G time after thriller
O finally end strong Bunclody challenge
lan made it 0-3 to 0-1 rst quarter after a foul ward Dunbar. anger arrived from the ghes spotted a gap ng Colm Kavanagh. o Mark Gethings, acass in full stride, and Kavanagh’s net for a
y replied in an instant with a shot that went t they did equalise on in the 19th minute. en showed his defenring a weakly-struck ward Dunbar despite d and knocking it out Nolan hit off the post. en under some presed rich rewards from 22nd minute. Mark ughes were involved id a handpass across to his nephew, Dean d it home to give the e a 2-1 to 0-4 lead. though, only for 40 seconds in fact, as Aidan Nolan claimed a mark from the kick-out and found David Reck, with county Minor Peadair Cowman racing forward from left half-back to accept his pass and equalise with a well-taken goal.
Mark Boland and Bobby Hughes responded to that setback with points, with an Aidan Nolan free in added time, again after a foul on Edward Dunbar, leaving the minimum in it at the break (2-3 to 1-5).
Supporters were treated to a Matty Forde masterclass for five minutes on the re-start, and it looked like being enough to secure the title.
He hadn’t scored up to that stage, but proceeded to pick off 1-3 in a devastating cameo that reminded everyone why he’s one of the most gifted footballers ever to don a Wexford jersey.
HWH-Bunclody trusted young Martin O’Connor, a fine prospect, to police the veteran, and to be fair he performed that task as well as anyone could have envisaged.
Despite that though, Forde shook him off after 21 seconds and lofted over a trademark point. Even better was to follow as O’Connor’s sole error saw a Peter Hughes delivery hop over his head and, although Patrick Kavanagh saved Forde’s first shot, he slotted the rebound home.
After kicking that first point with his left foot, he switched to his right for the second before converting a free, leaving Kilanerin clear by 3-6 to 1-5 with 25 minutes left.
Great credit is due to HWH-Bunclody though for the quality of their response, as they hit 1-4 without reply to draw level and kept their opponents scoreless for almost 22 minutes in the process.
Aidan Nolan started the revival with points from a Peadair Cowman pass, and a free earned by Colm Farrell.
Cowman made further inroads into the deficit with a point from an Edward Dunbar off-load, moments after Peter Atkinson caught a Nolan delivery but was bottled up before he could get his shot on goal away.
Another Nolan free made it a three-point game midway through the last quarter before Dunbar intercepted a line ball on the right and darted forward, finding Seán Kenny who planted his shot in the roof of the Kilanerin net.
All of a sudden it was level (2-9 to 3-6), and the red and whites had to try to win the title all over again.
It looked like they had achieved that too as they finally managed to regain some composure on the ball and pushed forward.
Niall Hughes ended their lengthy barren spell with a brilliant point from distance despite heavy pressure, and Mark Boland converted a free after Matty Forde was impeded.
When Niall Hughes nailed another kick from the 45-metre line from a Colm Kavanagh let-off it appeared to be the insurance score, with just 22 seconds left.
However, added time was less than one minute old when HWH-Bunclody struck for that sensational equaliser, with an Aidan Nolan shot that should have been saved somehow deceiving Tom Hughes and ending in the Clonard end net.
Extra-time yielded even more drama, with Colm Kavanagh’s late, late intervention finally breaking the resolve of HWH-Bunclody whose huge contribution to a game of such swaying fortunes won’t be forgotten.
Kilanerin: Tom Hughes; Aidan Jones, Brendan Hobbs, Rhys Owley; Gavin O’Toole, Colm Kavanagh (capt., 1-2), Richard Hughes; Niall Breen, Niall Hughes (0-2); Mark Boland (0-2, 1 free), Matty Forde (1-4, 0-1 free), Mark Gethings; Dean O’Toole (1-0), Peter Hughes, Bobby Hughes (0-2). Subs. - Emmet O’Toole (0-1) for P. Hughes, inj. (51), Tommy Boland for Gethings (53), Gearóid O Súilleabháin for B. Hughes (59), Denis Jones for R. Hughes (70+1), Tomás Owley for G. O’Toole (HT ET), Jim Hughes for N. Hughes, inj. (72), also Eoin O Luasaigh, Cillian O’Toole, Lee Owley, Edward Hughes, Damian Whelan, Colin Breen, Conor Devitt, Cathal O’Reilly.
HWH-Bunclody: Patrick Kavanagh; Billy Kelly, John Atkinson (capt.), Adam Hogan; Colm Farrell (0-1), Martin O’Connor, Peadair Cowman (1-1); Seán Kenny (1-0), Aidan Nolan (1-7, 0-6 frees); Eoin Kelly (0-1), Mark Sheehan, Josh Martin; Edward Dunbar, Peter Atkinson (0-1), David Reck. Subs. - John Dunne for Sheehan (HT), Keith O’Hara for Reck (53), James Moorhead for Martin (ET), Sheehan for Dunne (79), also Francis Reck, Enda Slevin, Jamie John Murphy, Páuric Sinnott, Matthew Byrne, Paddy Dunbar, Joe Kavanagh, Kevin Dunne, Paul Finn, Cathal Doyle, Conor Crean, Darren Kehoe, Niall Kelly.
Referee: Kevin Carty (Sarsfields).