Killala 5-0 Crossmolina

A Colm McNally hat trick decided an important midtable clash on Saturday evening as Killala overtook rivals Crossmolina in the Premier Division with a 5-0 victory. The first half reflected the parity of the two sides as both teams cancelled each other out, albeit with different styles of play. Killala passed the ball delightfully as they sliced throught their opponent’s midfield, at times with ease, yet always faltering once they reached the final third of the field where a sturdy Crossmolina defence would stand firm. The excellent playing surface encouraged good football and Crossmolina sporadically passed the ball well, but for the most part concentrated successfully on closing down the home side. As a result the first half was played at a furious pace with Killala’s lightning ball movement and Crossmolina’s ferocious tackling leaving little time or space for quality scoring chances. After 20 minutes Crossmolina winger John Duggan nodded a long ball over left back Ian O’Boyle and chased it into the 18 yard area before shooting weakly from 15 yards out. Colm McNally then came close for Killala when a teammate hooked an 18 yard drive across the box and the lunging striker failed to make contact with the ball from 10 yards out. With a minute remaining in the half a stalemate seemed inevitable until Derek Greham crossed from the right wing for Crossmolina. Goalkeeper Brendan Ryan spilled the ball at the feet of Adrian Conway but alertly punched it off the striker’s toe to safety. The clearance fell to a Killala defender who relayed the ball to midfield and a quick pass over the retreating Crossmolina defence put McNally in the clear to dispatch the ball calmly past an exposed John Heffernan in the visiting goal for a 1-0 lead. After the interval Crossmolina began brightly and looked like erasing the unfair deficit. Joe Keane floated a cross to Greham at the left post but the striker headed over the bar from 10 yards out. Then a 58th minute miscommunication between Heffernan and his defence nearly cost Crossmolina another goal when a harmless Killala cross was allowed to hit the visitor’s post after nobody claimed it. Crossmolina came close in the 62nd minute when Greham hit the bar and later Steven Canavan struck a good effort just too high. Killala scored their second goal in the 65th minute when another ball over the Crossmolina defence allowed substitute Franky Bonner to lob the onrushing Heffernan from 18 yards out. Greham responded for Crossmolina when he controlled a clearance on the edge of the 18 yard box before striking a half volley just too high. Then the floodgates opened as Killala completely over ran their demoralized opponents. McNally registered his second goal in the 72nd minute before another substitute, Shane White, fired an 18 yard shot by Heffernan to give Killala a 4-0 lead. With five minutes remaining McNally completed his hat trick after Bonner dispossessed Jason Canavan and unselfishly set up his strike partner to seal a 5-0 win. Despite Crossmolina not winning a single corner kick in the game it was a harsh final score which only became possible in the final half an hour when the visitors folded and didn’t reflect the excellent contest which preceded it in the opening hour.