Counsel’s best display of season not enough to foil Kieran’s
ST. KIERAN’S (KILKENNY) GOOD COUNSEL (N ROSS) 1-15 0-13
A BATTLING Good Counsel were eased out of the Top Oil Leinster Schools Senior hurling ‘A’ championship at the semi-final stages in the Carlow Training Centre in Fenagh on Saturday.
The New Ross school came into the game as underdogs after struggling to make an impact in their group stages loss to Kilkenny C.B.S.
They found their best performance of the season here in tough conditions, but it wasn’t enough to get the better of a classy St. Kieran’s.
The howling wind, blowing straight down the field, made this a game of two halves. Good Counsel had the benefits of the gale in the opening period and in reality didn’t have enough of a lead at the break (0-7 to 0-5).
The credit for that has to go to St. Kieran’s who had their tactics, and implementation of them, down to an art form. They knew they had to do a lot of hard work running with possession, and they were more than happy to do it successfully.
The Kilkenny school also excelled with their positioning. Countless times Good Counsel got a long clearance in, one that should leave a team under pressure downwind, but time and again the eventual winners had the spare man in the correct spot to mop up possession.
It was a slog for Good Counsel to build a lead, as they had a few wides but nothing that would be deemed overly wasteful. It’s hard to fault the boys in blue and white as they gave it everything, they were just up against a slightly better side.
Having led by 0-5 to 0-1 after 16 minutes, they were probably a little disappointed to go in just two ahead.
A.J. Redmond scored three of those from placed balls, while the impressive Conor Foley and powerful Colman O’Sullivan also registered in that spell.
The Counsel lads were unable to create a clearcut goal chance either, despite Eoin O’Brien and Paddy Whitty looking like a handful when they got good ball.
Four Conor Kelly points and a Cian Kenny strike were enough to keep Kieran’s in touch at the break, despite Whitty getting his name on the scoresheet.
Good Counsel now had the unenviable task of protecting a two-point lead into a battering breeze, but they put in a tremendous effort. Despite a Redmond free, Kieran’s were within one five minutes after the resumption.
The killer score was undoubtedly the only goal of the game, which came in the 37th minute. Kyle Martin had only recently repelled a bullet from Conor Kelly, but there was absolutely nothing the Rathnure clubman could do about a peach of a Cian Kenny finish to the top left corner.
It gave St. Kieran’s their first lead of the game (1-7 to 0-8), and Good Counsel were never able to get closer than that again.
What the New Ross boys proved was their ability to play the short, sharp passing game, but overall it was just too tough an ask against the wind.
They were still right in the game with ten minutes left. Redmond had just notched his sixth point to leave two between the sides again (1-9 to 0-10), but the legs just died slightly in the final stages.
Yet, there was no throwing in the towel. Foley and Redmond scored in the last two minutes of normal time to leave a puck of the ball in it (1-12 to 0-12).
It’s just that the energy reserves weren’t there to complete the job, and St. Kieran’s advanced to the decider opposite the winners of Kilkenny C.B.S. and Coláiste Eoin from Stillorgan.
Good Counsel: Kyle Martin (Rathnure); Billy Reid (Glenmore), Donal Porter (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown), Dylan Whelan (Fethard); Robin Davis (Mullinavat), Pádraig Dempsey (Mullinavat), Emmet Cullen (Gusserane); Jack Kehoe (Horeswood), Conor Foley (Horeswood, 0-2); Colman O’Sullivan (Tullogher-Rosbercon, 0-2), Paddy Whitty (Cloughbawn, 0-1), Cian Byrne (Fethard); Eoin O’Brien (The Rower-Inistioge), A. J. Redmond (Rathnure, 0-8, 7 frees), Conor Kehoe (St. Mullins). Sub. - Páraic Wickham (Adamstown) for Whitty (56).
St. Kieran’s: Diarmuid Galway; Killian Rudkins, Oisín Carroll, David Fogarty; Peter McDonald, Stephen Keoghan, Pádraic Moylan (0-1); Conor Kelly (0-6, 3 frees, 1 ‘65), Harry Walsh; Cian Kenny (1-3), Darragh Maher, Jack Doyle; Oisín Egan, Peter Donohoe (0-1), Denis Walsh (0-3). Subs. - Jamie Harkin (0-1) for Maher (39), Jack Sheridan for Egan (51).
Referee: Patrick Murphy (Carlow).