First blood drawn by Martin’s Minors
Solid win in quarter-final rehearsal
ST. MARTIN’S drew first blood in what proved to be a dress rehearsal for a Wexford People Minor hurling Premier championship quarter-final tie in Páirc Charman on Thursday.
The victory for the Piercestown-based club means they have assured themselves of a third place finish in the round-robin stages and in doing so condemned opponents Faythe Harriers to the final qualifying spot.
With all six sides left in the championship harbouring realistic hopes of lifting the title, and no real stand-out, swashbuckling performer among them, this year’s renewal is the most exciting and wide open in recent memory.
The class St. Martin’s would show as the game went on was not exactly evident in a sloppy first quarter.
Both sides left their best hurling in the warm-ups and neither exactly clicked into gear as the hosts took the lead against the breeze.
After 21 minutes the Harriers were leading by 0-3 to 0-2 and deserved their advantage for their endeavour and fight but it wasn’t pretty.
James Henebery tapped over a pair of frees while Shane Hall picked off a nice score as their side led.
St. Martin’s had an early Ben Stafford point and booming Adam Cantwell effort on the board before they switched Michael Codd and Jack Devereux.
Suddenly they clicked and with Kyle Firman registering for fun they quickly built a lead (0-7 to 0-3 at half-time).
The Harriers had the strong breeze after the break but they couldn’t take advantage. Instead, when Codd registered in the 35th minute his side had scored eight on the bounce.
Henebery halted the momentum momentarily but Firman’s ’65 that deflected off a defender’s hurl past Luc Doyle to the net knocked the stuffing out of the home side.
Conall O Crualaoich, Conall Clancy and Daire Reville all grabbed good points for the Harriers but St. Martin’s dominated.
It became shooting practice in the final quarter. Kyle Firman ended with 1-9 while Zac Firman came off the bench to make an impression and pick off a nice score.
Cantwell added his second from wing-back and Devereux also grabbed a brace as St. Martin’s motored away.
When the close District rivals meet again in the quarter-final it should be third-placed St. Martin’s that host the game, however, depending on when that tie takes place the County Board could choose to move it instead to a neutral venue.
Faythe Harriers: Luc Doyle; Jake Clancy, Cathal Kirwan, Ryan Furlong, Seán Banville (capt.), Daire Reville (01); Conall O Crualaoich (0-1), David Gouldson; Shane Hall (0-1), James Henebery (0-5, 4 frees, 1 ’65), Chris Glover; Conall Clancy (0-1), Jack O’Leary, Cian Rossiter. Subs. - Cian Ó Feinneadha for Rossiter (45), also Conor Kehoe.
St. Martin’s: Callum Quirke; Rúairí Cullen, Philip Dempsey, Sam Audsley; Adam Cantwell (0-2), Ben Maddock, Shane Walsh; Paddy Gallagher (capt.), Michael Codd (0-1); Eoin O’Leary, Kyle Firman (1-9, 0-5 frees, 1-0 ’65), Ben Stafford (0-2); Simon Curran, Jack Devereux (0-3), Liam Ó Lionáin. Subs. - Conor Devereux for Curran (31), Zac Firman (0-1) for Ó Lionáin (31), David Codd for Cullen (31), Aaron Clancy for Gallagher (46), Jordan Hayes for M. Codd (50), also James Codd, David Cantwell, Adam Feery, Conor Kelly, Adam McLoughlin.
Referee: James Flood (St. Mary’s, Maudlintown).