Glenealy see off Avondale after cracker

Hughes shines for Reds

GLENEALY AVONDALE 0-14 0-12

GLENEALY sealed their place in the Junior A hurling championship final thanks to a two-point victory over Avondale in a very entertaining clash in Joule Park, Aughrim, last Wednesday evening.

The Reds will face Kiltegan in the decider after the west men produced a stunning comeback to see off Éire Óg Greystones in the other semi-final played in Pearse’s Park, Arklow.

The two-point gap at the end was probably an accurate portrayal of the difference between the two teams over the course of the hour with the sides being level only once during the game, that after 53 minutes when Eanna Owens surged up the middle to fire over the leveler for Avondale.

Glenealy assumed the lead after 20 seconds and, despite the absolutely trojan work done by Ray Nolan from start to finish, the Dales were always just that little bit off.

In saying that though, only for Cian Staunton’s fine save at the death, Avondale could well have snatched a late victory.

The excellent Gary Hughes opened the scoring and he added his second after three minutes from a superbly struck 65 out near the stand side.

By the time Ray Nolan got Avondale off the mark after eight minutes from a converted free after a foul on Anthony O’Toole, Emmet O’Sullivan’s men had three wides to their credit.

A savage bit of fielding from Glenealy full-forward Glen O’Gorman allowed him the time to swing over a mighty point from about 40 yards from goal and make it 0-03 to 0-01 and a Gary Hughes free and a lovely Aaron Meade effort from play opened up a 0-05 to 0-01 lead for the reds.

But Avondale had a major asset in the form of Ray Nolan. From the first whistle to the last he battled for every last ball that came his way and his 10-point tally speaks volumes for his efforts.

Cathal Doyle got the recovery started before two from Nolan made it 0-05 to 0-04 after 19 minutes.

A clever tap down by Mathew Traynor to Aaron Meade saw the midfielder fire over while at the other end the Avondale wide count was rising all the time.

A 65 and a free from the hurl of Gary Hughes suddenly opened up an 0-08 to 0-04 lead for Glenealy before Dean Franey fired over followed by a Ray Nolan free at the other end and the sides took the half-time break at 0-09 to 0-05 with Avondale having it all to in the second half including dealing with an eye-burning setting sun.

Ray Nolan’s six points in the second half was almost as much as he could do to try and drag them back into this game, but each time Nolan got them to within touching distance of Glenealy the Reds could always sweep up the field and grab a score or two to reopen the gap.

Scores from Ben O’Neill, Ryan Devlin, Hughes and a superb Aaron Meade point kept the Glenealy men out of reach from the Dales and when the time came for a big score it was substitute Vinnie O’Flaherty who fired over the point to open up the two-point gap that Avondale were unable to close.

Scorers – Glenealy: Gary Hughes 0-06 (3f, 2 65s), Aaron Meade 0-03, Glen O’Gorman 0-01, Dean Franey 0-01, Ben O’Neill 0-01, Ryan Devlin 0-01, Vinnie O’Flaherty 0-01.

Avondale: Ray Nolan 0-10 (6f, 1 65), Cathal Doyle 0-01, Eanna Owens 0-01.

Glenealy: Cian Staunton; Tony Conyard, Stefan O’Brien, Tony Doyle; Ronan Manley, Mathew Traynor, Robert Browne; Jonathon O’Neill jnr, Aaron Meade; Dean Franey, Gary Hughes, Brendan Hawes; Ben O’Neill, Glen O’Gorman, Derek O’Neill. Subs: Ryan Devlin for D O’Neill, Reece Devlin for B Hawes, Dale Franey for B O’Neill, Vinnie O’Flaherty for D Franey.

Avondale: Owen Heffernan; Edward Shaughnessy, Seamus Shaughnessy, Dylan Kearns; Nathan Kirwan, James Doyle, Anthony O’Toole; Cathal Doyle, Danny Owens; Niall Heffernan, Ray Nolan, Dermot Phelan; Craig Byrne, Eugene Heffernan, Eanna Owens. Subs: Joe Kennedy for E Heffernan, Johnny tobin for D Phelan, Trevor Heffernan for N Heffernan.

Referee: John Keenan (Aughrim)