Jimmies tops with big finish
Anne’s concede the last 1-6
ST. JAMES’ produced a rousing finish to to claim the spoils from an entertaining encounter in Group A of The Courtyard Ferns Intermediate hurling championship in Grantstown on Saturday.
With twelve minutes remaining the Ramsgrange men trailed by 2-13 to 1-13, but they then registered 1-6 without reply in swashbuckling style to garner a much-needed victory.
The New Ross District side found themselves six points adrift early in the second-half, but a 38th-minute goal from the outstanding David Doyle was the catalyst for the fightback and they drove on from there, with Kevin O’Grady raising the green flag late on to seal the deal.
St. Anne’s held a 2-8 to 0-10 advantage at the interval, with route one hurling paying rich dividends as Mikey Fogarty and David O’Connor both pounced on slack defending to plunder goals.
The opening major came eleven minutes in when Mark Furlong pumped a long-range free into the danger zone and Fogarty was quickest to the loose ball to give the Rathangan-based outfit a 1-3 to 0-4 lead.
Points from Jess Codd and Mark Furlong stretched the St. Anne’s advantage, but a hat-trick of Kevin O’Grady frees and a fine Jamie Myler score from the right sideline eased St. James’ back to within one (1-6 to 0-8) with 22 minutes on the clock.
However, St. Anne’s were quickly back in the ascendancy when David O’Connor gathered posses- sion, outmuscled the defence and forced the ball over the line.
St. Anne’s began the second-half brightly, replying to Liam Murphy’s early score with a trio of Mark Furlong frees to lead by 2-11 to 0-11 on 36 minutes.
David Doyle turned the game on its head seconds later though when he grabbed the goal his industry deserved, breaking through the defence and angling a drive to the corner of the net.
St. Anne’s responded instantly with a sweet Liam Rochford point, but the men in green were playing with a renewed confidence at this stage and Kevin O’Grady (free) and Shane Murphy slotted over to reduce the gap to two points.
Diarmuid O’Keeffe floated over a nice score from a prohibitive angle in the 45th minute to restore the one-goal buffer, but they failed to work the scoreboard for the final quarter.
St. James’, on the other hand, began to motor, reeling off scores through Jamie Myler, Alan Walsh and Kevin O’Grady to draw level, before Matthew O’Hanlon plucked a Luke Murphy puck-out from the sky and split the posts to give them the lead with four minutes remaining.
Jamie Myler added to the St. Anne’s woes with another point and Kevin O’Grady rubbed salt into their wounds when he gathered a pass from Liam Murphy, headed for goal and blasted a shot beyond Redmond Barry.
Daniel Keating then put the icing on the cake, knocking over the final score as St. James’ put themselves back in the running.
St. James’: Luke Murphy; Brian Molloy, Jason Barron, Paul Barron; Liam Murphy (capt., 0-1), Robbie Barron, David Doyle (1-0); Mark Molloy, Matthew O’Hanlon (0-2, 1 free); Daniel Keating (0-1), Kevin O’Grady (1-8, 0-8 frees), Shane Murphy (0-1); Donal Barron, Jamie Myler (0-4), Alan Walsh (0-2). Sub. - Tommy Walsh for A. Walsh.
St. Anne’s: Redmond Barry; Páraic O’Keeffe, Tomás Cullen, Kevin White; Kenny Cloney, Aidan Rochford, Finn O’Driscoll; Mark Furlong (0-7, 5 frees), Seamus Mythen (capt.); Brian Kavanagh (0-1), Diarmuid O’Keeffe (0-1), Jess Codd (0-2); Mikey Fogarty (1-0), David O’Connor (1-1), Liam Rochford (0-1). Sub. - Andy Kennedy for Kavanagh, Francis Simpson for L. Rochford.
Referee: David Jenkins (Gusserane).