Oulart boys best in epic Under-13 county final
Super fare in first final of the season
GOALS FROM Frank Gallagher and Eoin Mangan in the final minute of extra-time finally wrapped up the New Ross Standard Under-13 hurling Division 1 championship title for Oulart-The Ballagh after a dramatic night in the Ferns Centre of Excellence on Tuesday.
Having led by as much as ten points, the Enniscorthy District side were trailing by three some five minutes into stoppage time at the end of the 60 minutes when a combination of Mangan and Ben Harpur swiped on a breaking ball in the goalmouth to send the game into added periods.
While St. Martin’s just about kept with Oulart-The Ballagh in extra-time, levelling when James Hegarty batted to the net with one minute left, they never quite found the intensity that saw them dominate the second-half of the game and their opponents snatched the win at the death.
It really was a fantastic game of hurling between two teams that respected each other and played in the true spirit of fair play. When that happens, and the sides are evenly matched, spectators can sometimes be treated to the most organic, inspiring of contests and that’s exactly what the big crowd got here.
Oulart-The Ballagh looked like the team that won the round-robin stages as they built a first-half lead. The sensational Simon Roche netted within 15 seconds of the start and had 2-8 by the interval, including a superbly-taken second major.
Gallagher, Jack Dunne and Peter Wickham were all on the board for Oulart-The Ballagh too, but St. Martin’s did keep themselves in the game with goals from Eoin Sinnott and Eric O’Gorman on the counter to leave seven between them at the break (2-11 to 2-4).
Hardly conceivable at the interval, St. Martin’s completely dominated the second-half. It started with a Paul Coggins goal from distance, while Sinnott grabbed his second major on his way to a personal haul of 2-11 and Conn Mernagh was on fire as the Piercestown-based club moved 4-11 to 2-14 ahead.
However, when Mangan and Harpur swished on the ball and netted, after a crowded goal-line blocked Roche’s late free, the game was heading to extra-time.
Oulart-The Ballagh made the first burst for the line with Harpur finding the net in the opening half, but Hegarty’s batted major one minute from time looked to have stolen a replay until the champions grabbed two last-gasp goals.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Jason Rossiter; Jake Stamp, Dylan Butler (capt.), Lee Doyle; Georgie Kelly, Conor Blake, Oísín Moore; Ben Harpur (2-0), Kian O’Connor; Peter Wickham (0-2), Jack Dunne (0-1), Simon Roche (2-11, 0-7 frees); Aaron Royce, J.D. Masterson, Frank Gallagher (1-1). Subs. (rolling) - Matthew Ryan, Cole Fortune, Eoin Mangan (1-2), Daniel Gallagher, James O’Leary, Alex Howlin, Kevin Redmond, Dean Cox.
St. Martin’s: Callum McClean; Conor Mullan, Ben Larkin, Eoin Dodd; Nathan Roche, Paul Coggins (joint capt., 1-0), Leo Barry; Oscar Barry, Mark Hennessy (joint capt.); James Hegarty (1-0), Conn Mernagh (0-3), Alex Lafferty; Cormac Simpson, Eoin Sinnott (2-11, 0-9 frees, 0-1 ‘65), Eric O’Gorman (1-0). Subs. (rolling) - Luke Whitty, Charles Quirke, Ryan Sinnott, Ciarán Kelly, Eoin Dunne, Bobby Crosbie, Rory Roche, Charlie Murphy, MacDara Kavanagh, Alfie Jeffares, Timmy Somers.
Referee: Joe Kelly (Naomh Eanna).