Having avoided the Wexford and Kilkenny champs, Bray can reach the Leinster final

WHAT a difference a day makes. Congratulations to Bray Emmets who were worthy winners of the Senior hurling final replay in Aughrim last Sunday.

The men from Bray led from start to finish and showed considerable improvement in all sectors from their first day out. The two changes made by Bray from the first game really paid off. Aaron Murphy moving to midfield at the expense of Enda Forde added considerable punch to Bray’s midfield as this was an area where I felt they struggled on their previous day out.

Ronan Cunningham going to wing forward in place of Marc Lennon gave additional puck-out options and while Ronan may not be the most graceful hurler he certainly competed very strongly for every ball and kept it moving in the right direction - into the Bray full-forward line.

I think this may have been Ronan’s first start of the year and as the saying goes “fortune favours the brave”.

Before being substituted in the second half he scored an important point to add to his performance.

There was a similar scenario also with young Sean Maloney and he also did brilliantly for his first Senior game. These changes show the strength in depth that Bray have in their extended squad. Daire Henderson and Daire Lohan were very consistent performers on both days.

Unusually for Aughrim the strongish breeze was blowing into the Annacurra end and Bray played with this wind at their backs in the opening half.

Bray certainly didn’t waste any time in utilising the wind advantage in the replay and they had an impressive 1-03 to no score inside the first 10 minutes. Their goal was excellently executed when man of the match, Christy Moorehouse, broke free from the shackles of his marker and tore down on the heart of the Carnew defence at speed and with a beautifully weighted passed found the impressive Paul Cunningham who had time and space to dispatch his shot past the advancing Bob Fitzgerald.

After this blistering start from Bray, Carnew enjoyed a decent 10 minutes and with Liam Kennedy sweeping in front of the Carnew full-back line the impressive scoring rate of Bray slowed down.

Carnew’s only scoring chances at this point were from placed balls and they will be disappointed that they didn’t convert more of these chances. In fairness there were no easy frees and they were against a stiff and difficult breeze. Bray finished the half strong with some excellent points by Padraig Doyle, Mikey Lee and Paul Cunningham. Carnew were thankful for a smart save by Bob Fitzgerald from another opening from Christy Moorehouse.

At half-time, with Bray leading 1-09 to 0-03, the big question on people’s minds was did Carnew have it within themselves to turn a nine-point lead around. Unfortunately for them they simply couldn’t as the two early second half points from Bray put the game out of Carnew’s reach.

Carnew couldn’t afford to leave gaps in their defence but in fairness they took the risk of dispensing with their sweeper and moved Liam Kennedy to midfield. To their credit Carnew never gave up and battled right to the final whistle but this game was over as a contest early in the second half.

Peter Kiely and John Henderson were very composed in a two man full-back line and John really lead by example by giving his fellow backs numerous options for passes when they under pressure.

Luke Maloney was excellent throughout and never put a foot wrong from a defensive point of view. I lost count of the amount of times he emerged out of the Bray defence with the ball to set up yet another Bray attack. I think Luke pushed Moorehouse close for man-of-the-match.

After having a quiet year by his standards Diarmuid Masterson had his best game of the year by a long shot. His work-rate around the middle was impressive and the amount of important touches of the ball he got were very important and I would be interested to see his stats on the game. He was complemented by the hardworking and consistent Aaron Murphy.

Having been dropped for the first game Eoin McCormack certainly had a point to prove which he undoubtedly did. He worked really hard throughout the 60 minutes and contributed handsomely to the scoreboard.

Mikey Lee, though quieter than the first final by his high standards, still scored two excellent points especially his second point when moved out to midfield, an absolute gem.

Paul Cunningham and Christy Moorehouse were thorns in the Carnew backline all day. What a great achievement by Christy, captain of the three-in-arow winning team and also man-of-the-match in all of the last three county finals - no mean feat.

Where did it go wrong for Carnew on the day? Bray improved dramatically and their impressive early start including Cunningham’s goal put Carnew right back on their heels. Bray’s forwards also worked really hard throughout and gave the Carnew backs little or no time on the ball. The drier weather conditions allowed for a higher standard of hurling than the previous Sunday.

The question on everyone’s lips before the game was where would Carnew get the necessary scores from to win this game which unfortunately did turn out to be a problem for them. The stats don’t make easy reading, only one of the starting 15 scored, Enda Donohue with one point from play and five from frees, the goal coming from substitute Don Hyland.

A huge positive for Carnew is that nine of their starting 15 are under the age of 23 and over the next few years they will look to introduce more younger players from their impressive underage section.

Some of the veterans on the Carnew team have given unbelievable service in both hurling and football over the last 20 years. I have often said that no championship is easily won and the remaining six teams at Senior level in Wicklow know now what has to be done to reach the high standards Bray have set. This will be a huge challenge for the other clubs and the only option is for them to roll up their sleeves and put the hard work in.

Well done to Bray and best wishes to them as they embrace on their journey in Leinster. They have avoided the side of the draw which contains the Kilkenny and Wexford champions so they will have realistic chance of making the final.

For Carnew they should take great encouragement from matching Bray the first day out and I know they will return next year with the desired hunger to go one step further.