Gorey caught on the line
PETTITT’S SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP GROUP A
A GROUP A draw for Gorey’s finest at Bellefield on Saturday confirmed their place in the Pettitt’s Senior championship quarter-finals but did not suffice to steer them clear of the winners of Group B in the knockout phase.
The lads in green led for most of the game but were caught on the line by St. Martin’s, who had the luxury of being able to use the fixture to experiment with their lineup as they were already through.
That the wind whistling in from the east was an influence on the hurling was evident from an early stage as defender Seán Doyle landed a point from halfway for the town team.
The half-back’s long distance enterprise was shortly followed by a goal from the penalty line struck with muscular accuracy past Luke White by Conor McDonald.
The inter-county forward was the player hauled down in the runup to the penalty and he continued to pose a threat as Naomh Éanna set about harvesting the breeze to establish a first-half advantage.
He popped up close to his own ’45 to land a monster of a point shortly afterwards to show that he was willing to put himself about far and wide in the club cause.
McDonald also arrowed a beautiful shot from the left touchline over White’s bar, underlining his versatility in attack.
However, the star player was by no means a one-man band, with Aodhán Doyle in particular mixing an eagerness to get on the ball with an ability to propel it on target.
Seven different players scored for the north county side in the opening half, including substitute Darragh Hughes, introduced after David O’Brien limped off with a leg injury.
They held a six-point (1-11 to 0-8) lead at the interval and then braced themselves for the inevitable reply from their opponents as the Piercestown-based outfit took the benefit of the wind.
The Martin’s swarmed forward, to be met with the most dogged of resistance, as the Gorey men ran out of scoring ideas but coughed up precious few openings to their opponents.
The leaders went 18 minutes without scoring after free-taker Pádraig Doyle registered a point shortly after the break as they were gradually reeled in, with Joe Coleman taking a steady toll with the placed balls.
There were 51 minutes on the clock before Coleman finally hauled his side level and Naomh Éanna were obliged to come up with a few belated scoring ideas of their own, triggering a tit-for-tat exchange of points.
On 57 minutes, Jake Firman lofted what proved to be the final equalising score over the bar at the Ross Road end from the halfway but there the St. Martin’s juggernaut stalled.
A Coleman effort from a ’65 was ruled wide despite strenuous insistence from the number 10 to the contrary, and deep in injury time Eoin Conroy made an heroic block on Rory O’Connor to maintain parity.
Naomh Éanna: Barry Kinsella; Peter Travers, Brendan Travers, Tom Stafford; Seán Doyle, Lee Kinsella, Gary Molloy; Eoin Conroy (0-2), Dara McDonald; William Cullen, Pádraig Doyle (0-6, 5 frees), Gearóid Cullen; David O’Brien, Conor McDonald (1-3, 1-0 pen.), Aodhán Doyle (0-2). Subs. - Darragh Hughes (0-1) for O’Brien (17), John O’Brien for Stafford (53), Kevin Harrington for D. McDonald (54).
St. Martin’s: Luke White; Ryan Murphy, Patrick O’Connor, Daithí Hayes; Aaron Maddock, Jack O’Connor (0-1), Willie Devereux; Joe O’Connor (0-1) Jake Firman (0-1); Joe Coleman (0-7, 5 frees), Tomás Waters, Mikey Coleman (0-1); Harry O’Connor, Ciarán Lyng (0-1) Seán Stafford (0-4). Sub. - Conor Firman (0-1) for Devereux (19).
Referee: James Owens (Askamore).