-1; R Blaine 1-0; D Dolan 0-3; K Mannion 0-2 (2f); Cathal McHugh, I Kilbride and G Aherne 0-1 each. Kilbride: C Devaney (1f) and C O'Neill (1f) 0-3 each; G Lohan 0-2 (1f); F Tully 0-1. St Brigid's: James Martin, Robbie Kelly, Niall Grehan, Peter Domican, Gearoid Cunniffe, Darragh Donnelly, Ian Kilbride, Garvan Dolan, Karol Mannion, Darren Dolan, Damien Kelleher, Johnny Murray, Senan Kilbride, Conor McHugh, Eoin Sheehy. Subs: Richard Blaine for Kelleher (41), Cathal McHugh for Murray (41), Ger Aherne for I Kilbride (44), I Kilbride for G Dolan (54), Damien Kelleher for D Dolan (inj., 57). Kilbride: Jonathan Farrell, Gary Feeley, Anthony McDermott, Paul Foxe, John Donnelly, David O'Rourke, James Farrell, Colm O'Neill, Darren Clabby, Declan McDermott, Fergal Tully, Stuart Feeley, Gerry Lohan, Conor Devaney, Seamus O'Neill. Subs: Martin McDermott for D McDermott (H/T), Niall Tully for O'Rourke (44), John Shally for Farrell (50), Ronan Garvey for Lohan (57). Referee: Paul Daly (Padraig Pearses).