Foley free forces draw

A LONG-RANGE Pádraig Foley free three minutes into injury-time earned Crossabeg-Ballymurn a share of the spoils with Monageer-Boolavogue in The Courtyard Ferns Intermediate hurling championship Group A opener in a blustery Oylegate on Saturday.

Their chance of rescuing something from the contest looked to be slipping away, as they hit four consecutive wides in the last five minutes, but when the opportunity was presented to Foley he held his nerve.

The Wexford District outfit could have even snatched victory at the death, but Niall Murphy’s speculative effort from near the sideline drifted wide of the right post.

Monageer-Boolavogue played with the wind at their backs in the first-half and built up a 1-5 to 0-2 advantage by the interval, with a 26th-minute goal from Matthew Dunne greatly aiding their cause.

Tony Murphy gave Crossabeg-Ballymurn the perfect start playing into the teeth of the wind, collecting a short free from Niall Murphy and popping the ball over the bar with just 45 seconds on the clock.

Two placed balls from Pádraig Flynn nosed Monageer-Boolavogue in front, but an impressive long-range free from Pádraig Foley drew their opponents level.

It took Monageer-Boolavogue a long time to make the most of the elements in a stop-start opening period, as after Ger Daly gave them a 0-3 to 0-2 lead with a booming point in the eighth minute, 17 scoreless minutes followed until a Diarmuid Fenlon free finally got them going again.

Crossabeg-Ballymurn would have been extremely happy as that stage, but the Enniscorthy District outfit got the fillip they needed when Ger Daly pumped a long ball forward into the danger zone and Matthew Dunne got the vital touch to divert it to the net, before a Bertie Gahan score gave them a six-point buffer at the break.

Two points were quickly pared off that lead, with Pádraig Foley (free) and Bill Eviston splitting the posts, but scores from Stephen Lacey and Diarmuid Fenlon (free), either side of a Niall Murphy placed ball, kept Monageer-Boolavogue very much in the hunt.

Two sweet Sam Kelly points in the space of a minute left just a goal between the sides (1-7 to 0-7), and Pádraig Foley reduced the deficit even further with a monster free from deep inside his own half in the 44th minute.

Monageer-Boolavogue showed they had plenty left in the tank though, and two points from the lively Diarmuid Fenlon, a free followed by an eye-catching score on the run in the 48th minute, gave them a four-point lead to cling on to.

Crossabeg-Ballymurn reduced it to the minimum by the 55th minute, with Oisín Foley and Niall Murphy knocking over nice scores from distance, before the latter converted a free to leave a point between the sides.

They continued to create chances, but wayward shooting looked like it could prove costly, until Pádraig Foley stood over a free inside his own half in the fourth minute of time added on and arrowed it straight and true between the posts.

Next up for Crossabeg-Ballymurn are HWH-Bunclody in St. Patrick’s Park on Sunday, with Monageer-Boolavogue meeting Buffers Alley in Gorey.

Crossabeg-Ballymurn: Noel Scallan; Declan Byrne, David Kehoe, Matty Sludds; David Murphy, Pádraig Foley (0-4 frees), Bill Eviston (0-1); Seamus Carroll, Conor Devereux (capt.); Sam Kelly (0-2), Oisín Foley (0-1), Shane O’Rourke; David Jackman, Tony Murphy (0-1), Niall Murphy (0-3, 2 frees). Subs. - Eoin McDonald for O. Foley, temp. (9), Martin Redmond for D. Murphy, temp. (26), Jack Fortune for Jackman (55), Eoin McDonald for O’Rourke (55).

Monageer-Boolavogue: Morgan Gahan; Liam Gahan, Ger Daly (0-1), Niall O’Reilly (capt.); Diarmuid Fenlon (0-4, 3 frees), Brian O’Loughlin, Mick Sweeney; Cathal Walsh, Noel Rowsome; Stephen Lacey (0-1), Pádraig Walsh, Matthew Dunne (1-0); Bertie Gahan (0-1), Pádraig Flynn (0-2, 1 free, 1 ‘65), David Mernagh. Subs. - Mark Gahan for Flynn, inj. (27), Tommy Breen for Sweeney (HT), Micheál Gahan for P. Walsh (51), Ian Hawkins for B. Gahan (55).

Referee: Philip Murphy (Faythe Harriers).