St. Anne’s shade it
Composed finish downs Craanford
ST. ANNE’S CRAANFORD
A LOW-SCORING New Ross Standard Under-14 hurling Division 2 shield final was settled by the composure of St. Anne’s, as they accounted for the last three scores of the game to eke out a 0-9 to 1-4 victory over a determined Craanford in St. Patrick’s Park.
Despite edging it in the size stakes, the eventual victors found the Gorey District crew a very plucky outfit to overcome, and looked in some peril when substitute Ordhan Kelly prodded home the only goal of the game to give Craanford a 1-4 to 0-6 lead midway through the second-half.
To a man, Craanford’s defence were largely impregnable at close-quarters, but they had no answer to St. Anne’s adroit point-taking from further out the field, a policy that reaped maximum reward at the end.
Victorious captain Finn Ryan was the first to showcase that alternative approach with a point from mid-range after a fine catch on three minutes, while his teammate Cathal Murphy also found the target from a free from a similar distance.
Jack Fleming was the sole Craanford contributor to the points column, and he landed placed balls either side of that Murphy free to help restore balance by the tenth minute, while his point from play on 13 minutes was made possible when he made a hook in the build-up.
But Murphy responded when he peeled away to point after being released by Andrew Moran, and though the same player had an effort at goal from a close-in free well contained, Ryan’s second long-ranger of the half meant that the Rathangan starlets held a narrow 0-4 to 0-3 half-time lead.
Murphy (free) and a nice score from Eoin Staples sandwiched another Fleming free as St. Anne’s built the biggest gap thus far in the early throes of the second-half.
However, Craanford gained a lifeline when Kelly pounced for that green flag after Fleming’s free dropped into the red zone, but they failed to add further to the scoresheet as instead St. Anne’s timed their run to the finish line to perfection.
Murphy held his nerve from a free to restore balance at 0-7 to 1-4 by the 39th minute, while Staples wisely took his point seven minutes later.
And Murphy’s second successful free right at the end ensured a hard-fought victory for St. Anne’s.
St. Anne’s: Jack O’Brien; J.J. Harpur, Rory O’Brien, Darren Moore; Matthew Dayot, Andrew Moran (0-2 frees), Dylan Moran; Liam Berry, Finn Ryan (capt., 0-2); Cathal Murphy (03, 2 frees), Eoin Staples (capt., 0-2), Rory Byrne; Brad Walsh, Michael Cullen, Liam Whelan. Subs. - Grisha Dietvorst for Whelan, Conan Phillips for Walsh, Eoin McMahon for Cullen, also Conor Kennedy, Darragh Sinnott, Darragh Browne, Mogie Barry-Cleary, Rúairí Flannery.
Craanford: Dean Wadding; Lee Clare, Maurice Tobin, Ted Kenny; Brendan Greene, Kevin Hyland, James Doyle; Brendan Tobin, Ciarán Doyle; Paddy Redmond, Jack Fleming (0-4, 3 frees), Danny Kenny; Billy Redmond, Pádraig Donohoe, Tomás Tobin. Subs. - Ordhan Kelly (joint capt., 1-0) for D. Kenny, Michael Kinsella for P. Redmond, Seán Doyle (joint capt.) for B. Redmond, also Kylan Doyle.
Referee: Brendan Martin (Ballyhogue).