Good show from Counsel
GOOD COUNSEL BORRIS VS 2-16 0-5
SHOWING greater efficiency in attack, particularly through the second thirty minutes, Good Counsel College fashioned a well-deserved seventeen-point victory over Borris VS in their opening Leinster Colleges ‘A’ Senior hurling championship game played in Adamstown on Wednesday last.
After a lacklustre first half, Good Counsel and in particular county Minor A.J. Redmond, showed far greater intensity on the resumption, as they brought their game to new heights, with the result they totally dominated this period, so much so that the Carlow school could only manage two second half points, which was a reflection of the dominance of their opponents.
A dominant opening seven minutes saw Good Counsel College race into a 0-6 to 0-0 lead after a Paidi O’Shea point had opened their account within one minute of the start.
Within the following two minutes they had tagged on further points through Mark Kehoe and Jack Kehoe.
Totally dominant through this opening passage of play they turned that dominance into further points through Mark Kehoe and two AJ Redmond efforts, one free, to lead 0-6 to 0-0 after just seven minutes play.
When it looked as if the game was slipping away from them, Borris somehow managed to play their way back into contention through two Conor Treacy pointed frees followed by an Eoin Whelan effort to reduce the deficit to three points, 0-6 to 0-3, at the end of the opening quarter.
Amazingly after such a promising start Good Counsel College went through a barren spell failing to score from the seventh minute until just on the break when Cian Byrne pointed a 65 that left his side with an interval lead of 0-7 to 0-3.
But whatever hope Borris had entertained of causing an upset when turning over with the breeze vanished within one minute of the restart when Jack Kehoe pounced on a breaking ball in front of goal to power a low shot to the net giving his side a seven-point advantage which they were never going to subsequently relinquish.
As the half progressed the Good Counsel dominance became more pronounced as they were reacting quickest to the breaking ball all over the pitch with Redmond in particular now in dominant form in attack.
After the Rathnure clubman saw what appeared a 43rd minute goal-bound shot rebound back off the crossbar, he secured the points for his side when he linked up with the skilful Cian Byrne to finish a superb move to the net, giving his side a 2-13 to 0-5 lead at that stage, with Borris’ two points coming through Conor Treacy frees.
While it was not the most impressive of displays, Good Counsel will now be seeking to build on that second-half performance to take the points from their final group game securing a semi-final place in the process.