BUNCLODY BOOST
Juvenile joy at second time of asking
HWH-BUNCLODY secured the Gorey Guardian Juvenile football Roinn 1 championship title at the second time of asking, beating Horeswood with a late burst in St. Patrick’s Park.
The sides played out a thrilling draw in their first encounter, eleven days earlier, and this clash followed many of the same patterns as that game. However, on this occasion Bunclody never left themselves in a hole and their late burst was enough for victory.
In the first game they built a three-point lead with the breeze, and in this they were able to get five clear at the break. Despite the similar pattern there was one big difference, as they didn’t allow Horeswood to get that crucial, morale-boosting major.
The football was comparable. The sides initially lined up normally and Bunclody struggled to get a run going. Horeswood led twice in the first quarter after Jack Kehoe points, but Ciarán Nolan and James Black responded to ensure parity after 23 minutes.
Bunclody had looked to go long with the wind but the Horeswood full-back line was doing a sensational job in the one-on-one battles. It was only when the champions started moving it through hands that they got joy and their opponents deployed a sweeper.
Their big fillip came in the 25th minute. Ciarán Regan and Black worked the ball down the centre, with the latter picking out Jerry Connors. His initial shot was brilliantly blocked by Nigel Dunne-Sherriff but the ball fell kindly for Connors and he netted the rebound.
Points from Ciarán Kavanagh and Páraic Nolan late in the half put Bunclody 1-4 to 0-2 to the good at the interval. Much like the first game, Horeswood rallied after the change of ends.
Cathal Mernagh’s point was followed by an opportunist goal by Joe O’Sullivan from close range after Danny Nolan’s shot was spilled. Matthew Foley then levelled the game for the third time with a booming free in the 41st minute (1-4 each).
Yet once again Bunclody dom- inated the final quarter. Ciarán Regan put them one up before Connors doubled the lead.
The game was secured when Alan Carton was fouled in the 54th minute and Ciarán Kavanagh calmly slotted home the resulting penalty to put the title to bed.
HWH-Bunclody: Derry Mahon; Thomas Fitzgerald, Lee Levingstone, Stuart Power; Larry Connors, Matthew Healy, Páraic Nolan (0-1); Ciarán Kavanagh (capt., 1-1, 1-0 pen.), Jerry Connors (1-1); James Black (0-1), Cathal Dunbar, Alan Carton; Ciarán Nolan (0-1), Ciarán Regan (0-1), Eoin McDonnell. Subs. - Claude Flynn for C. Nolan (49), also Mylie Connors, Thomas Jeffers, Ben Martin, Oisín O Ceallaigh.
Horeswood: Ryan Rowe; Alex Molloy, Seán Hunt, Kevin Wall; Nigel Dunne-Sherriff, Jason Murphy, Jim Wallace; Barry Walsh-Howlin, Jack Kehoe (0-2, 1 free); Cathal Mernagh (capt., 0-1), Robert Delaney, Danny Nolan; Matthew Foley (0-1 free), Joe O’Sullivan (1-0), Neil Ennis. Subs. Conor Foley for Mernagh (49), Jack White for Delaney, temp. (51-58), White for Molloy (58), John Chapman for Wallace (60+3), Dermot Clancy for Foley (60+3), also Dean Roberts, Alan Kehoe.
Referee: James Owens (Kilrush).