Anne’s run riot after break as Alley

ST. ANNE’S BUFFERS ALLEY

ST. ANNE’S enjoyed near total supremacy in the second-half on the way to a landslide 3-22 to 1-12 victory over a despondent Buffers Alley in a largely uneventful Pettitt’s Senior hurling championship Group A encounter in a sunny Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday.

Having acquitted themselves well in a narrow opening round loss to defending champions St. Martin’s back in April, the Rathangan/Cleariestown contingent would have targeted this game as their best opportunity of notching their first win of the campaign, but not even the most optimistic of sky blue supporters would have envisioned having 19 points to spare in the end.

Buffers Alley were simply well below the standard required for this level, a point best surmised by the fact that they only managed 1-1 in the entire second-half plus considerable injury-time.

In fact, the victors managed the same score from the substitutes’ bench in the final ten minutes as the Alley compiled during that entire period, and with assignments to come against St. Martin’s and Shelmaliers, it’s hard to see any improvement results-wise in the near future.

Buffers Alley actually enjoyed a slim advantage by the 13th minute, as three points from Andrew Kenny (including one free and one ‘65) left them 0-4 to 0-3 in front.

But when Liam Rochford fed Mikey Fogarty a minute later, the former jockey transferred to Redmond Barry, and the veteran attacker picked his spot in the Clonard end net with aplomb.

Willie Doran and Paul O’Leary responded with nice points for the Monamolin men, but when Liam Óg McGovern hared into open ground on 21 minutes, the danger signs were there as the Wexford attacker had only one thing on his mind.

His shot at goal was first saved by Darren O’Brien and then cleared off the line by Ciarán Kenny, but Barry followed up to tap home from close range as St. Anne’s eventually went into the break with a 2-7 to 0-11 advantage.

What happened next was a systems failure from Buffers Alley as St. Anne’s prospered on a lack of ideas from their opponents.

A deft flick off his boot from Jonathan Fogarty allowed Barry to knock over his second point of the half on 36 minutes, while Cormac Foley pulled a much-needed point back for the Alley.

Referee Niall McDonald over-ruled a wide call from one of his umpires as Rochford pointed, and although Foley did well to rattle the net with a turn and finish on 50 minutes, the horse had bolted long before then.

Indeed, St. Anne’s added 1-7 to the scoreboard in injury time, with Rochford stitching their third goal after being teed up by McGovern, and substitutes Shane Mythen and Andy Kennedy hitting points to seal an emphatic win. th ov Bu Cu Ro O’ (0(1 Da fo (5 Ci Se Ro 1) 1 -J Me