Extra-time agony as Adamstown suffer late defeat
BROSNA GAELS 1-12 ADAMSTOWN 0-14 (AET)
ADAMSTOWN SUFFERED a last-minute defeat in extra-time at the hands of Offaly champions Brosna Gaels in the Leinster Junior ‘B’ hurling tournament quarter-final in Ballinakill, Co. Laois, on Saturday.
Adamstown were well used to playing draws this year after their New Ross District final replay win over Taghmon and extra-time county final victory over Crossabeg-Ballymurn two weeks earlier.
And they were once again made go the distance in this outing, but a last-gasp penalty saw them fall short in a very closely-fought encounter.
Brosna Gaels raced into a three-point lead in the opening exchanges, but Adamstown burst into life with five consecutive scores as John Connors converted two placed balls and Paudge Kavanagh picked off two points from distance before Michael Foley registered from a tight angle to leave Adamstown clear by 0-5 to 0-3 after 20 minutes.
Kevin Kelly of Brosna Gaels restored parity with two quickfire points, but Adamstown took control again just before the break as Tomás French scored a fine point off his left side. Connors then notched his first from play along with a free as Adamstown led by three at half-time.
Brosna Gaels came out much stronger in the second-half and the game was level again (0-8 each) as Declan Rohan and impressive midfielder Gary Larkin added two fine individual scores.
Scores dried up for Adamstown in the second-half as defences on both sides got on top. The teams exchanged scores as Connors added two frees along with a Tomás Harrington point from distance as Adamstown led by 0-11 to 0-10 with five minutes remaining, but Brosna Gaels added a long-range free to force extra-time.
This was a tense and nervy affair as the rain came down and it made conditions slippery on the all-weather pitch. Adamstown created two good goal chances as Shane Bradley’s attempt skidded wide of the post and Michael Curtis brought a save from John Corcoran.
John Connors added two more frees and one from play as Adamstown led by 0-14 to 0-12 with two minutes remaining, but a high ball into the Adamstown square saw Paul Cooper clash with Declan Rohan and Brosna Gaels full-forward Mick Kelly buried the penalty.
Adamstown had one final chance as a John Connors shot sailed wide, and they were pipped at the death. The Killeedy club in Limerick has been promoting this tournament since 2005-’06, with Tara Rocks reaching the All-Ireland final in 2007.
Adamstown: Paul Cooper; J.P. Furlong, Colm Boland, James Fur- long; Mosey Delaney, James Delaney, Michael Doran; Paudge Wickham, Tomás Harrington (0-1); Andrew French, Vinnie Doheny, Tomás French (0-1); Paudge Kavanagh (0-2), John Connors (0-9, 7 frees), Michael Foley (0-1). Subs. - Shane Bradley for A. French (HT), Michael Curtis for Kavanagh (50), Shane Wickham for T. French (63), Pat Delaney for Foley (65).
Brosna Gaels: John Corcoran; Ethan Keena, Aaron Daly, Jack Quinn; Paul Egan, Eoin Hennessy, Karl Daly; Seán Farrell, Gary Larkin (0-3); Kevin Kelly (0-6, 4 frees), James Langan, Ben Wilson; Joe Lowry (0-1), Mick Kelly (1-1), Declan Rohan (0-1).