Brave effort from Wicklow hurlers
KILDARE 4-14 WICKLOW 0-08
JONATHAN TALLON set alarm bells ringing when he brought the problems he had encountered with his U-17 Celtic Cup hurling team to the delegates at the last County Board GAA meeting in Ballinakill.
His charges had played one encounter against Dublin and were forced to concede a walk-over to Kilkenny on the evening of their next game when unable to muster a team to travel.
Subsequently, Wicklow had a good outing against Westmeath and lined out on Saturday last May 27 in Ballinakill against Kildare in their final game of this series.
While Kildare deservedly won the game in a comfortable manner, nevertheless the scoreline does scant justice to a fine team effort from the home side, who had come so close to withdrawing from the competition following the Kilkenny debacle.
Saturday last was a terrible day for a hurling game in Ballinakill - indeed for a hurling game anywhere.
The river of drain water running along the perimeter of the pitch (not coming from the pitch) was most uninviting and the game was played in a downpour from beginning to end.
Surprisingly, the pitch was in good nick and did not hold water until close to the end when a few pools began to gather.
Both sides are to be complimented for the standard of fare provided on what was a most difficult day for hurling.
Kildare got off the mark when Luca Conroy had them a point up after two minutes but David Maloney levelled for the home side from a free a minute later.
The Lilywhites corner forward Sean Whelan scored his side’s first goal on eight minutes when he turned his marker and raced in to beat goalie Conor Connolly from close range. Both these players went on to play a big role in the game.
Whelan finished the game with a personal tally of 2-8 and was easily the outstanding forward on the field.
Equally, the Wicklow net minder had an outstanding game and brought off a series of excellent saves all through the game. Kildare dominated the second quarter and went into the half-time break leading by 2-6 to 0-4.
Wicklow pressed strongly in the early minutes of the second half and Shane Mellon pointed a penalty in the first minute.
Kildare’s Sean O’Neill responded almost immediately.
While Wicklow continued to bring the game to their opponents they lacked the capacity to translate possession into scores.
In contrast, the visitors kept the score board ticking over on a regular basis and when Sean Whelan and Brian Tobin netted two goals in quick succession after 20 minutes it effectively killed off the game as a contest. Shane Mellon, David Maloney and Eoghan Byrne added points for the homesters and Conor Connolly crowned a great game for him when he saved a penalty from Sean O’Neill – the final puck of the game.
It would be unfair to criticise anyone for non-attendance on such a terrible day as last Saturday.
However, it is clear that Jonathan Tallon and his helpers have got together a good squad of young hurlers.
If all clubs would help a little, they can make progress.
That is all Jonathan requested at that County Board meeting in Ballinakill.
Scorers: Kildare Sean Whelan 2-8, Brian Tobin 1-2, Eoghan Donnelly 1-0, Luca Conroy 0-2, Sean O’Neill 0-2.
Wicklow Shane Mellon 0-3, David Maloney 0-3, Eoghan Byrne 0-1, Paudie McGing 0-1.
Wicklow: Conor Connolly; James Anders, Sid Hunt, Niall Garland; Ciaran McKay, Eoghan Byrne, Cian Lohan; David Maloney, Ronan McMahon; David Wilkinson, Shane Mellon, John Doyle; Zac Cullen, Paudie McGing, Joe McDonald. Subs: Andrew O’Brien, Tom Somers, Sean Somers, Seanie McDonagh, Andrew Conway.
Kildare: Jack Cuthbert; Eoghan Prizeman, Ronan Kelly, Cian Duffy; Liam Broderick, Harry Carroll; Ben O’Reilly; Ian Blackburn, Cian Neville; Luca Conroy, Al Bergin, Aaron Thompson; Brian Tobin, Oran Donnelly, Sean Walsh. Subs; Ciaran Casey, Aaron Thornton, Ciaran Neville, Ben Reddin, Kevin Sweeney, Alo Graham.