Bray bounce back with stunning win

Lee makes lethal impact with 2-02

BRAY EMMETS KILTEGAN 4-21 2-10

BRAY EMMETS bounced back from their defeat to Glenealy the previous week with a demolition of Kiltegan on Tuesday evening in Aughrim.

The reigning Senior hurling champions have been shorn of a number of key players from last year’s panel but have strength in depth in abundance.

They started the game with a flurry of chances in a high paced start but took six minutes to find the target through Marc Lennon.

Lennon and midfield partner Diarmuid Masterson were exceptional throughout the course of this game and were ably assisted by the excellent Padraig Doyle.

Kiltegan employed Rory Finn in a deeper role and between himself and centre back Michael Mangan they thwarted a lot of Bray attacks and their westerners responded to the Bray score through a Padraig O’Toole point after Mangan knocked down a Bray puck out to him.

However, the game sparked into life in the 12th minute after both sides were guilty of some missed chances.

A long clearance from the Bray half back line was misjudged by the Kiltegan defence and dropped right into the path of Tom Cash who stroked home from a couple of yards. Kiltegan responded through a Seanie Germaine free but it was all Bray for the next 10 minutes who opened a comfortable gap between themselves and their opponents.

Masterson and Lennon linked up for another fine score which was followed by points from Cash, Doyle and Cian O’Byrne.

The Bray forward line held a very high line over the course of the game and their efforts forced two interceptions in Kiltegan territory which were also dispatched through O’Byrne and Cash.

Kiltegan also had a little purple patch of their own towards the end of the opening period with Germaine dispatching a couple of frees and a quick sideline from Aaron Byrne allowing Jeffrey Birmingham the opportunity to fire over a score for his side.

Masterson and Lennon however were causing all sorts of havoc for the Bray side and they linked up again to allow Cian O’Byrne a chance on goal but his effort was thwarted by Luke Byrne.

From the resulting clearance, Padraig O’Toole was afforded a bit of time to attack the Bray back line and his shot into the Herbst end found its way into the left hand corner of Eoin Mason’s net with a well placed shot.

The major left a seven-point gap between the sides at the half with the score at 1-12 to 1-5.

Kiltegan had an early opportunity for a second goal early in the second half with Seanie Germaine’s effort thwarted by Eoin Mason in the Bray goal.

Padraig Doyle opened the second half scoring for Bray with a superb score from long range before a magnificent piece of skill from Aaron Byrne produced a point when his sideline cut popped over from the 21 on the stand side.

However, Bray were soon to get on top with some slick hurling and individual performances of a top order.

Padraig Doyle added two frees and two scores from play for himself.

Marc Lennon won a couple of frees and assisted in a score for Tom Cash, while midfield partner Diarmuid Masterson also fired over a fine score for his side.

Seanie Germaine replied with two frees for Kiltegan but Bray had more firepower to come off their bench.

Mikey Lee was introduced with 15 minutes gone in the half and his brief cameo was impressive. Two points and two goals from four shots in his quarter hour role but he was denied his 100 per cent record only for an excellent save from Luke Byrne in injury time thwarting his hat-trick.

Padraig O’Toole goaled for Kiltegan mid way through the half when he cut in along towards goal and his shot found Mason flat footed again and reached the bottom corner of the Bray net.

The final goal of the fixture came late in the game through an unlikely source.

Peter O’Reilly is more renowned for his time between the posts rather than scoring into them.

However, the sub goalkeeper was afforded some time out the pitch in the full-forward line and didn’t disappoint the loyal Bray hurling crowd.

A superb run by Ben McCormack towards the Kiltegan goal drew opposition to him and his hand pass was fired home first time on the volley by the lethal O’Reilly.

A well deserved win for the reigning champions who hurled impressively at times during the course of the game.

With the return of Lee and Daire Henderson to the fold, Emmets will be looking to make a big push towards the end of the campaign to keep their title in the north of the county.

Eoin Mason, Karl Lacey, Sean Maloney, Conor O’Doherty, Dara Maloney, Peter Kiely, Ben McCormack, Diarmuid Masterson (0-1),Marc Lennon (0-3), Eoin McCormack (0-1), Padraig Doyle (0-8), Liam Benville, Cian O’Byrne (0-2),Conor McNally (0-1), Tom Cash (1-3). Subs: Mikey Lee (2-2) for McNally, Willie Keane for Benville, Daire Henderson for Cash, Luke O’Reilly for E McCormack and Peter O’Reilly (1-0) for Lennon

Bray Emmets:

Luke Byrne, Padraig Farrell, Brian Kearney, Colm O’Connor, Cathal Fitzgerald, Michael Mangan, Dan Kearney, Padraig O’Toole (2-1), Ronan Byrne, Rory Finn, Jeffrey Birmingham (0-1), Seanie Germaine (0-7), James O’Brien, Stephen Coogan, Aaron Byrne (0-1) Subs: Mark Murphy for O’Brien, Ciaran Doyle for Farrell, Nigel Nolan for Coogan, Christy O’Toole for Byrne

Kiltegan:

Valleymount 2 2 0 0 37 26 11 4 Kilcoole 2200322394 Knockananna1001912-30 Barndarrig 1 0 0 1 12 19 -7 0 Laragh 20022838-100

Philip Doyle Junior B Football Championship Group 1

BrayEmmets 1100151052 Newtown00000000 AnTochar00000000 Avondale00000000 Baltinglass 1 0 0 1 10 15 -5 0

Philip Doyle Junior B Football Championship Group 2

Blessington 1 1 0 0 19 6 13 2 Hollywood 1 1 0 0 20 14 6 2 Kiltegan00000000 StPatrick’s 00000000