Minor championship
In the Kilkenny Honda Centre Minor Championship the big preliminary clash was between Mooncoin & Thomastown played in Thomastown.
Oisin Hennerby & Peter McDonald exchanged points in the opening five minutes. Hennerby added another point soon after before his fellow Mooncoin forward Sean O’Dwyer got in on the scoring act sending the white flag waving.
Thomastown largely bossed the middle third of the half with Zac Bay Hammond & McDonald being prominent and firing over points to put them in the box seat 0-6 to 0-3.
Hennerby, James O’Keeffe & the influential Adam Croke all pointed to pull the sides level and by half time it was at 0-8 a piece thanks to McDonalds point in injury time.
The second half was a very tight affair with Hennerby & McDonald being the protagonists. Croke pushed Mooncoin 0-13 to 0-11 ahead in the dying embers of the game with a fine individual score and despite McDonalds late point the men in blue couldn’t rustle up the equalizer that probably on the balance of play would have being unjust on last years Champs.
Minor B
St Martins 2-15 v 0-10 Graignamanagh
St Martins & Graignamanagh clashed in the Kilkenny Honda Centre Minor B Championship in Coon with both sides having Kilkenny minors on show.
The first half proved to be a tough game as Pierce Blanchfield got Graignamanagh off to the perfect with a fine point after a solo run. Josh Dempsey replied with a score in kind before Blanchfield converted his first placed ball of the afternoon.
Russell Kealy sent the white flag waving but again Graig retook the lead through a Ted Dunne point before a hat trick of points from Jack Farrell, two from placed balls put the home side into a lead they would not relinquish.
Blanchfield briefly lifted the siege with a pointed free but Dempsey landed two points in quick succession with Farrell adding a pointed free. Blanchfield brought Graig back into the game with a couple of pointed frees and was denied by Oisin Kelly with a smart save before Farrell had the last say of the half with a minor to leave ‘Martins 0-9 to 0-6 ahead where both sides missed a number of easy chances over the course of the half.
From the get go St Martins were in no mood to hang around with the game effectively put to bed in the opening ten minutes of the new half. The throw in saw Dempsey go on a searing solo run and he found the mercurial Jamie Morrissey in space and who duly sent the green flag waving. Dempsey followed up with a point with Joe Reid & Morrissey grabbing points of their own before Blanchfield briefly interceded with a point.
Straight from the puck out Dempsey again used his pace to get away from his marker and Thomas Lawlor flicked the ball to the back of the net.
From there to the end there was only going to be one winner but Sean Hamilton landed a score of beauty for the last score of the game.
Teams: St Martins: Oisin Kelly, Cathal Keegan, Shane Fahey, Shane O’Neill, Paddy Brennan, Tristan Roche, Matthew Shortall, Bill Dowling (0-1), Conor Dooley, Russell Kealy (0-1), Joe Reid (0-1) Jack Farrell (0-6, 0-5), Josh Dempsey (0-5), Thomas Lawlor(1-0), Jamie Morrissey (1-1).
Subs: Luke Bourke
Graignamanagh: Ciaran Murphy, Stephen Foley, Fintan Gahan, Shane O’Neill, Jack Ryan (C), Michael O’Neill, Abainn Flood, Tadgh O’Brien (0-1), Pierce Blanchfield (0-7, 0-6 frees) Ryan Kielty, Jack Dunne, Sean O’Brien, Shane Cleary, Sean Lanigan, Ted Dunne (0-1).
Subs: Sean Hamilton(0-1), Conor Hamilton, Paul Kielty, Sean Kielty & Ivan Bolger.
Ref: Paul Huntson (Barrow Rangers).
Conahy Shamrocks 2-9 3-15 Graigue Ballycallan
Ballycallan got off to a great start with Patrick Foley scoring a goal almost from the throw in, Conahy didn’t panic, they kept their composure. As the first half got into it’s rhythm both sides were evenly matched,trading scores. Midway through the half Conahy were awarded a free on the twenty one Ciaran Rice stepped up and sent the ball to the back of the net. Further scores were exchanged with points from Mark gunner and Harry O’Mahony for Conahy and for Ballycallan Oisin Egan was doing most of their scoring.
The teams ended the first half with only a point between them, Ballycallan leading 1-6 to Conahy 1-5 leaving it all to play for in the second half. As the half got under way Conahy immediately levelled the game with a point from Harry O’ Mahoney. However this is where parity ended as Ballycallan upped their game and raced into a five point lead. Conahy steadied themselves but were then dealt a hammer blow as Egan picked up the ball soloed towards the Conahy goal and unleashed a bullet to the net. Conahy although eight points down dug in and the impressive Rice netted again, Tommy Blanche made a couple of fine saves for Conahy keeping them in the game. As the half wore on Ballycallan kept the intensity high. Robbie Ring pitched in with two well taken points. The game was effectively ended when Ballycallan scored their third goal, and the game was out of Conahy reach. However they never gave up and battled to the final whistle losing in the end by eight points on a score line of Ballycallan 3-14 Conahy 2-9. The stand out performance was by Oisin Egan who scored a very impressive tally of 1-11 for the winning side. Well done to both teams for serving up a very entertaining game.
Meanwhile in Bennetsbridge the home side had the measure over Lisdowney in what was a see saw bout to land the spoils 3-12 to 1-13. At Ballycomey Erin’s Own had a little more fire power as they garnered a 1-16 to 1-12 win over Tullaroan where Tommy Coogan was particularly prominent despite the best efforts of Gearoid Dunne who had kept the score board ticking over for the men in the sash.
Tullogher Rosbercon looked mightily impressive on Saturday afternoon as they effectively had their championship game over in a matter of minutes as Danny Glennon ran riot as the home side ran into a 4-2 to 0-2 lead after 8 minutes play and despite Danesfort’s efforts they couldn’t get much joy from an impressive rear guard action led by Lar Murphy & Brian O’Shea as in the battle of black & amber Tullogher gained an impressive victory.
The final game in the first round of Roinn B saw Carrickshock keep up their impressive sequence of results to land the spoils against St Lachtains 4-20 to 3-6.
Roinn C
In the big north Kilkenny clash Emeralds came out on top of their near neighbors Fenians 1-20 to 3-12. This was an impressive result for the men in green as they had 12 of the starting team off their U-15 side with Alex Sheridan & Killian Doyle being two of the key men and Fenians can count themselves somewhat unlucky not to gain a draw.
Barrow Rangers ability to get goals was the difference in their 5-15 to 0-15 victory over Clara whilst Mullinavat had a little too much for Young Irelands B. In the final game of the round Ballyhale Shamrocks came out on top in their nine goal thriller with St Patrick’s.
Minor league
Galmoy/Windgap 7-14James Stephens 2-9
Galmoy/Windgap minors had a convincing Roinn A Minor League win over James Stephens on Friday night in Galmoy .It must be said though that James Stephens were short at least six first choice players. After leading 2-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter, Galmoy/Windgap had to withstand a good fightback from The Village boys who reduced the deficit to three points by half time, 2-7 to 1-7.
The hosts upped the ante again after the break and eventually went on to dominate proceedings.Best for the winners were Sean Barron,Jack Doyle,Billy Drennan and Blade O Gorman, while Sean Ruth, Bill Kavanagh and Luke Owens tried hard for The Village.
Galmoy/Windgap: James Purcell,James Darcy ,Sean Purcell,Calum Lonergan, Sean Barron,Pauric Foley,Gearóid Phelan,Eoin O Brien(0-1), Adam O Shea, Jack Doyle(2-3) ,Mark McCoy, Billy Drennan(0-7,0-5 frees) Matt Delaney (1-1), Blade O Gorman(3-0), Zak Kennedy(0-2)
Subs: David Sherman for James Darcy 31 mins, Jamie Joy for Gearóid Phelan 50 mins, Niall O Brien(1-0) for Zak Kennedy 51 mins, Killian Enright for Adam O Shea(inj.),55 mins , Daniel Hanrahan for Calum Lonergan 56 mins
James Stephens: Darragh Casey,Dylan O Brien,Adam O Connor,Cathal Brett,Shane Glynn,Sean Ruth,Cathal Mulhall,Jamie Chisholm,Cian Grace,Daniel Hughes,Evan Bugy(0-2),Jack Kelly(0-1),Luke Owens(0-1),Bill Kavanagh(1-0),Cian Dunne(1-5,1-4 frees)
Referee: Owen Beehan (Fenians)
U-15 Championship
There was one game of note played in the Duggan Steel Roinn B Championship as the quarter final between Kilmacow & Mullinavat was a bit of a ding dong battle. James Walsh’s influence for the home side probably swung the game to the home side as they came out on top 1-12 to 2-7.
U-13 Championship
In Roinn A the semi finals saw James Stephens pull away from O’Loughlin Gaels in the dying embers of the match for a 2-14 to 2-6 victory. In the other semi final Dicksboro just had that bit more fire power as they defeated an admirable Thomastown 3-20 to 0-11.
Roinn B
St Martins 4-14Galmoy/Windgap 3-11
A tonic start for St Martins, which saw them notch three goals in the first quarter of the game, gave the visitors the foundation for victory over Galmoy/Windgap U-13s tonight in the quarter final replay of the Duggan Steel U-13 Hurling Championship. The early strikes came from Aaron Farrell, James O Neill and Adam Morrissey. Another from James O Neill in the 23rd minute saw St Martins ease in to a convincing half time lead of 4-9 to 0-5.
In fairness, the home side put up a stern resistance in the second half and were rewarded when Conor Doyle goaled from a free in the 36th minute. Colman Moloney who had defended well throughout, then added a point. Niall Drennan added two goals from play but St Martins had the cushion of those early goals between the sides all through.
Galmoy/Windgap: Ryan Whelan, Jack O Dwyer, Colman Moloney(0-1), Padraig Egan,Conor Darcy, Darragh Doyle, Fionn Lonergan,Cian O Rourke(0-1) ,Niall Drennan(2-6, 0-4 frees), Eoin O Shea ,Conor Doyle(1-2, 1-1frees), P J Delaney(0-1),Alex Culleton, George Culleton, Jack Egan.
St Martins: Darragh Fahy,Jack Dooley,Ewan Buggy,Thomas Shore, Colin Hayes,Matthew Bolger, Mícheál Ruane ,Tadhg Power ,Patrick Coughlan(0-1),Aaron Farrell(1-0),Mícheál Keane(0-3),Jack Coogan(0-4 frees), James O Neill(2-4),Aaron Coogan(0-1), Adam Morrissey(1-1). Subs: Dean Herbert, Luke Cahill
Referee :Peter Burke (Emeralds)
In the first of the B Semi Finals Erin’s Own were impressive in getting the best of Piltown 0-13 to 1-7 where they shot a huge number of wides which probably distorted the score line. James Coogan was a giant on the field and landed 0-11 in a very impressive display where Conor Brophy & Eoin Brennan were equally impressive and it would be a major suppose if they didn’t land the spoils in the county final with this star studded team.
In Roinn C there was wind for James Stephens B, Ballyhale Shamrocks & Emeralds.
Next sees a flurry of underage action as the U-13 Roinn A final is down for decision between James Stephens & Dicksboro whilst the U-15 quarter finals are down for decision.
By Mary Morgan Mon 16th Sep
