O'Brien shows hurling class

LAST year’s Junior ‘A’ champions Kilcoole made the trip to Arklow for the opening round of the Intermediate hurling championship where they faced Glenealy in a game that was played in excellent conditions in glorious sunshine at Pearse’s Park on Saturday evening last.

The result saw Glenealy emerge victorious with a one-point winning margin thanks to a point they scored deep into injury time when ace marksman Paul O’Brien pointed a free to snatch a winner in a game that was looking like a draw and, to be fair, it was no more than what the men from Goosebank would have deserved.

The winners, although playing against a stiff breeze, launched the first attack which brought an excellent save from Jason Walsh, which resulted in the red and whites surging upfield once more and after a move involving three players centre-forward James Manley opened the scoring with a point after four minutes.

With the play flowing from end to end both sides recored a wide each before Glenealy were awarded a free. But on this occasion the usually reliable Paul O’Brien saw his shot fly wide of the posts.

At this stage the Kilcoole side began taking the game to their opponents and they upped the tempo which saw a solid defence and a hard working midfield pairing of Ronan and Eoin Keddy providing good supply to the forwards.

Wing forward Luke Evans showed his ability when he split the defence to score a point from play which saw his team mates respond and their next two attacks resulted in frees which proved costly as county player Ronan Keddy scored two points to leave the Kilcoole side leading on a score of 0-03 to 0-01 after seven minutes.

The winners showed they were stung and set about reducing the deficit. But they were unable to convert what possession they had which resulted in only one point being scored after Paul O’Brien split the Kilcoole defence before he was fouled which left the classy forward with a easy task to land a point from the free.

Two players with a bright future ahead of them, Luke Evans and Paul O’Brien, exchanged points while another Kilcoole attack resulted in a 65 which Ronan Keddy pointed to leave the score at 0-05 to 0-03 at the end of first quarter.

At this stage the eventual winners continued to keep the pressure on which saw two missed chances, mainly due to a tight marking defence and a solid goalkeeper in Jason Walsh.

With the aid of the breeze in the opening half, a Ronan Keddy inspired Kilcoole side showed some of their flair which secured them last year’s Junior ‘A’ championship as they took control in most sectors of the field.

Ronan Keddy added a point from play while Dara Keddy should have added another as his shot was wide of the uprights before Cormac Geraghty showed what a class act he is as a goalkeeper when he denied Kilcoole a goal with a double save which saw the winners surge upfield and they added a point from midfielder

Eoin O’Neill which proved to be their last score of the half to leave Kilcoole leading on a score of 0-06 to 0-04 with six minutes left in the first half.

With time ticking away, the North Wicklow side upped the tempo once more and were rewarded with two more points from top scorer Ronan Keddy, one from a free, and, not for the first time in the game, a Kilcoole attack was goalbound but was foiled by a tight marking winners defence as the half-time whistle sounded with Kilcoole leading by double scores at 0-08 to 0-04.

After the break, Glenealy were first out of the traps but the Kilcoole men stood firm and were rewarded a free out which saw Fintan Donnelly gain possession to score a long range point to increase the lead.

Glenealy responded with Paul O’Brien scoring a point from play to reduce the deficit to 0-09 to 0-05.

Then Kilcoole suffered a double blow which saw corner-forward Eamon Hughes leave the field of play injured while the second blow was received when a line ball from Eoin O’Neill was floated towards the Kilcoole goal an, after a goalmouth scramble, corner-forward Glen O’Gorman tapped the ball to the net to score the only green flag of the game which saw Kilcoole leading by 0-09 to 1-05 eight minutes in the second half.

Paul O’Brien then landed a point from a free before Glenealy were reduced to 14 when James Manley was sent off on a second yellow as the score read 1-06 to 0-09.

Despite this, Glenealy went on to hit a golden spell with three points on the trot. Paul O’Brien landed two, one from a free, while substitute Gavin Byrne also got his name on the score sheet to give the winners a three-point cushion at 1-09 to 0-09.

With defeat staring Kilcoole in the face, they set about reducing the deficit with a late rally which resulted in three points being scored by Ronan Keddy who had moved out the field. The county player showed great heart as he bagged three unanswered points, one free, to bring the sides level on a score of 1-09 to 0-12 as the game entered injury time.

Glenealy went in search of the winner and no better man to deliver than Paul O’Brien score a pressure point from under the stand to clinch victory in a better all round team performance which left Kilcoole shocked after putting up a battling performance against their more seasoned battlers.

Scorers – Glenealy: Glen O’Gorman 1-00, Paul O’Brien 0-07 (5f, 1 65), Eoin O’Neill 0-01, James Manley 0-01, Gavin Byrne 0-01.

Kilcoole: Ronan Keddy 0-09 (4f, 1 65), Luke Evans 0-02, Fintan Donnelly 0-01.

Glenealy: Cormac Geraghty; Stephen O’Brien, Niall Keogh, Shane Keogh; Robert Brown, David Nolan, Tony Doyle; Eoin O’Neill, Liam DeHora; Paul O’Brien, James Manley, Ben O’Neill; Araon Meade, Anthony Driver, Glen O’Gorman. Subs: Paddy Driver, Gavin Byrne, Wesley Manning, Derek O’Neill.

Kilcoole: Jason Walsh; Mikie O’Brien, Conor O’Toole, Ross Keddy; Dara Keddy, Vincent Quigley, Eoin O’Brien; Ronan Keddy, Eoin Keddy; Fintan Donnelly, Gary Coady, Luke Evans; George O’Brien, Ciaran Doyle, Eamon Hughes. Subs: Jim Keddy, Gerry Murray, Shane Evans.

Referee: Paul Porter (Avoca)