O’Grady hits trio of goals
Fethard see off Mellows
A HAT-TRICK of second-half goals from Graham O’Grady helped Fethard to an ultimately comfortable victory in Group B of the Top Oil Intermediate ‘A’ hurling championship in St. Patrick’s Park on Saturday.
Having trailed by 1-9 to 0-6 at the break, the south county side needed to produce a big second-half, and with the aid of the breeze they did just that, picking off a succession of top notch scores.
The Gorey District outfit began brightly, with a stylish line ball from Colin Kennedy giving them a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage midway through the first-half.
Things got even better for Liam Mellows a minute before the break when Kennedy’s attempt at a point fell short and the ball squirmed past Seán Foley between the Fethard posts.
Fethard began the second-half six points adrift, but they weren’t long about putting a dent in that Liam Mellows advantage, with Mark Wallace arrowing over a free and Graham O’Grady plundering his first goal.
Wallace floated a delivery into the danger zone and O’Grady was lurking, getting a touch on it to divert the ball beyond Darragh Murphy.
O’Grady then fired Fethard in front for the first time on 40 minutes (2-8 to 1-10) when he batted the ball to the back of the net after John Tubritt’s effort had been saved.
Joe Sutton got in on the goalscoring act on 47 minutes as Fethard began to attack with a real swagger, bearing down on the posts and arrowing a clinical shot to the corner of the net.
A minute later and O’Grady had the green flag waving again, showing great determination to win possession before forcing the ball over the line at the second attempt (4-11 to 1-11).
There was no way back for Liam Mellows and Fethard finished with a flourish, with Mark Wallace, Ciarán Dwyer and Daire Barden all adding to their handsome tally.
Fethard: Seán Foley; Chris Molloy, Rúairí Tubrid, Daniel Mullan; Richie Waters, Kevin Rowe, Brian O’Donohoe; Garrett Foley, John Tubritt (0-2); Daire Barden (0-2), Mark Wallace (010, 6 frees, 2 ‘65s), Graham O’Grady (3-0); Ciarán Dwyer (0-3), Eddie Power, Joe Sutton (1-0). Subs. - Jesse Foley for Power, Seán Donohoe for Dwyer, Martin Power for Molloy, John Rice for O’Grady, Conor O’Donohoe for Waters.
Liam Mellows: Darragh Murphy; Frank Roche, Conor Cleary, Pádraig Byrne; Aaron Condren (0-1), Danny Gardiner, Andy Merrigan; Colin Kennedy (1-6, 0-5 frees, 0-1 line ball), Risteárd Kinsella; Ross Cody (0-1), Richard Farrell (0-1), Joe Gardiner; Conor Carty (0-2), Stephen Maloney, Stephen Rafferty. Subs. - Rory Heffernan for Condren, Eoin Cullen (0-1) for Maloney, Colm Morris for Rafferty, Seán Roche for Byrne.
Referee: Brendan Holohan (Rathgarogue-Cushinstown).