Inishowen League beaten in Oscar Traynor Cup.

The Inishowen League’s run in this season’s Oscar Traynor Cup competition ended today at the Kells Road Astro pitch in Kilkenny. Early goals in both halves by winger Emmet Nugent sent the Kilkenny League through to the last four and ended Inishowen’s hopes of another Oscar Traynor victory. KILKENNY LEAGUE 3 V 0 INISHOWEN LEAGUE. The Inishowen lads got off to the worst possible start by conceding a goal in only the 6th minute and it’s one that was very much of their own making. Central defending Thomas Mc Monagle had time to clear but decided on passing the ball back to keeper Dillon Doherty, unfortunately the pass was under hit by the Aileach FC defender and Kilkenny League winger Emmet Nugent nipped in to steer the ball past Doherty to give his side a great start. Unsurprisingly it took Diarmuid O Brien’s side some time settle into their normal passing game on the Astro Turf surface at Kells Road , a surface that unlike their opponents they would be very unfamiliar with. After that early goal it was very much a case of defences having the better of things and neither team were able to create any clear-cut goal scoring chances, the Inishowen League did force a number of corners without any reward from them. The home side used the long ball forward as their main attacking threat, by-passing the midfield area and making it difficult for the Inishowen ball players to get a grip on the game. At half-time that early goal remained the difference between the teams. Just after the interval the homeside’s long ball policy worked to perfection to produce a second goal and a hammer blow for Inishowen as winger Nugent raced onto the ball over the top to slot home his and Kilkenny’s second goal to leave Inishowen with a real uphill battle to climb. And battle they did, team manager O’Brien introduced striker Nigel Mc Monagle for midfielder Adam Byrne and went to a 4-2-4 formation in search of a badly needed goal. The visitors dominated both possession and territory but the pitch surface and size suited the more direct approach of the home side who were happy to sit in and defend what they had with a 2-0 lead. And as so often happens with Inishowen pressing they were vulnerable at the back and in the 86th minute the home side added a third when Paddy Cahill raced clear to score despite appeals for offside from the visitors. So a disappointing end to the campaign for Inishowen on a day when very little went right and that early goal allowed the home side to take command and play the game out the way that suited them best. INISHOWEN LEAGUE ; Dillon Doherty , Michael Byrne , Matthew Byrne , John G Mc Laughlin , Thomas Mc Monagle , Dillon Ruddy ( Conor Barrow 75mins ) , Kieran Mc Daid , Adam Byrne ( Nigel Mc Monagle 55mins ), Terence Doherty , Matthew Henry , Benny Mc Laughlin.