Joyce free earns replay
OULART-BALLAGH 2-12 GLYNN-B’TOWN 2-12 (AET) A FREE from Matt Joyce earned Glynn-Barntown another bite of the cherry after an absorbing Greenstar Under-21 hurling Premier championship quarter-final in Killurin on Tuesday.
With regular free-taker Aaron Kehoe just departed from the field after suffering an injury, the responsibility fell to Joyce and he made no mistake to split the posts for the solitary score of a cagey second period of extra-time.
Glynn-Barntown would have been devastated had they lost this one, given that a lightning start to the second-half gave them a six-point lead that looked to have them on the road to victory, but Oulart-The Ballagh battled back bravely to force extra-time.
The men in red and black made the brighter start and were 1-1 to the good on eight minutes, with Billy Dunne opening the scoring from a placed ball and Martin Og Storey grabbing a goal.
Dunne floated a delivery into the danger zone, which was gathered by Murtha Doyle, who cleverly found Storey and the full-forward made no mistake, expertly batting the ball beyond goalkeeper Ciarán Joyce.
Glynn-Barntown patiently played their way back into the game though, and got the next three points on the board through Matt Joyce, James Stafford and Aaron Kehoe (free).
However, Oulart-The Ballagh continued to give as good as they got, with Billy Dunne, who was the most prominent player in the first-half, firing over four more points, while Ben O’Shea, Aaron Kehoe and Matt Doyle responded for Glynn-Barntown to leave the visitors with a two-point advantage at the break (1-5 to 0-6).
Glynn-Barntown flew out of the blocks in the second-half, scoring 2-2 in the opening six minutes to put themselves firmly in the driving seat.
With the half only a minute old, Ian Moran buried the ball to the corner of the net, and after Aaron Kehoe had split the posts, the green flag was waving again moments later when Ben O’Shea went on a mazy run and finished with aplomb.
Fionn Cooney quickly added a point and the home side looked to be on their way.
However, Oulart-The Ballagh got the lifeline they needed on 41 minutes when Dean Fortune blocked down an attempted clearance, raced forward and kept his cool to find the back of the net.
The deficit was down to a point with three minutes remaining, with Billy Dunne (two) and substitute Daryl Gray on the mark for Oulart-The Ballagh and Kevin Mahoney replying for the hosts.
However, Glynn-Barntown looked to have turned the tide back their way when Rowan White arrowed over a sideline cut with just a minute remaining to restore the two-point gap, but late points from Billy Dunne and Dean Fortune forced extra-time.
Billy Dunne and Aaron Kehoe then swapped frees before a booming effort from Kevin Sheridan put Oulart-The Ballagh narrowly ahead as the sides switched ends, but Matt Joyce had the final say with the equaliser with three minutes remaining.
Glynn-Barntown: Ciarán Joyce; David Clarke, Callum O’Shea, Shane Codd; Matt Doyle (0-1 free), Jack Fenlon, Rowan White (0-1 line ball); James Stafford (0-1), Pádraig Weafer; Kevin Mahoney (0-1), Aaron Kehoe (0-4, 3 frees), Fionn Cooney (0-1); Ian Moran (1-0), Matt Joyce (0-2, 1 free), Ben O’Shea (1-1). Subs. - Daniel Carroll for Moran, Frank Hynes for O’Shea, Ian Moran for Carroll, Ben O’Shea for Kehoe.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Cathal Sinnott; Conor Lawless, Kevin Sheridan (0-1), Seán Murphy; Darragh Brennan, David Rossiter, Darragh Nimmo; Aidan Murphy, Billy Dunne (0-9, 5 frees, 1 ‘65); Craig Davitt, Barry Sinnott, Dean Fortune (1-1); Murtha Doyle, Martin Og Storey (1-0), Cathal Kenny. Subs. - Daryl Gray (0-1) for Sinnott, Cormac Finn for A. Murphy, Bradley Collier for S. Murphy, Aidan Murphy for Nimmo.
Referee: Damien Donovan (Volunteers).