EMMETS DO ENOUGH
Towering performance from John Henderson was key
BRAY EMMETS 1-15 CASTLETOWN (LS) 1-12
BRAY marched into the Leinster Intermediate hurling semi-final but not without making life uncomfortable for themselves in the last few minutes of the match.
Christy Moorehouse’s only score from play in the 47th minute had put his team nine points ahead but six unanswered Castletown points left them within a score ten minutes later.
Diarmuid Masterson calmed the Bray nerves with a long range effort as three minutes of injury time were announced and while referee Justin Heffernan gave Castletown a chance to win Peter O’Reilly’s puck out after Patrick Mullaney’s free in the 63rd minute, Bray came away with it, and victory while they were at it.
It should never have been so close. Thirteen wides, albeit not in ideal conditions, didn’t help while the six second half points will raise some concerns.
The foundation for the victory however was laid on the immense display from centre-back of John Henderson with help from those around him.
Castletown flooded the half-forward line, leaving only Gearoid Gaughan in full-forward and the other five forwards out around the 45, and yet they still could not win a puck out or any ball going in.
Time after time the sliotar was attracted to Henderson’s left hand and he would launch another attack. Either side of him Daire Henderson and Sean Maloney went about their business with ruthless efficiency and the Castletown wing forwards had little to no impact on the game.
Behind them Peter Kiely continued his rich vein of form and was only caught isolated once against Gaughan and conceded a penalty for his troubles. Other than that concession though, Kiely manned the gates diligently.
Mikey Lee had an excellent first half and even when he had two men for company he still won the ball coming into him. He hit three first half points from play and set up Masterson’s opening score.
Moorehouse got the first point of the day with a free when Marc Lennon was fouled and Bray announced their attacking intent early. Lee went for goal moments later but it was deflected over the bar.
Castletown free taker Dylan Conroy opened his account in the fourth minute but it would take the Laois champions another eleven minutes to score again during which time Bray amassed three more points to lead by five points to two. Moorehouse converted a couple of frees and Lee knocked over his second thanks to good work by Ronan Cunningham.
Bray tagged on another four points without reply by the 24th minute, Moorehouse, Masterson, Lee and Ben McCormack doing the honours, but they had also hit eight wides by this stage. They played with the wind in the first half and appeared to have built a healthy lead until Castletown scored a late 1-01 to somehow only trail by three points at half time, 9 points to 1-03.
Dylan Conroy miss hit a free into the square that Gearoid Gaughan caught and Peter Kiely fouled him for a penalty. Gaughan dusted himself off to dispatch a rocket past Peter O’Reilly. Conroy quickly added his third free and the last point of a half Bray dominated.
Moorehouse added an early second free that Marc Lennon played for and won but Castletown were coming back into the match to worry the Bray supporters. Fionan Cuddy broke through the Bray defence only for Peter O’Reilly to stand firm and block his shot.
Martin Phelan and James Hooban scored a point each, Castletown’s first points from play, to reduce the deficit to only two and put Bray under pressure. However the ball was sent straight back up the field and Lennon pulled on Arran Murphy’s saved shot to score a goal and ease the nerves.
Moorehouse then sparked into life and drew a couple of fouls for frees and added a third shortly afterwards. A minute later he hit over his only point from play from an almost impossible angle and Bray had gone from two points ahead to nine points ahead within ten minutes.
It looked like Bray could cruise into a Leinster semi-final date against Celbridge but Castletown had other ideas and almost committed daylight robbery. The first couple of scores barely registered a murmur but the third and fourth forced everyone to shift uncomfortably where they were standing. The fifth and sixth raised the voices of the small Castletown support and something approaching fear filled the Bray air.
Masterson’s long range point let everyone breathe again and though Castletown had a sliver of hope at the death Bray limped over the line when it should have resembled a strut.
Scorers – Bray Emmets: Christy Moorehouse (8f) 0-09; Marc Lennon 1-00; Mikey Lee 0-03; Diarmuid Masterson 0-02; Ben McCormack 0-01.
Castletown: Dylan Conroy (5f) 0-06; Gearoid Gaughan 1-00 pen; Ryan Mullaney 0-02; Patrick Mullaney (1f), Conor Phelan, Martin Phelan, James Hooban 0-01 each.
Bray Emmets: Peter O’Reilly; Daire Lohan, Peter Kiely, Luke Maloney; Daire Henderson, John Henderson, Sean Maloney; Arran Murphy, Diarmuid Masterson; Ronan Cunningham, Christy
Moorehouse, Padraig Doyle; Ben McCormack, Mikey Lee, Marc Lennon. Subs: Cian O’Byrne for Padraig Doyle (HT); Enda Forde for Daire Henderson (54 mins); Willie Keane for Ronan Cunningham (58 mins).
Castletown: John Paul Bennett; Patrick Mullaney, Brian Ferns, Martin Reddin; Ryan Mullaney, John Gaughan, Shane Phelan; Conor Phelan, Eoin Peters; Fionan Cuddy, James Hooban, Brendan REddin; Martin Phelan, Gearoid Gaughan, Dylan Conroy. Subs: James Mullaney for Eon Peters (HT); Shane Cuddy for Brendan Reddin, Declan Keenan for Shane Phelan (both 50 mins); Seamus Lyons for Gearoid Gaughan (61 mins). Referee: Justin Heffernan (Wexford)