Cloughbawn upset formbook
Fancied Oulart-The Ballagh beaten by fired up rivals
CLOUGHBAWN 2-16 OULART-THE BALLAGH 3-7
WHAT’S RARE is wonderful as Cloughbawn turned in an awesome display to close in on their first Minor title with six points to spare over a shocked Oulart-The Ballagh in this thrilling Wexford People Under-17 hurling Roinn 1 championship final in St. Patrick’s Park, Enniscorthy, on Saturday.
Oulart-The-Ballagh had been so impressive in their path to the final, which led to them being installed as pre-match favourites, but Cloughbawn shattered this myth with a display that saw them control this game for the most part, with a number of outstanding individual displays leading the way.
However, they could rightly boast that this was a tremendous team effort. Such was their impressive start into the breeze that they dished out an early wake-up call to their opponents.
And while Oulart-The Ballagh responded to lead by the minimum margin at the break, one felt that but for a fortuitous goal five minutes before half-time, they would have found real difficulty in hauling their opponents back in.
As Oulart-The Ballagh pushed forward in search of scores on the re-start, they left lots of space around midfield, and it was from here that Liam Flood and Eanna Doyle, along with the outstanding Patrick Whitty at centre-forward, masterminded Cloughbawn’s victory effort.
With Shane Kehoe inspirational at centre-back, they pursued victory with a real appetite. Playing some wonderful hurling, they quickly closed out their opponents as they picked off excellent scores to get them over the line in hugely impressive fashion.
Cloughbawn set out their stall from the opening minutes. Playing with great energy, they contested every ball, taking the lead inside 30 seconds when Eanna Doyle drove through the centre to point.
This was followed by two Patrick Whitty pointed frees to leave them leading 0-3 to nil after ten minutes.
Oulart-The Ballagh quickly realised they were in a contest, having to wait until the 14th minute for their opening score, an Adam McRedmond point.
The sides went on to trade points, but with Whitty creating havoc in the opposition defence it was no surprise when they eventual winners led by 0-7 to 0-3 after 24 minutes.
One minute later Oulart-The Ballagh were handed a lifeline when a 50-metre Billy Dunne free drifted all the way to the corner of the net, and then one minute into additional time, Dunne beat ‘keeper Ryan Murphy at his near post from an acute angle to give his side a 2-4 to 0-9 interval lead.
Within three minutes of the restart, Cloughbawn were back in front through points from Whitty (free) and Eanna Doyle.
After 39 minutes a Dunne pointed free had the sides level. They were still deadlocked (0-12 to 2-6) entering the final quarter, with the game turning one minute later.
A long Whitty free rebounded back into play off an upright, and Michael Murphy was on hand to crash the loose ball to the net, giving his side a 1-12 to 2-6 lead to take into the closing stages.
Both teams went on to miss chances before a 50th-minute Gary Kehoe point left his side ahead by 1-13 to 2-6.
Five minutes from the end a Darragh Redmond pinpoint cross was delightfully finished to the net by Gary Kehoe, but one minute later their opponents bounced right back with a Jim Finn goal to reduce the deficit to three points (2-13 to 3-7).
Refusing to panic, Cloughbawn went on to finish out the game with three unanswered points through Whitty, with a great individual effort, Liam Flood and a Whitty pointed penalty, to leave them most deserving winners.
Cloughbawn: Ryan Murphy; Jack Feeney, Fionn Codd, Neil Foley; Darragh Kehoe, Shane Kehoe (0-1), Ciarán Murphy; Liam Flood (0-1), Eanna Doyle (0-2); Gary Kehoe (1-1), Patrick Whitty (0-10, 7 frees, 1 pen.), Gary Kennedy; Darragh Redmond, Michael Fleming, Michael Murphy (1-1). Subs. - Jeff Buckley for Murphy, also Josh Buckley, Cathal Doyle, Dylan Mooney, Aaron McManus, Nathan McDonald.
Oulart-The Ballagh: Lee O’Connor; Dan Nolan, Darragh Hayes, David O’Gorman; Daire Swords, Aaron Doyle, Jack Corrigan; Aaron Byrne, Chris Lawless (0-1); Lorcan Nimmo, Billy Dunne (2-2, 1-2 frees), Jim Finn (1-2); Gerard Kennedy, Adam MacRedmond (0-1), Declan Sinnott (0-1). Subs. - Bertie Finn for Corrigan, John Roche for Nolan, Edward O’Dowd for Sinnott, Pierce Redmond for Nimmo, also Nathan Browne, Euan Kennedy, Stephen Davitt, Dylan O’Gorman.
Referee: Joe Kelly (Naomh Eanna).