Ballymurn are final bound

SHOWING THE greater attacking flair, Crossabeg-Ballymurn eased their way to the final with a comfortable ten-point victory over St. Anne’s in this Greenstar Under-20 hurling Division 4 championship clash in Rathangan on Wednesday.

The eventual winners had opened impressively and by the end of the opening quarter they led by 1-3 to 0-1.

The goal was a fifth-minute effort from Locan Cummins, who shook off two defenders close to the endline before finding the corner of the net from an acute angle.

With St. Anne’s finding it difficult to settle into the game, it was no surprise that the Crossabeg-Ballymurn boys continued to dominate.

Mark Byrne punished every indiscretion in defence with explosive finishing from placed balls as they stretched their lead to 2-5 to 0-2 by the 20th minute, with their second goal a splendid Byrne finish from 21 metres on 19 minutes.

Corner-forward Paddy White gave St. Anne’s brief hope when he shot a goal from close range four minutes later.

However, Crossabeg-Ballymurn really turned their dominance into scores, particularly when Jack Fortune finished a three-man move to the net, giving his side a 3-8 to 1-4 interval lead.

However, on the resumption St. Anne’s came much more into the game, beginning to dominate the outfield possession through the fine play of Páraic Revile, Finn O’Driscoll, Barry Roche and Andy Kennedy, while wing-forward Conor Ryan sparked a mini-revival with a couple of excellent points.

But during their early second-half dominance they spurned two goal chances, with both Andy Kennedy and Ben Moore delaying their shots when a quick strike may well have produced goals that would have hauled them right back into contention.

While they continued to win the majority of outfield possession, all they had to show were further points from Conor Ryan and Kennedy, but it was goals they needed to give themselves a chance of victory.

Crossabeg-Ballymurn finished the game strongly, adding further points through Mark Byrne frees to run out the most impressive of winners and set up a final clash with Liam Mellows this evening (Tuesday).

Crossabeg-Ballymurn: Cathal Byrne; Stephen Cullen, Conor Barlow, Michael Whelan; Robert Murphy, David Kehoe, Conor Murphy; Luke Redmond (0-1), Jack Fortune (1-1); Lorcan Murphy (0-2), Ronan Devereux (0-1), Evan Kinlough; Lorcan Lacey, Lorcan Cummins (1-1), Mark Byrne (1-10, 0-8 frees, 0-1 ‘65). Subs. - Peter Duffy-O’Leary for C. Murphy, Seán Reck for Cullen, Michael Cullen for Devereux, inj.

St. Anne’s: Dylan Kavanagh; Michael Carroll, Vincent Carroll, Barry Stone; Páraic Reville, Brian Kavanagh, Billy Ryan; Finn O’Driscoll (0-2), Barry Roche (0-2); Criostóir Reville, Andy Kennedy (0-3, 1 free, 1 ‘65), Conor Ryan (0-4); Kevin Breen (0-1), Ben Moore, Paddy White (1-0). Sub. - Peter Cleary for M. Carroll.

Referee: Seán Slaven (Faythe Harriers).