Strong Ballygarrett finish secures third win on trot
BALLYGARRETT 2-14 LIAM MELLOWS 2-12
BALLYGARRETT FOUND a little bit extra in the last five minutes as they narrowly defeated Gorey District rivals Liam Mellows by 2-14 to 2-12 in a Top Oil Intermediate ‘A’ hurling championship Group B game that was slow to get going at Camolin on Sunday.
Buoyed on by a fortunate Joe Gardiner goal before the break, and helped by the accuracy of young attacker Eoin Cullen, the Coolgreany men deservedly held a 2-10 to 1-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But then something clicked in the seasiders.
Their top scorer, Jack Hobbs, pulled back a free before twice setting up Jimmy Murphy to register from play.
Another Hobbs free after a late pull on Patrick Fleming made it 2-10 to 1-11, and although Richard Farrell pointed what looked like a nerve-settler for Liam Mellows, Eoin Corcoran’s punt at the posts veered off a Mellows hurl before settling in the net for the leveller.
And Harry Byrne, Murphy and Patrick Naughter settled the spoils with three of the last four points to condemn their rivals to two defeats on the trot.
Both sides had traded goals in the early proceedings, with Hobbs stitching a fifth-minute penalty after the alert Corcoran was upended, and Farrell outmuscling his immediate marker before striking Liam Mellows 1-1 to 1-0 in front two minutes later.
Farrell’s tussle with Seamus Doyle at the edge of the square was an interesting sub-plot to an otherwise mundane first-half, with Farrell having a goal ruled out for a square ball infringement not long after goaling.
The poor standard of the hurling on display was best summed up by both sides sharing twelve wides between them in the first quarter, but Liam Mellows gained a huge slice of luck on 24 minutes when Joe Gardiner’s mishit shot was dropped over the whitewash by Ballygarrett’s Shane Quinn.
The goalkeeper made amends with a smart stop on Marc Halpin later on, and also denied Farrell late on when Mellows threatened again.
A hat-trick of Cullen frees helped open up that gap, before Ballygarrett eventually found their groove to clinch a third victory.
Ballygarrett: Shane Quinn; Eddie Redmond, Seamus Doyle, Johnny Sinnott; Brian O’Connor, Darren Morris, Colm Kennelly; Stephen Redmond (0-1), Seán O’Brien; Harry Byrne (0-1), Patrick Naughter (0-1), Jimmy Murphy (0-3); Eoin Corcoran (1-0), Jack Hobbs (capt., 1-8, 0-7 frees, 1-0 pen.), Paddy Fleming. Subs. - Killian Doyle for Sinnott (51), Adam Fleming for P. Fleming (59).
Liam Mellows: Darragh Murphy; Chris Callanan, Conor Cleary, Risteárd Kinsella; Frank Roche, Colin Kennedy (capt., 0-1 free), Ross Cody (0-1); Danny Gardiner, Aaron Condren; Stephen Moloney, Brendan Halpin (0-2), Joe Gardiner (1-0); Marc Halpin, Richard Farrell (1-1), Eoin Cullen (0-7, 5 frees). Sub. - Yusuf Frih for Cullen (52).
Referee: John O’Loughlin (Monageer-Boolavogue).