The lights go out in Bree
ABANDONED AFTER 43 MINS. THE LIGHTS went out on this Permanent TSB Junior hurling championship Group B encounter in Bree on Friday, with referee Seamus Whelan forced to call an early halt to proceedings after floodlight failure.
Seán ‘Mini’ Ryan had illuminated the pitch before the premature finish, plundering an exquisite 1-4 for the table-toppers, although they couldn’t quite extinguish the hopes of Rapparees, with goals from Lee Treacy and John Ryan keeping them in touch with a live fighting chance.
The Enniscorthy side began brightest, with Treacy cutting inside in the third minute before arrowing a shot past Micheál Ryan to give them a 1-1 to 0-1 advantage.
However, Gusserane weren’t long about getting in the groove, with Sam Wall converting two frees, either side of a Seán Ryan point, before the latter struck for a superb goal with six minutes on the clock.
After good work from Graeme Cullen, Ryan raced clear and planted an unstoppable shot into the top left-hand corner of the net.
The New Ross District outfit built up a 1-8 to 1-3 lead by the 17th minute, with Ryan helping himself to three more classy points and Mark O’Neill and Liam Dillon also getting in on the act.
The Rapps then grabbed a lifeline for themselves when Declan Ruth floated a free into the danger zone, John Ryan plucked the delivery from the air and blasted a close-range shot to the net.
It did little to knock Gusserane out of their stride though, as they scored three of the remaining four points in the half, through Sam Wall (two) and O’Neill, with Brian Ronan replying, to hold a 1-11 to 2-4 interval lead.
Scores were harder to come by after the interval, with a Neil McCrea point being cancelled out by a Sam Wall free as Rapparees were guilty of wasting a few decent scoring opportunities before the venue was engulfed in darkness.
A re-match wasn’t something either club wanted given the heavy fixtures schedule and, with both sides already through to the quarter-finals, it has been agreed with the approval of the C.C.C.C. that the teams will not be meeting again.
Gusserane: Micheál Ryan; Robert Browne, Paul Wall (capt.), Jack O’Connor; Gavin Sheehan, Shane Cullen, Liam Dillon (0-1); Mark Rossiter, Adrian Redmond; Páraic Conway, Graeme Cullen, Mark O’Neill (0-2); Sam Wall (05, 4 frees), Gary O’Grady, Seán Ryan (1-4). Sub. - Shane Doyle for Browne.
Rapparees: Gary Murphy; Ronan Kirwan, John Barron, Joe Carley; Brian Ronan (0-1), Declan Ruth, Brendan Kearney; Seán O’Gorman, Pa O’Shea (capt.); Alan Tobin, Tom Ryan, Lee Treacy (1-0); Neil McCrea (0-4, 1 free), John Ryan (1-0), Lee Murphy. Subs. Caolan Carty for Kirwan, Ryan Hadley for Kearney.
Referee: Seamus Whelan (Oylegate-Glenbrien).