Oulart coast past depleted reds
OULART-THE BALLAGH FETHARD 5-15 1-8 OULART-THE BALLAGH eased past a limited Fethard side in the preliminary round of the Greenstar Under-21 hurling Premier championship in a dreary Oulart on Tuesday.
It was evident even before the game started that things were not looking good for Fethard, who only took to the field 15 minutes after the scheduled start time.
Even then they had to proceed with only 13 players, with their remaining numbers arriving ten minutes after the throw-in.
They did manage to open the scoring in the first minute through Mikie Dwyer, however that joy was shortlived as the home side raced seven points clear by the tenth minute, with 1-2 from Murtha Doyle and three points from the lively Billy Dunne.
When Fethard finally had a full side, Dwyer added a second but then Oulart-The Ballagh completely took over proceedings with a goal from Martin ‘Ógie’ Storey, two from Cathal Kenny, and points from Dunne and Dean Fortune, leaving them 16 ahead at halftime with Dwyer converting two frees for the visitors.
Fethard, to their credit, kept battling against a clearly superior side and gave it everything as the second-half commenced.
Dwyer traded scores with Doyle and Bryan Power did likewise with Storey before a defensive error let Dwyer, arguably the best player on the field, through for a well-taken goal.
However, the game was as good as over when the deadly-accurate Doyle found Craig Davitt who fired to the net in the 38th minute.
There would be no stopping the eventual winners at this stage and, with Kevin Sheridan and David Rossiter remaining strong in defence and Dunne in midfield, they outscored the visitors by six points to two in the final quarter for a 19-point win.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Cathal Sinnott; Kevin Sinnott, Kevin Sheridan, Séan Murphy; Conor Lawless, David Rossiter, Darragh Nimmo; Billy Dunne (0-6, 4 frees), Darragh Brennan; Dean Fortune (0-1), Cormac Finn, Craig Davitt (1-0); Martin Óg Storey (1-3), Murtha Doyle (1-4), Cathal Kenny (2-0). Subs. - Cian Kelly for Brennan, Barry Sinnott (0-1) for Kenny, Robbie Dunne for Storey, Niall Nimmo for Murphy, Daryl Gray for Lawless.
Fethard: Niall Roche; Seán Sutton, Christopher Molloy, Martin Doyle; James Dillon, Seán Donohoe, Ricky Rowe; Joe Sutton, Bryan Power (0-1); Jack Pierce, Mikie Dwyer (1-6, 0-4 frees, 0-1 ’65), Jimmy Sutton (0-1); Killian Molloy, Evan Rowe, Mikey Barden. Subs. - Daniel Johnson for K. Molloy, Richard Waters for Pierce, Molloy for Jimmy Sutton, Jimmy Sutton for Joe Sutton. Referee: David O’Leary (Rathnure). WALKOVER: Oylegate-Glenbrien had a bloodless passage into the quarter-finals as they received a walkover from the Forth and Bargy Gaels combination.
They will host St. Martin’s tonight (Tuesday), with the winners to face Naomh Eanna or Shelmaliers.