Wins for Bray, Glenealy and Carnew in Senior hurling
BRAY EMMETS ST PATRICK’S 2-14 1-12
BRAY Emmets bounced back after their defeat to rivals Glenealy in the Dacia Senior Hurling Championship to defeat St Patrick’s of Wicklow Town by five points.
Last time out, Paul Carley’s side lost out by two points up against their main rivals for the Championship, whereas Mick Neary’s outfit drew up against Carnew in Joule Park.
In what was a heated affair, Bray never looked like they were going to surrender their lead throughout the encounter, despite their opponents getting to within two points midway through the second half before Paidraig Doyle rattled the net.
It was a physical game from the get go, with shoulders being thrown before the game had even commenced. If the early stages were anything to go by the game would be hard fought, and that’s exactly what it was.
Captain John Henderson set the bar high with the first score of the game. A magnificent effort from range.
The Championships top scorer, Christy Moorehouse of Bray, missed two early frees that looked like dead certs with a man of his skill.
It was very unlike the full-forward, although he did score two points from open play in this stage. That was the end of his scoring.
It was a very good battle under the puck outs, with some impressive catches being produced. It made the match very competitive early on.
The game was played at a very high tempo and intensity. There was also a lot of tension on and off the pitch, with a storm seemingly brewing.
Diarmuid Masterson was put on free duties after Moorehouse’s misses. He fired over two classy points.
Another man who was eye catching over the dead ball was the ever-impressive Andy O Brien, with some remarkable points being posted on the scoreboard.
These frees were keeping Pat’s in the encounter as they struggled to create many scoring chances from open play, bagging just one other point.
It was seven points to five to Em- mets with ten to go in the opening period, with Pat’s slowly growing more and more into the bout. George O Brien was powerful going forward with his darting runs.
A couple of good scores from Eoin Mac Cormaich helped Bray extend their lead towards the end of the first half.
There was some beautiful and attractive hurling played in the opening period by both sides, but there were sometimes stages of scrappiness.
A big moment occurred on 26 minutes as Bray netted a vital goal. A powerful ball from Paidraig Doyle through to Tom Cash left him one on one with goalkeeper John ‘Dee’ O Brien. Cash finished well past the onrushing O Brien.
Only a minute had passed on the clock and Pat’s had the ball in their oppositions net. James Byrne finished low past Conor McNally after a driving run by George O Brien.
Just before the half time whistle was blown Bray managed to manufacture another goal chance. A fantastic double save by John O Brien after a powerful hit from Paidraig Doyle. He then committed a foul leading to a 21-yard free, which resulted in Masterson pointing.
Ciaran Fleming blew his half time whistle with the scores 1-10 to 1-6 in favour of Bray. Pat’s were far from out of this game.
Both sides matched each other point for point in the first few minutes of the second half, with George and Andy O Brien, along with Masterson and substitute Ronan McMahon all adding to their sides tallies.
Andy O Brien and Christy Moorehouse did bring Pat’s back to within two points. There were some excellent points scored right the way through the game.
Bray were missing a lot of chances for points early on in the half and may have ended up ruing them.
This ended up not being the case as Bray hit the net for a second time to stretch their advantage to five. Paidraig Doyle thundered the sliotar past keeper O Brien.
This was a huge turning point and hammer blow for the Wicklow Town side who were getting back into the game.
The Bray full-back line swept up well in the second half with some incredible catches particularly from Peter Kiely.
Several minutes went by without a score after the goal as the battle in midfield intensified.
Pat’s hadn’t registered a score since before Bray’s second goal, in fact they didn’t score until the final minute of the game.
John Henderson and Paidraig Doyle were the standouts for Bray Emmets in what was a sunny yet windy Pearse’s Park.
Things began to boil over five minutes from time when there was a fight on the pitch as players from both sides as, with several hits with hurleys being made.
Pat’s manager Mick Neary even got involved as he was aggrieved with some of the decisions made by the referee, but Ciaran Fleming was having none of it.
Things settled down, with no cards being distributed to the surprise of some.
Andy O’Brien missed three late frees in a row, which were not difficult compared to ones he had fired over earlier in the bout. These ended up being huge missed opportunities as had these have been converted, it would’ve brought Pat’s back to within a score of the lead.
Bray held off the attacking threat late on and defended superbly well to claim victory in what was a tight encounter, but goals win games as they say.
Final Score: Bray Emmets 2-14 St. Patrick’s 1-12
Scorers: Bray Emmets – Diarmuid Masterson 0-5 (5f); Tom Cash 1-1; Paidraig Doyle 1-0; Eoin Mac Cormaich 0-3; Christy Moorehouse 0-2; John Henderson 0-1; Peter Walsh 0-1; Ronan McMahon 0-1.
St. Patrick’s – Andy O Brien 0-8 (6f); George O Brien 0-3 (1f); James Byrne 1-0; Christy Moorehouse 0-1.
Conor McNally; Daire Lohan, Peter Kiely, Daire Henderson; John Henderson, Peter Walsh, Luke Maloney; Cian O Byrne, Dara Maloney; Eoin Mac Cormaich, Diarmuid Masterson, Paidraig Doyle; Christy Moorehouse, Jim Doyle, Tom Cash. Subs: Ronan McMahon for O Byrne (HT); Liam Benville for Kiely (39 mins); Joe Phealan for Cash (48 mins); Macdaragh O Mideach for D Maloney (60 mins).
John ‘Dee’ O Brien; Dale Quinn, John Connors, George O Brien JR; Eddy Kelly, Shane Doyle, Michael Connors; Christy Moorehouse, Ricky Quinn; Niall Hanton, James ‘Bonner’ O Brien, Patrick Murphy; James Byrne, George O Brien, Andy O Brien. Subs: Chris Kavanagh for Doyle (16 mins, inj); George ‘Boo’ O Brien for Byrne (47 mins).
Ciaran Fleming