Naomh Eanna pip Ferns
NAOMH EANNA FERNS ST. AIDAN’S 2-13 2-12 A MATCH which started at a snail’s pace concluded in a welter of excitement, with Naomh Eanna edging out Ferns St. Aidan’s by one point at Camolin on Friday in Group B of the Junior hurling championship.
The opening ten minutes produced a litany of errors, with not a single score and scarcely a meaningful attempt to produce one until John O’Brien sent an effort wide of the Ferns goal.
The main topic of interest for spectators during this phase of the game was how many yards of bandaging were required to patch up the head wound sustained by Naomh Éanna midfielder Kenneth Byrne.
The casualty was still off the pitch being attended to when team-mate Michael Murphy final- ly slotted over the opening point from a free awarded for a foul on his blood injury replacement, Fionn Doyle.
From there on, the fixture slipped into a more productive groove with the townies holding a slight edge courtesy of a towering long-range free from goalie Darragh Hughes.
Then Ferns slipped into the lead as Niall Byrne found the net behind Hughes with a shot on the rebound after Colm Whelan had the initial strike on 20 minutes.
More goals followed, coming thick and fast in the third quarter, with a couple for Gorey’s lean corner-forward Dillon Kenny, the first from a great cross by John O’Brien and the second snapped up after Pádraig Dunbar spilled the ball his way.
But the best of the lot was a stylish effort at the other end of the pitch, with Eddie Cullen showing his class to catch the sliothar and convert with impressive power on the stroke of half-time.
At that stage, Ferns trailed by two points and they had to wait until 51 minutes had been played before they hauled themselves level, only for some nerveless free-taking by Michael Murphy to see the men in green safely home.
Next up for Gorey are St. Mary’s (Rosslare).
Naomh Éanna: Darragh Hughes (0-1 free); Pat Cullen, Simon Doran, John Stafford; Daniel Sunderland, Michael Bernie, Ross Murphy; John Doyle, Kenneth Byrne; Dara McDonald (0-1), Niall Kirwan (0-1), Eoin McGuckin; John O’Brien (0-1), Michael Murphy (0-9, 7 frees), Dillon Kenny (2-0). Subs. - Fionn Doyle for Byrne (temp.), Doyle for Sunderland, Seamus O’Donnell for Kenny.
Ferns St. Aidan’s: Pádraig Dunbar; Peter Nolan, Niall Maguire, Paul Lancaster; Seán Walsh, Patrick Breen, Jack O’Hagan; Peter O’Toole, Colm Whelan; Pádraig Walsh (0-1), Anthony Dwyer (0-1), Eddie Cullen (1-8, 0-5 frees); Paddy O’Leary, Niall Byrne (1-0), Ciarán Doran. Subs. - Donal Redmond for Lancaster, Andy Cash (0-1) for Doran, Keith Breen for Byrne.
Referee: Paul Browne (Clonee).