J J Kavanagh & Sons Junior Hurling League Round 2: 5-9-2021
Galmoy 3-16 Tullogher Rosbercon 0-20
Goals at the end of each half proved the deciding scores for Galmoy in this hard earned but deserved win over Tullogher Rosbercon at well appointed Bennettsbridge on Sunday. In the physicality stakes Tullogher Rosbercon held all the aces over their opponents but, on this occasion, the northerners had the greater appetite for victory. This was a hard fought game from start to finish in typical competitive style with no quarter asked or given.
The southerners made the better start with Conor Hennessy pointing almost straight off the throw-in followed by a quick Cian O Donoghue free following a foul on Walter Walsh out on the left hand sideline. Having missed his side’s opening game a week previously, Walsh lined out at centre forward here and played a forceful role all through. In the third minute, Conor Drennan crossed a ball from the left wing to the right, where Oisín Phelan fielded and split the posts for Galmoy’s opener. Drennan added a free after a defender overcarried and then one from play in the 10th minute. Richie Dollard proved more than a handful for Galmoy full back Brendan Phelan all through and this developed into a great tussle with honours shared. Dollard struck his first of four points in the 11th minute. Billy Drennan edged Galmoy ahead before a foul on Simon Kennedy saw Cian O Donoghue level up the game,0-4 each. Conor Drennan added a free and then, when a long drive from Conor Grace was mishandled by Tullogher Rosbercon goalkeeper Eoin Ryan, Drennan converted the resulting 65 to leave Galmoy ahead 0-6 to 0-4 at the first waterbreak.
In the 20th minute,Galmoy had a let off when Colm Smith pulled off a great block on a Conor Hennessy shot which had goal written all over it. Walter Walsh then sprung into life and, after two searing runs up the middle, pointed twice in quick succession. In fairness ,the Galmoy defence policed him well with Ryan Murphy flicking a vital ball off Walsh’s hurley to deny a possible third score here. Nevertheless,Tullogher Rosbercon were moving well at this stage and a good passing move ended with Conor Hennessy striking a point, with Dollard and Hennessy adding another each to leave i,t 0-9 to Galmoy’s 0-6 with four minutes remaining in the first half. Conor Grace arrested the slide when he put over a free from well inside his own half after Conor Hennessy had overcarried before Brandan Phelan fielded a Gearóid Phelan delivery and struck a beauty over his left shoulder from the right wing.Cian O Donoghue and Conor Drennan exchanged frees as we awaited Sean McMahon’s half time whistle.Galmoy put in one last effort before the break. When Gearóid Phelan was fouled on his own 65, Conor Grace sent a huge free towards the Tullogher Rosbercon goal. From the edge of the square Brandan Phelan batted the ball down to the in running Conor Drennan and he blasted home to leave Galmoy ahead 1-9 to 0-10 at the interval.
They say that a goal on the stroke of half time is worth its weight in goal and the pep in the step displayed by the Galmoy boys was obvious as they trotted off at half time They began the second half on the attack with midfielder Oisín Phelan winning a free on the left hand sideline which Drennan pointed. A similar foul on Walter Walsh saw Cian O Donoghue pull one back for the southerners .Moments later, O Donoghue grabbed a quick puckout from his own goalkeeper Eoin Ryan and set Walsh up for his third of the day.Tullogher used the ply of the quick puckout to good effect all day with Ryan constantly beating the referee’s whistle with his restarts.Another 65 from Drennan, saw Galmoy lead 1-11 to 0-12 as we approached the 40th minute. Tullogher Rosbercon,however, dominated from here to the second waterbreak as they struck four points,three from play, with just one reply from the men in blue. Indeed, one of those Tullogher points could
have dipped under, as Richie Dollard’s 43rd minute effort skimmed Brian Kelly’s crossbar. And so the lead had shifted in favour of the stripey men as they lead 0-16 to 1-12 at that last waterbreak. Conor Hennessy and an O Donoghue free were answered by two Conor Drennan frees. An injury to John Cotterell saw the game paused for a full three minutes and, as added time beckoned, a Tullogher Rosbercon defender received a straight red card.Another yellow card to a Tullogher defender appeared to unsettle them slightly and, when Brandan Phelan sent a low ball up the left wing,Billy Drennan picked the sliotar and sent a screamer across the goalie to the Tullogher Rosbercon net to give a huge boost to the Galmoy men who now lead 2-14 to 0-18.
As a result of the break in play, a full seven minutes of added time were justifiably played and both sides stepped up the pace. Conor Drennan extended the lead with a close in free to which Kevin Hennessy replied with a monster strike from out of his own defence. Great work by busy Galmoy substitute Matt Delaney saw Brandan Phelan split the posts again. Cian O Donoghue was unlucky with a free from distance but made immediate amends from a similar placed ball.But the icing on the cake for Galmoy came in the 37th minute. Substitute Tom Phelan and Billy Drennan played a one two, before Brandan Phelan found himself in possession on the edge of the square and sent a sizzler to the net to send the Galmoy men home happy. All in all a great tussle with both sides giving their all.
Galmoy:Brian Kelly, Colm Smith ,Brendan Phelan, Jack Delaney,Conor Grace(0-1),Ryan Murphy,Frank Phelan,Gearóid Phelan ,Oisín Phelan (0-1),Kevin Duggan,Conor Drennan(Capt.)(1-11,0-10 frees)Tom Corcoran,Billy Drennan(1-1),Sean Phelan, Brandan Phelan(1-2).
Subs: Matt Delaney for Tom Corcoran 40 mins ,Jack J Delaney for Jack Delaney 57 mins and Tom Phelan for Sean Phelan 63 mins.
Tullogher Rosbercon:Eoin Ryan,John Hartley,Sean Murray,Niall O Shea,Pat Hartley,Donncha O Connor,John Cotterell,Tarek O Connor,Kevin Hennessy(0-1) ,Anthony O Connor,Walter Walsh(0-3),Simon Kennedy,Cian O Donoghue(0-7,0-6frees),Richie Dollard(0-4),Conor Hennessy(Capt.)(0-4).
Subs: Frank Murphy (0-1)for Anthony O Connor 38 mins, David Walsh for Tarek O Connor 30 mins
Referee: Sean McMahon(Erin’s Own)
Windgap 1-17 Cloneen 1-11
Windgap mixed the good and the bad in this junior league championship clash with Cloneen last Saturday in Tullaroan. They opened well for the twenty minutes to establish a six point advantage but battling Cloneen settled and had reduced the lead to two points by the 50th minute; however, a six point haul in the last ten minutes saw Windgap home to a hard fought victory.
Windgap started showing the benefit of a game a week earlier with smart opening scores from James Culleton and Emmet Landy. However, Cloneen received a boost in the fifth minute when a monster free from goalkeeper Gary Delaney found its way to the Windgap net to give them a 1-1 to 0-2 lead. Windgap recovered well and dominated the next ten minutes with fine scores from Emmet Landy, James Power and Niall Walsh – and when James Power goaled in the 16th minute to establish a 1-7 to 1-2 lead, they seemed set to take firm control of the contest. However, both sides struggled to put more scores on the board as a crosswind led to a number of wides by both sides and Windgap reached the interval with a 1-9 to 1-4 lead.
The third quarter largely belonged to Cloneen who upped their workrate throughout the field and while they struggled to get scores from play, frees from Padraic Delaney, Michael Doyle and a fine score by Breanainn Buggy brought the deficit down to two points (1-11 to -9) by the 50th minute. Windgap were struggling to re-establish their earlier rhythm up to this point and Cloneen will rue a few wides at this point but a timely four point scoring burst by Windgap at this time from James Power, Pat Grace and substitute Jack Doyle saw them open the gap out to six points, a lead they held to the finish despite Cloneen’s battling efforts at all times. Both sides can take positives and areas for improvement from this game – Windgap will be pleased to get through the game with a second win but will know that the second half performance will need to be better while Cloneen can take encouragement from the performance of many of their team in what was their first outing of this junior league campaign.
Windgap: Sean Foley, Darragh O’Shea, Cian Ryan, Padraic Foley (0-1), Pat Power, William Phelan, Sean Purcell, Pat Grace (0-1), Sean Power, Niall Walsh (0-1), Emmet Landy (0-3, 0-1F), James Culleton (0-2), Peter Hennessy, James Power (1-8, 0-6 F), Michael Power. Subs: Blade O’Gorman, Jack Doyle (0-1), Adam O’Shea, James Mackey.
By Mary Morgan Sat 11th Sep
