Dismissal of key man sparked Cloughbawn to life
CLOUGHBAWN SOMEHOW found strength in the face of adversity in St. Patrick’s Park on Tuesday when they overcame the dismissal of a key player to eventually get the better of longtime pace-setters Shamrocks in the Greenstar Enniscorthy District Under-21 hurling Roinn 1 championship semi-final.
Their chances of progression appeared slim when two yellow cards in the space of four minutes led to the loss of influential midfielder Connal Flood early in the AT GOREY: last quarter at a stage when they trailed by 2-4 to 0-9.
And lady luck deserted them too in the 49th minute when, after initially signalling for a Cloughbawn penalty, referee Ian Plunkett changed his decision to a Shamrocks free following consultation with his umpires as a defender was pushed in the build-up.
Ronan Gahan added a pointed free for the town lads who matched their rivals step for step even though it was their first outing whereas Cloughbawn had beaten Marshalstown-Castledockrell in the quarter-final.
However, the key score arrived in the 53rd minute when the prolific Bob Whitty went for broke from a free just outside the 20-metre line and drilled it low to the net to give his side the lead for the first time.
Peter Cullen levelled immediately with an excellent point from a Darragh Kirwan pass, but Cloughbawn edged through to a final date with Duffry Rovers thanks to late pointed frees from Whitty and a long-range special from netminder Seán Keating.
Shamrocks had one last chance in added time after a foul on Cormac Kehoe, but Ronan Gahan’s goal bid was kept out by a diligent defence and the final whistle sounded immediately.
The big guns on both sides were engaged in a couple of key battles, with Brandon O’Connor going toe-to-toe with Bob Whitty while Gahan and Connal Flood locked horns at midfield.
Shamrocks full-back Podge Doyle was another to prosper from his experience gained in the Intermediate grade, and the ploy of using Killian Gahan as a third midfielder proved difficult for Cloughbawn to break down.
O’Connor and Whitty swapped early points from frees before a Ronan Gahan run and handpass led to Shamrocks full-forward Andy Connors sweeping the ball to the net from close range in the twelfth minute.
And a second goal followed midway through the second quarter when Peter Cullen pulled to the net after a long-range O’Connor free (2-2 to 0-3).
Whitty was the sole Cloughbawn scorer until the 30th minute when Connal Flood pinged one Horeswood 4 3 2 0 PWDLFA Pt 5 3 0 2 125100 6 over from midfield, and that left the minimum between them at the break (2-2 to 0-7).
Scores were scarce on the re-start prior to Flood’s dismissal, with Shamrocks points from Andy Connors and an excellent solo effort by Brandon O’Connor cancelled out by Flood and Whitty frees.
Cloughbawn were clearly struggling, and in a strange sense it took the loss of the midfielder to finally ignite their challenge as the 14 men rose to the occasion with a championship exit staring them in the face.
A repeat of this overall display won’t be enough to win the District final at the same venue tonight (Tuesday) though.
Cloughbawn: Seán Keating (0-1 B-B’mitty 5 3 0 2 107 99 6 Buffers Alley 5 3 0 2 99 97 6 Ferns 5 3 0 2 105105 6 M-B’vogue 5 2 0 3 87 95 4 Tara Rocks 5 1 0 4 68 95 2 PERMANENT TSB JHC GROUP B P WD L FA Pt 4 4 0 0 64 46 8 5 3 1 1 100 71 7 4 2 1 1 76 64 5 5 0 2 3 89 102 2 4 1 0 3 42 62 2 4 1 0 3 64 90 2 Gusserane
St. Mary’s (R) Rapparees F Harriers D-C’cuddy Clongeen TOM DOYLE SUPPLIES SFC GROUP A
P WD L F A Pt Shelmaliers 4 3 0 1 63 53 6 Castletown 4 3 0 1 59 42 6 Starlights 4 2 0 2 61 59 4 Glynn-B’town 4 2 0 2 56 57 4 St. Anne’s 4 2 0 2 48 54 4 Sarsfields 4 0 0 4 39 61 0 TOM DOYLE SUPPLIES SFC GROUP B
PWD L F A Pt St. Martin’s 4 3 1 0 70 39 7 T’mon-C’ross 421 1 57 61 5 Gusserane 4 2 0 2 63 56 4 Fethard 4 1 2 1 37 48 4 St. James’ 4 1 1 2 49 58 3 Horeswood 4 0 1 3 60 74 1 AMBER SPRINGS/ASHDOWN IFC GROUP A
P WD L F A Pt St. Mary’s (R) 4 4 0 0 55 37 8 Adamstown 420 2 70 44 4 HWH-Bclody 420 2 50 46 4 Ferns 4 2 0 2 47 43 4 St. Fintan’s 4 2 0 2 52 73 4 Clongeen 400 4 32 63 0 AMBER SPRINGS/ASHDOWN IFC GROUP B
P WD L F A Pt St. Mary’s (M) 4 3 0 1 66 37 6 Kilanerin 4 3 1 0 64 50 7 Duffry Rovers 4 3 0 1 58 49 6 Ballyhogue 4 1 1 2 73 59 3 B-B’mitty 4 0 1 3 37 51 1 St. Joseph’s 4 0 1 3 34 86 1 free); Micheál Kavanagh, Jack Wickham, James Flood; Shane Flood, James Dempsey, Gareth Murphy; Connal Flood (0-2, 1 free), Shane Greene; Robert Kinsella, Bob Whitty (1-8, 1-6 frees), Kyle Murphy; David Casserly, Colin Murphy, Daniel Dempsey. Subs. - Stephen Casserly for D. Casserly (22), Jack Fleming for K. Murphy (HT), Johnny Connors for D. Dempsey (54).
Shamrocks: Seán O’Sullivan; Rhys Dunne, Podge Doyle, Kyle Foley; Ciarán Joyce, Brandon O’Connor (0-2, 1 free), Corey Breen; Darragh Kirwan, Ronan Gahan (0-2, 1 free); Peter Cullen (1-1), Gerry O’Connor, Cormac Kehoe; Dean Levingstone, Andy Connors (1-1), Killian Gahan.
Referee: Ian Plunkett (Marshalstown-Castledockrell).