Emmets 1-11 Kilcummin 0-14

Both teams went in to this game knowing a win would be an important result for either side, but ultimately Emmets and Kilcummin could not be separated in an exciting encounter in Frank Sheehy Park on Saturday evening last.   It was the home side who came racing from the blocks, with midfielder Tom McCarthy firing Listowel into the lead inside two minutes. David Sheehy and the industrious David Keane pushed Emmets further in front with two well taken scores, before a Noel Kennelly brace made it 0-5 to no score after just eleven minutes.  It took another two minutes before the visitors opened their account with a Noel Duggan point and, just a minute later, Duggan added a placed effort to leave three between the sides.  Listowel were in control at the back, however, with Daragh Broderick and Brendan Guiney keeping Kilcummin at bay with some important interceptions, as David Sheehy and Bryan Sweeney were finding room out around the middle and spraying some quick ball to their inside line.  David Keane stretched Emmets’ lead to four with a free and, from the resulting kick-out, Ger McCarthy took off on a trademark run before feeding Keane who set up Noel Kennelly to fist the ball to the back of Kieran Fleming’s net.  Kilcummin kept the heads up however and Richie O'Connor kept them in touch with a lovely score, before Kennelly slotted a free to cancel it out.  Two more placed efforts from Kilcummin's full forward Noel Duggan bought it back to five between the teams, before referee Paul Hayes blew the half time whistle.  Half-time: Emmets 1-07, Kilcummin 0-05.

The second half started with some big hits from both sides and Listowel knew they were in a fight.  Noel Kennelly opened the scoring with a free inside two minutes, but the next quarter of the game belonged to the visitors, as they began to take control in midfield with Matthew Keane involved in almost everything.  Keane hit the post from a penalty in the ninth minute, before three scores in a row came from the boots of Noel Duggan, Ian Devane and Chris O'Leary, who was finding a lot of room through the middle.  The outstanding Noel Kennelly steadied the ship for Emmets with two beautiful scores, either side of a Duggan point, but Kilcummin kept attacking in waves, as they fired over the next four scores to level proceedings with just four minutes left on the clock.  The game was in the melting pot as both sides fought tooth and nail for every ball, but it was Kilcummin’s Oscar O'Connor who fired his side in front for the first time in the game with a great score, to the delight of the travelling support.  Listowel tried desperately to find the equaliser with time running out, as Sean Gilbert and Kennelly both had opportunities to raise a white flag, but to no avail.  With time almost up, David Sheehy was pulled down just outside the 21 yard line and up stepped Noel Kennelly, as he has so often done in the past, to split the posts and level the game. Paul Hayes called for the ball after the resulting kick-out and it's fair to say that both teams will be happy enough to share the spoils on an evening where the game could have gone either way.   Final Score: Emmets 1-11 Kilcummin 0-14.

Emmets:  Cathal Keane,  Tom Melvin,  Daragh Broderick, Brendan Guiney, John Heaphy, Maurice Whelan (Capt), Ger McCarthy, Tom McCarthy 0-1, Cormac Mulvihill, Bryan Sweeney, David Sheehy 0-1, Shane Quinn, David Keane 0-2, Noel Kennelly 1-7 (2 f), Sam Tarrant.  Subs used: Rob Smith, Sean Gilbert, Daniel Sheehan.

Kilcummin: Kieran Fleming, Donal Maher, Damien O'Leary, Mikey O'Shea, Dan Moynihan,  Chris O'Leary, Jamie O'Donoghue, Shane McSweeney, Matthew Keane, William Maher,  Daniel O'Leary, Paul Riordan, Oscar O'Connor, Noel Duggan, Richie O'Connor.