End of the road for brave Coláiste Bhríde
Coláiste Bhríde bow out after battle with St Fergal’s
ST FERGAL’S (LS) 4-17 COLÁISTE BHRÍDE 3-12
COLÁISTE BHRÍDE CARNEW’S dream of making it to their third Leinster Schools Junior hurling ‘C’ final in a row were dashed last Wednesday afternoon when they came up against a formidable and skillful St Fergal’s of Rathdowney in the rescheduled decider at Carlow Town Hurling Club.
Originally fixed for earlier in the year at the same venue, the fixture fell victim to heavy fog and was called off on a day when it was impossible to see past the 45-yard line.
Last Wednesday, while there was no trace of fog around the Carlow venue, rain and a strong wind assailed the players for most of this game with the Coláiste Bhríde side enjoying the benefit of the wind in the first half.
And they enjoyed a lightning start. An early 1-2 from talented attacker Cian O Tuama got Kevin Morris’ side off to a dream start with the Naomh Eanna man proving unmarkable in the early moments of the game.
A point from centre forward Sean Kehoe continued Coláiste Bhríde’s fine star with the Laois side only managing a single from the useful looking Colin Doheny to leave it 1-3 to 0-1 in the opening five minutes.
But it was clear from the start that this St Fergal’s side were very fast and very capable with the hurl and bit by bit they began eating into that Coláiste Bhríde lead and by the end of the first quarter thay had closed to within a point at 1-3 to 0-5.
A foul on midfielder Brendan Tobin and some lip from a disgruntled defender provided O Tuama with a relatively easy chance and he obliged and he added another free and a 65 to leave his side leading by 1-6 to 0-7 after 26 minutes with the Rathdowney side refusing to go away at any stage.
In fact, St Fergal’s finished the half quite strongly and went in trailing by just a single point with Coláiste Bhríde now facing into the wind for the second period.
The Laois side were level and then led within minutes of the restart with points from Colin Doheny and Kevin Hyland but an O Tuama free after a foul on Dan Redmond brought the sides level again.
Things were looking very bright for the Carnew students soon after when a point from Kehoe was followed by a stunning 1-1 from O Tuama who was by far the hardest working player on the field over the course of the entire game until he was forced off due to bad cramp ion extra-time.
Alas, St Fergal’s responded brilliantly to the concession of the goal and they charged up the field and blasted past Adam Donohue before following that with a point from James Keegan to give them a slender 1-12 to 2-8 lead.
An O Tuama free drew the sides level yet again as this battled raged before Padraig Rafter edged the Laois side ahead only for Sean Kehoe to save the day for Coláiste Bhríde and force extra-time.
The last thing the Carnew students needed was the first thing they got, a goal from Kehoe when his shot beat Donohue just underneath his crossbar.
O Tuama and Darragh Hayden added points for Coláiste Bhríde either side of a James Keegan score for St Fergal’s before the beginning of the end for Kevin Morris’ men when corner-forward Ben Galvin finished a fine move to the back of the net as the end of the first half of extra-time approached and bodies tiring rapidly all over the field.
At half-time in extra-time the St Fergal’s side led by 3-15 to 2-12 and a Coláiste Bhríde comeback was looking extremely unlikely.
Two further points from the
Laois side were hammer blows early in the second half and the sight of Cian O Tuama leaving the field through injury meant that pride was all that was left to be played for.
A goal from Padraig Rafter was followed by a wicked Tommy Collins goal at the other end and that was the end of the scoring in what was an entertaining encounter spoiled somewhat yet again by the weather.
A tough loss for a brave and talented Coláiste Bhríde side to take given the huge effort they put in but the superior hurling team march on to the Leinster decider when all is said and done.
Scorers – St Fergal’s: Padraig Rafter 1-4, Colin Doheny 1-2, Kevin Hyland 1-1, Joseph Corby 0-4 (4f), James Keegan 0-4, Ben Galvin 1-0, Shane Bracken 0-2.
Coláiste Bhríde Carnew: Cian O Tuama 2-8 (4f, 1 65), Sean Kehoe 0-3, Tommy Collins 1-0, Darragh
Hayden 0-1.
COLÁISTE BHRÍDE CARNEW:
Adam Donohue; Ruairi O’Brien, James Doyle, Ben Donohue; Craig Grannell, Tommy Collins, Maurice Shiel; Sean Hughes, Brendan Tobin; Brendan Bolger, Sean Kehoe, Daniel Bolger; Dan Redmond, Maurice Tobin, Cian O Tuama. Subs: Larry Kinsella for M Shiel, Sean Kenny for D
Redmond, Darragh Hayden for M Tobin, Will Molloy for C Grannell, Richard Greene for C O Tuama.
ST FERGAL’S:
Ben Campion; Eoin Daly, Richard Thompson, Jamie Cross; Aaron Hayes, Philip Patrick Tynan, Alex Finane Campion; James Keegan, Padraig Rafter; Joseph Corby, Colin Doheny, Kevin Hyland; Ben Galvin, Cian Mezzapelle, Shane Bracken.