Bright new dawn for
Emphatic changing of the guard as Oula
ST. MARTIN’S have been earmarked as the coming team on the club hurling scene for quite some time, and they announced their arrival in a blaze of glory in Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday by capturing the Pettitt’s championship crown with a powerful performance, bridging a gap of nine years in the process.
It wasn’t so much the victory itself, rather the emphatic ten-point margin, that caught neutrals by surprise as Oulart-The Ballagh’s quest for three titles on the trot was clinically dismantled by a well-drilled team which grew in superiority as the action progressed.
The holders could only muster 1-3 from play, and their overall tally was the lowest from one of their teams in a final since the 1-13 to 1-8 defeat to the same opponents in 2008.
The inability of Des Mythen to start was clearly a crushing blow, particularly after he roamed all over the park in the semi-final and shot five points from play in the process.
While he would never have been afforded that type of freedom again, his absence until early in the last quarter was a big bonus to the new champions, especially given the presence of the other pre-game injury doubt, Rory O’Connor, in their own line-out.
A lot of responsibility rested on the shoulders of this talented teenager, but he took it all in his stride. And it was his presence of mind that turned the game on its head and delivered the biggest turning point in the 27th minute.
Oulart-The Ballagh had been the stronger side up to that point and were full value for a 1-5 to 0-4 lead, but sporting contests can change in an instant.
And that was never more clearly underlined than in the seconds after Rory O’Connor was fouled by Rory Jacob as he cut in along the right endline.
When he trotted out to the 20-metre mark to take the free, Oulart-The Ballagh - and probably most people in the ground if truth be told - expected a tap-over point to follow.
However, O’Connor sensed far greater possibilities, squaring the ball to unmarked joint captain Ciarán Lyng who had all the time he needed to get his full force behind a strong shot and arrow it powerfully into the right corner of Conor O’Leary’s net.
It was the ultimate game-changer, as St. Martin’s tacked on three points without reply to go in at the break ahead by 1-7 to 1-5 which was a huge bonus considering their slow start.
Not alone that, the facts will show that Oulart-The Ballagh only scored four points in total from the 23rd minute onwards, with all bar one from frees.
No team will win a county Senior title without an immense collective effort, but on this day of days for St. Martin’s one giant stood taller than any of the rest.
Daithí Waters was simply immense in the half-back line, repeatedly winning possession in the air, attacking the ball with force, picking out colleagues with clever crossfield passes, and even chipping in with a point himself to restore his team’s lead after Oulart-The Ballagh drew level early in the second-half.
Sometimes man of the match choices in big games are contentious issues, but not on this occasion as anyone with even a passing interest in hurling would have singled out the big man in the red helmet as the beating heart of this smooth-moving St. Martin’s team.
The individual match-ups unfolded from the throw-in, with Barry Kehoe given the onerous task of minding Rory O’Connor who started on the ’40 with his right knee strapped. Jack O’Connor had county colleague Shaun Murphy for company on his brother’s right, while Eoin Moore opposed Ciarán Lyng and Joe O’Connor had Keith Rossiter in his slipstream.
At the other end, Garrett Sinnott and Martin Og Storey formed a two-man inside line for the holders, with Rory Jacob dropping back as an additional midfielder while David Redmond moved out from the corner to roam around the half-forward area.
Nicky Kirwan started at centre-forward and, after an early wide apiece and a fruitless Oulart-The Ballagh half chance when a Storey kick lacked power, the challengers were dealt a swift blow.
The game was in its sixth minute when a Shaun Murphy delivery broke off Storey into the path of Garrett Sinnott who had anticipated the break and gave Luke White no chance with a clinical finish to the net.
Strange as it might seem though, if St. Martin’s were to concede a goal it was probably better that it happened at this point rather than a later juncture because they had so much time to recover.
David Redmond, looking eager and lively in the early stages, increased the Oulart-The Ballagh lead with a fine point from close to the right sideline under the stand after a Sinnott handpass.
St. Martin’s needed to settle down, and they were helped in that task by Paudie Kelly’s eighth-minute point from a Jack O’Connor lay-off which crept inside the far post at the Clonard end.
Rory O’Connor then converted his first free after being fouled by Barry Kehoe, but Oulart-The Ballagh quickly re-asserted superiority with a run of three points on the trot.
Kirwan won and knocked over a free before a fine move down the left flank saw Kevin Sheridan exchange passes with Peter Murphy and split the posts.
Another foul on Kirwan led to a second point for the captain, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for the champions in that period either as they chalked up four wides from a first-half tally of eight.
St. Martin’s weren’t slow about making changes, with Darren Codd paying the price for that point from direct opponent Sheridan when he was called ashore for Joe Coleman as early as the 19th minute. And it proved a decisive and inspired decision in the long run, as the accurate replacement ended the game with three points.
The first yellow card of the final was shown to Keith Rossiter in the 22nd minute for a foul on Jack O’Connor, and Rory O’Connor got their side of the scoreboard moving again after a worrying barren spell from the placed ball.
Kirwan made it 1-5 to 0-3 from a free midway through the second quarter, but incredibly Oulart-The Ballagh only scored one point from play after Kevin Sheridan had put his name on the sheet in the 17th minute. That their forwards were so ineffective was due in no small measure to the overall solidity of the St. Martin’s rearguard where Daithí Waters in particular was defiant to the last.
The game-changing goal was preceded by the first of Joe Coleman’s points from a Rory O’Connor crossfield pass from the left.
Tempers flared briefly in the usual spot for these incidents - directly under the stand with the crowd baying for blood after Conor Firman was bottled up and penalised for overcarrying.
He was booked for his reaction, with Nicky Kirwan missing from the placed ball before Harry O’Connor was also yellow-carded and lost a free after knocking Shaun Murphy to the ground.
It was referee James Owens’ way of keeping a tight lid on proceedings, and it worked a treat as everyone settled down to play hurling thereafter.
Oulart-The Ballagh will be haunted over the winter months by their failure to pick up Ciarán Lyng for that cleverly-worked goal, and they weren’t helped by two more wides in the aftermath, the first from Rory Jacob after a brilliant no-look flick from Keith Rossiter.
St. Martin’s continued to hurt them on the scoreboard in contrast, with Jake Firman setting up Joe Coleman for his second point before turning from provider to marksman.
The new recruit to Davy Fitzgerald’s crew availed of a glorious Daithí Waters crossfield pass into space for his first, and Ciarán Lyng gave the assist for Firman’s second which wasn’t a million miles away from dipping under Conor O’Leary’s crossbar and into the corner of the net.
That 1-7 to 1-5 half-time lead was quickly eroded on the re-start, with Keith Rossiter now picking up Jack O’Connor who resumed on the ’40 while Shaun Murphy was pitted against the roving Joe O’Connor.
It took Oulart-The Ballagh less than five minutes to draw level, thanks to a brace of Nicky Kirwan frees after fouls on David Redmond and Tommy Storey, the latter earning a booking for Paudie Kelly.
Jake Firman hadn’t managed a clean connection on a ground stroke in between from a half-chance for a goal, while Patrick O’Connor timed a tackle superbly at the other end when he dived to flick the ball off Garrett Sinnott’s hurl.
Firman was the fourth Martin’s player to enter the notebook after Anthony Roche was upended, but Oulart-The Ballagh couldn’t get their noses in front again.
Indeed, after a foul on David Redmond by Paudie Kelly, the free was intercepted by Daithí Waters who landed a rousing point from distance to drive his colleagues on.
Oulart-The Ballagh finished with 14 wides to their rivals’ ten, and they were outscored by 1-8 to 0-2 from the 38th minute onwards which says it all.
Jack O’Connor shot a fine point after Willie Devereux’s long crossfield line ball originally located Ciarán Lyng who then made it 1-10 to 1-7 after Joe Coleman gained possession when the odds seemed to be stacked against him.
Nicky Kirwan’s sixth successful free kept Oulart-The Ballagh within touching distance, but three wides followed before St. Martin’s made a powerful surge for the finish line.
Daithí Waters supplied the pass yet again for Jake Firman’s third point, with Rory O’Connor putting a two-score gap between them (1-12 to 1-8) from a 50th-minute free after a Firman shot hit the post and rebounded into the path of Joe Coleman who was taken down.
Anthony Roche saw yellow for a late challenge earlier in that incident, and the Oulart-The Ballagh backs were starting to struggle with the failure of their forwards to keep the ball in the opposite half.
One of the highlights of the game was a memorable Martin’s point in the 54th minute, worked from right to left and featuring Rory O’Connor at the start and finish, with Lyng an Harry O’Connor com
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St. Martin’s: Luke Patrick O’Connor (join Daithí Waters (0-1), Aa Kelly (0-1); Harry O’C Jack O’Connor (0-1), frees), Darren Codd; C 1-2), Joe O’Connor (1 Subs. - Joe Coleman (0 Coleman for Maloney ( H. O’Connor (60), Mich (60+2), Eoin O’Leary fo also Dylan Byrne, Jac dock, Philip Dempsey, O’Byrne, Conor Colem
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Referee: James Ow