O’Brien shines for Anne’s
ST. ANNE’S BALLYHOGUE
A HANDSOME haul of 3-7 from the impressive Dylan O’Brien helped St. Anne’s to a four-point victory over a gallant Ballyhogue outfit in their Greenstar Under-20 hurling championship Division 4A clash in Bree on Wednesday.
The Rathangan-based side threatened to run away with it when leading by 3-16 to 1-12 with less than 15 minutes remaining, but the hosts showed admirable resolve to get back within a goal, before a late Criostóir Reville point sealed the deal for St. Anne’s.
The visitors certainly began brightly and 2-2 from target man O’Brien helped them to a deserved 2-4 to 0-2 advantage by the twelfth minute.
The full-forward’s first goal came with ten minutes on the clock when he was fed by Criostóir Reville and finished with aplomb, and he looped in another three-pointer from wide on the left that deceived goalkeeper John Kehoe seconds later.
However, Ballyhogue gave themselves a semblance of hope when they got the green flag waving themselves in the 15th minute, with Cian Wickham gathering possession and blasting to the net.
St. Anne’s were 2-9 to 1-8 to the good at the interval and they looked to have put the game to bed in the 40th minute when the clinical O’Brien pounced for his third goal, being quickest to react to the loose ball to fire a ground stroke to the net.
Points from Brian Kavanagh, Conor Ryan, Criostóir Reville and Barry Roche helped them to a seemingly unassailable ten-point lead with 46 minutes on the clock, but Ballyhogue had other ideas and fought back bravely.
The piece of good fortune they craved came in the 50th minute when Peter Kelly took aim at the posts and his effort dropped into the goal, and four minutes later Enda Minogue reduced the gap to four points when he blasted a free to the roof of the net.
A Peter Kelly ‘65 in the 56th minute ensured there was only a puck of the ball between the sides (3-16 to 3-13), but a brief free-for-all took some of the sting out of the game.
When the dust had settled, referee Seamus Whelan showed a red card to Dylan O’Brien, to slightly blot the St. Anne’s talisman’s copybook, while the opposing number 14, Cian Wickham, also received his marching orders.
Criostóir Reville then had the final say of an absorbing contest, when he knocked over an injury time score to wrap up the points for St. Anne’s.
St. Anne’s: Peter Cleary; Barry Stone, Vincent Carroll, Kevin Redmond; Seán Staples, Brian Kavanagh (0-1), Michael Carroll; Páraic Reville (0-1), Barry Roche (0-1); Philip Rawson (0-2), Criostóir Reville (0-4), Conor Ryan (0-1); Kevin Breen, Dylan O’Brien (3-7, 0-4 frees), Paddy White. Sub. - Eric Molyneux for White (HT).
Ballyhogue: John Kehoe; Ronan Byrne, Cian Rochford, Darragh Byrne; Edward Byrne, Shane Fenlon (0-1), Matt Browne (0-1); Enda Minogue (1-6, 1-5 frees), Peter Kelly (1-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65); Tadhg Malone (0-1), Liam Rossiter, Daire Rochford (0-1); Conor Rossiter, Cian Wickham (1-0), Ian Donohue (0-1). Sub. - Chris Byrne for Donohue (48).
Referee: Seamus Whelan (Oylegate-Glenbrien).