Shels hold off big fightback
Oylegate were second best
SHELMALIERS 2-19 OYLEGATE-G’BRIEN 1-19
SHELMALIERS WITHSTOOD a spirited second-half Oylegate-Glenbrien fightback to take victory in the Pettitt’s Senior hurling championship Group B tie in Bellefield on Sunday.
The Hollymount side were nine points up at the interval and led by as many as eleven early in the second-half, but they were left battling all the way to the final whistle, as the Enniscorthy District team closed within two in additional time.
However, there was to be no dramatic end as Shelmaliers blocked a late drilled effort by Podge Doran, drove up the field and wrapped up their win with Ross Banville’s ninth point.
As gutsy as Oylegate-Glenbrien were, they were second best for long spells. Shelmaliers operated the two-man full-forward line, much like their opponents, with Eoghan Nolan and Seán Keane-Carroll a handful.
Oylegate-Glenbrien weren’t helped in that department by an early injury, with the loss of the experienced Fergus Heffernan a substantial one. They re-adjusted but Nolan and Keane-Carroll, while a little raw, are a tough mixture of pace and power that proved tricky to curtail.
The intensity probably wasn’t at the level of the preceding game in the opening half, but it suited Oylegate-Glenbrien just fine for the opening 23 minutes. They were sitting pretty, leading by 0-8 to 0-6 playing against the breeze.
Seamus Casey had five of those points, Doran got a couple, and Conor Heffernan had the other. Yet, it was at the other end where it seemed the opening goal was inevitably going to come.
Keane-Carroll’s handpass to the net after he lost his hurl was not included early on, and Nolan drilled a shot into the side-netting a short time later.
Banville and Conor Hearne did have a pair of minors each on the board as the Shels kept in touch.
The Over The Water men did serious damage from the 25th minute until half-time, scoring 2-5 without reply.
They had already taken a 0-9 to 0-8 lead when Aaron Murphy and Keane-Carroll combined to set Nolan away for the opening goal.
John Foley made two remarkable stops to ensure further damage wasn’t done, but there was nothing the Oylegate-Glenbrien netminder could do to keep a rasping Conor Hearne shot from finding the net in added time as Shelmaliers took a 2-11 to 0-8 lead.
The advantage was eleven when Nolan flighted over a 36th-minute point, but slowly Oylegate-Glenbrien started to chip away.
They still didn’t seem to be at their high octane best, not until Mark Kavanagh’s long ball was hauled in by Doran and he battled through two tacklers to find the net in the 48th minute.
That made it 2-17 to 1-14, and Keane-Carroll picked off the next point but Kavanagh responded.
Casey nailed two dead-balls and Doran split the uprights as the deficit narrowed to three in the 56th minute.
When they desperately needed to keep the momentum going, Oylegate-Glenbrien took seven minutes to find their next point, another Casey free deep into added-time.
Then, after Doran’s shot was blocked, the Shels broke and Banville wrapped up their first win of the 2019 championship campaign.
Shelmaliers: Brian Murphy; Andre O’Brien, Aidan Cash, Craig Parker; Conor Walsh, Glen Malone, Eoin Doyle; Brian Malone (capt., 0-1), Simon Donohoe (0-1); Conor Hearne (1-2), Aaron Murphy, Ross Banville (0-9, 5 frees); James Cash (0-1), Seán Keane-Carroll (0-3), Eoghan Nolan (1-2). Sub. - Ciarán O’Shaughnessy for Walsh (60+1).
Oylegate-Glenbrien: John Foley; Fergus Heffernan, Michael Heffernan, Mike Kelly; Ciarán Hourihane, Damien Reck, Mark Kavanagh (capt.); Peter Rowley (0-2), Shane Reck (0-1); Conor Nolan, Jamie Reck, Jack Reck; Conor Heffernan (0-1), Podge Doran (1-3), Seamus Casey (0-11, 9 frees, 1 ‘65). Subs. - Robert O’Connor for F. Heffernan, inj. (7), Fiachra Hourihane (0-1) for Nolan (31), Fergal Doran for C. Heffernan (49).
Referee: John Carton (Monageer-Boolavogue).