Ten clubs out of 16 to contest last four in both codes
’VE JUST returned after a two-week break from work book-ended by attendance at the two All-Ireland Senior finals.
The hurling highlighted the sport in its purest form, as the two teams set up with attack as the priority and we were treated to some brilliant scores.
It doesn’t get much better than amassing a tally of 2-29 in the course of denying a superb team three titles in a row, and Tipperary deserve immense plaudits for playing the game in such an attractive manner given the prevalence of sweepers and defensive systems which are alien to my concept of hurling.
Considering the ball can travel from one end of the field to the other so quickly, it’s soul-destroying to see some counties inhibiting their own attacking talent by setting up with extra defenders.
Just look back on some of the superb goals Waterford scored in the course of their All-Ireland Under-21 final demolition of Galway.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see their Senior management deploying the same attacking abandon in 2017 and allowing the type of natural talent and flair deployed so brilliantly by the Bennett brothers in particular to blossom?
Turning to Sunday’s football final, I must say that it was one of the most gripping and absorbing deciders I have attended in a long time.
There appears to be mixed views regarding the quality of the game, with many onlookers focusing primarily on the numerous errors made by both teams.
However, I always find that actually attending a game in person is a lot different than viewing it at home on television, and I was thoroughly engrossed in it from start to finish, warts and all. Roll on the replay on October 1!
As for the domestic scene, our blitz-like adult championships have continued unabated in my absence, and we are now down to the last four in practically all of the main grades.
Eleven of the twelve semi-finals in the six football competitions will be played this coming weekend, with the hurling action to follow in early October.
Here’s one interesting statistic to consider: of the 16 clubs involved in the Senior, Intermediate, Intermediate ‘ A’ and Junior football penultimate rounds, no fewer than ten of them have also reached the same stage with their first hurling team.
This point is worth highlighting given our standing as a dual county, but more importantly in light of the constant claim in some quarters that it’s impossible to be successful in both codes.
The current situation would suggest that the opposite is in fact the case, certainly at club level at least where progress in one sport tends to complement the other.
For the record, three of the Senior hurling semi-finalists will have football games at the same stage this coming weekend: Glynn-Barntown (Senior), Ferns St. Aidan’s (Intermediate) and Cloughbawn (Intermediate ‘A’).
Two more of the Intermediate football semi-finalists also have a keen interest in how the hurling unfolds, namely Taghmon-Camross (Intermediate ‘A’) and Bannow-Ballymitty (Junior).
All four of the teams left in Intermediate ‘ A’ football are still engaged in hurling, with Cloughbawn joined by Crossabeg-Ballymurn (Intermediate), Craanford (Intermediate) and Duffry Rovers (Intermediate ‘A’).
Oylegate-Glenbrien will be looking to reach finals in Intermediate hurling and Junior football, while Gusserane will quickly turn from Sunday’s Senior football semi-final to a Junior hurling derby against Bannow-Ballymitty.
Success is definitely breeding success at club level, with the constant switching of codes from one week to the next embraced by all of the teams mentioned above.
The draws for the hurling semi-finals, made on Saturday, threw up a major window of opportunity in particular for Cloughbawn and Glynn-Barntown who have been pitted together at Senior level for the first time at that stage since 1997.
However, the stand-out fixture for me is Crossabeg-Ballymurn versus Oylegate-Glenbrien in Intermediate. Expect skin and hair to fly in that one! ST. MARTIN’S dug deep into their reserves to complete a memorable Wexford People Premier Minor hurling championship three-in-arow against Mogue O’Rahilly’s in Taghmon on Saturday.
The Piercestown-based club had coasted through the championship all the way to the final but they were given a cracking battle by a determined and undaunted Gusserane/Fethard combination.
In a see-saw game, it was probably a third quarter powerplay that got the champions over the line. Having been just a point ahead at the break (0-9 to 0-8), St. Martin’s won that spell 5-1 to move two scores ahead and their opponents would never again get within one.
The first-half was quite the battle. Pre-match talk of a real game, a fantastic spectacle and a huge battle looked hollow as the maroon men blitzed into 0-6 to 0-1 lead. However, a quick glance at the line-up shows that Mogue O’Rahilly’s are no mugs.
They shut down an impressive St. Martin’s attack for long spells. The players that needed to perform did. Gavin Sheehan was magnificent at full-back, and the Gusserane man is the biggest reason, among several, that their opposition failed to find the net for the first time this season.
But around him others shone too. St. Martin’s relied heavily on Rory O’Connor and Conor Coleman in the first-half and, while they became more of a sextet after the break, the New Ross District combo really unsettled the favourites.
St. Martin’s joint-captain O’Connor opened the scoring from almost 55 metres out in the first few seconds but Mark Rossiter replied from a dead-ball after Mark O’Neill was fouled. It was one of two times Mogue O’Rahilly’s pulled level, but they never led.
Philly Dempsey picked up a break in his own half, raced away and split the posts to make it 0-2 to 0-1. O’Connor pointed a free after a foul on Ben Stafford and soon added another from a ‘65 on the left.
Coleman opened his account from Jack Devereux’s feed in the eleventh minute before O’Connor notched his fourth score of the opening quarter from just inside the ‘65 following a foul on Adam Cantwell.
Trailing by 0-6 to 0-1, Mogue O’Rahilly’s had a purple patch of their own. While Conor Firman would go on to have a good game, he was being tested early by Mikie Dwyer. The Fethard forward scored his first point from his knees, when referee John O’Loughlin was playing advantage.
It was probably the biggest game of the Monageer-Boolavogue official’s short career but he handled it well, attempting to let the game flow when possible but calling it back quickly if a clear advantage failed to materialise.
Sam Wall broke away to cut the gap to three (0-6 to 0-3) and followed it with a free after Dwyer was fouled. Kevin O’Donohoe’s right wing score sliced another point off the Martin’s lead and the sides were level following Wall’s third point in the 21st minute.
Parity lasted less than 60 seconds, as a quick Conor Firman free picked out Coleman and he pointed. When Stafford was fouled for a second time in the period, O’Connor registered again to make it 0-8 to 0-6.
Coleman was blocked down a minute later, however, he quickly regained possession and registered his third minor. Mark O’Neill responded in the 27th minute from just outside the ’45, and it was followed by a Wall point from midfield after a clever Nathan Hayes handpass.
That left the game on a knifeedge at the break with the defending champions leading by 0-9 to 0-8. Mogue O’Rahilly’s must have felt confident at the change-around having repelled most of what St. Martin’s threw at them in the first 30 minutes.
The second-half was all change. The light breeze was definitely hampering St. Martin’s after the break but their half-back line and midfield took over the contest. Mogue O’Rahilly’s struggled to find the out-ball to Mikie Dwyer as frequently and the results weren’t positive.
Indiscipline didn’t help the underdogs. St. Martin’s clearly shifted the gameplan to running at defenders consistently and it paid dividends quickly with Stafford and Rory O’Connor winning frees that the latter converted.
Michael Codd took a line ball, received the pass back from O’Connor and made it 0-12 to 0-8 after 38 minutes. It was four straight points for St. Martin’s when their free-taker notched his eighth score after Kyle Firman was fouled.