O’Hare on song as Roche win opener
Roche Emmets 2-11 Lannleire 0-10 ANGLO PRINTERS JFC GROUP C ROCHE Emmets began their challenge for the Junior Championship crown with an eight point victory over Lannleire in a lively Group 3 encounter at Louth Village on Saturday evening.
The warm sunny conditions provided a real championship feel at Pairc Mochta and that was reflected on the field of play as the team provided a fast, high intensity game with plenty of good physical challenges thrown in.
Not for the first time, the scoring threat of Barry O’Hare proved the difference for Roche. The No 15 showed his extra bit of class as he fired over six points and the crucial goal in the 34th minute of the second half.
At the other end of the field, goalkeep- er Jamie O’Hare, also made an important contribution with vital double saves in either half, while the accuracy from his kick-outs also helped launch numerous Roche attacks.
In between, the Faughart side produced a solid and disciplined display that saw defend well and break quickly from the back as they set up a series of chances over the hour to deservedly come out on top.
For their part, Lannleire will be disappointed with the defeat but can take some consolation from a determined performance. An seven-point margin certainly didn’t reflect their efforts as they had Roche on their toes throughout and if they had availed of goal opportunities in either half things might have been different.
The Dunleer man set their stall out early on as they took the game to Roche from the opening whistle.
Colin Murphy fired over the opening two points inside four minutes, with the second effort just clipping the bar before going over.
Robbie Mack had a first point for Roche but soon after Liam Callan restored the two-point advantage before Dermot Carthy got on the end of a good move to raise a white flag for Roche.
Jamie O’Hare produced a double save to deny Liam Callan as he cut in and shot from a narrow angle, before Roche took a grip of the game. Barry O’Hare kicked two points before Carthy added a second to put their side two clear.
However, Lannleire rallied and points from Murphy and Callan had the deficit cut to just 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.
The game was in the balance at that stage but it was O’Hare who took control of matters as he scored 1-2 inside 11 minutes to give Roche some real breathing space. He added another point followed by a David Quigley effort to extend the gap to 1-10 to 0-7 on 50 minutes.
Lannleire were battling gamely but just not getting the scores on the board as they kicked a number of wides under pressure from the Roche defence.
Liam Callan and Gary Monaghan the gap to four to keep them in touch but two minutes from the end sub Evin Quigley settled the issue when he crashed home from close range after being set up by O’Hare.
ROCHE EMMETS: Jamie O’Hare; Ciaran Savage, Harry O’Connell, Dermot Carthy 0-2; Robbie Mackin 0-1, Liam Carthy, Gerry Murphy; Dan O’Connell 0-1, David Quigley 0-1; Liam Dawe, Thomas Campbell, David O’Connell; Kevin Callaghan, Barry O’Hare 1-6, Conor Carthy. Subs: Evin Quigley 1-0 for K Callaghan, Caoimhin Reilly for David O’Connell, Conor Mackin for T Campbell.
LANNLEIRE: John King; Andrew Flanagan, Brendan McEvoy, Paul McGeough; Michael O’Hare, Andrew Dowd, Jason Torris; Breen McGuinness, Paul Callan; Colin Murphy 0-4, Ian Mulroy, Liam Callan 0-5; Paul Doyle, Bob Murphy, Alan Murphy. Subs: Niall Lennon for B Murphy, Gary Monaghan 0-1 for A Murphy, Thomas Doyle for M O’Hare.
REFEREE: Des McDonnell.