PURE DEVASTATION
ST PATRICK’S GLENEALY 0-19 1-15
GLENEALY’S dreams of becoming the first Wicklow club side to win a Leinster hurling title ended in a devastating manner in Nowlan Park last Saturday when a late St Patrick’s Ballyragget point secured victory for the Kilkenny champions.
Sean Stack’s final whistle was greeted with uproar and disdain by the massive Glenealy support in the stand and by anger by the players out on the field after a fantastic game that had been blighted by a collection of controversial decisions going for the most part against the Wicklow kingpins.
There was utter devastation among the Glenealy faithful who had watched their hurlers put in a performance that was nothing short of epic. From start to finish the Glenealy men made an absolute mockery of the pre-match odds and public opinion, driving hard at the Kilkenny men throughout, hurling with abandon and belief, defending like tigers and lighting up a dull Nowlan Park on a murky December day.
Wayne O’Gorman’s second half goal brought the superb Glenealy crowd to their feet in the 44th minute and a historic victory for the Reds looked very likely given the way they were hurling and how the game was unfolding with the majority of the play going right through the middle and suiting the Wicklow champions.
Alas, the next quarter of an hour produced some baffling decisions by the referee which provided the very capable
St Patrick’s Ballyragget with a firm footing from which to push on with their recovery and snatch a late and criminally cruel victory from the grasp on an heroic panel of Glenealy men.
Immediately after the goal, Leighton Glynn was penalised for overcarrying in what seemed to be an extremely harsh decision. Kevin Kelly did miss the free but from what was a potential launch of an attack by Glynn the ball was suddenly in the hands of Keith Snell at the opposite end of the field and an opportunity was lost.
Just prior to the goal was Emmet Byrne’s first yellow card, again a very harsh call. This would come back to haunt Byrne, who was without a shadow of a doubt the man of the match on the day, when he collected a second yellow card at the death and was sent off.
There were a number of other decisions that went against Glenealy including an unspotted throw ball along the sideline from which St Patrick’s bagged a point at a key moment in the latter stages of the game, a silly and unnecessary free against Tommy Doyle immediately after Gavin Weir’s magnificent point from the sideline to give Kevin Kelly the chance to bring St Patrick’s back to within a point at 1-15 to 0-17, and there were fouls on Glenealy men missed at vital times.
There were also serious questions asked of the time played at the end of the game. Garry Laffan was of the opinion the referee had said that there were four minutes of time to be added on at the end. Another Glenealy source said that the linesman had told him that there were five minutes to be played. In the end there were three and a half minutes played as the light faded in Nowlan Park with time running out for the Glenealy men.
But let’s park the controversy for a while. Defeat was suffered by the Glenealy men and nothing and nobody is going to change that, unfortunately. But what about their performance. Their showing in Nowlan Park should be celebrated and never forgotten. Gary Laffan said afterwards that nobody wants moral victories and the Glenealy boss is completely right but from the ruins of the defeat we must dust off the dazzling display and hold it up for all to see.
Glenealy were outstanding on Saturday. Outstanding! They may have had some ground to make up on their Kilkenny opponents in terms of hurling ability and craft but they were out on their own when it came to heart and belief and application.
Let’s start with Keith Snell in the goals. Two remarkable saves from the Glenealy netminder, the first a magnificent point-blank save at a vital time in the opening half. St Patrick’s Ballyragget failed to score a goal thanks to a tight defence in front of Snell but the keeper provided a reliable and sound foundation for that defence.
In the corner was the man of the match Emmet Byrne. The corner-back turned in a superb performance on a collection of talented attackers. On umpteen occasions he got out in front to get his hurl to a ball and rob possession and launch Glenealy attacks and it was a genuine pleasure to watch him in action in Nowlan Park.
Warren Kavanagh has been a revelation this year and has surely been the finest hurler in the county over the course of 2017 and Saturday was no exception. He kept Kevin Kelly to two points from play and minded the house all day with his usual top class hurling and excellent defending.
Ruaidhri O’Neill made way for Lee Kavanagh in the second half but turned in a fine performance in the corner as part of a tight and formidable full-back line.
Gary Byrne and Tommy Doyle were immense at different times at half-back. In a game where players had to live off scraps and where rucks formed regularly it was Byrne and Doyle who showed hunger and desire and made life very difficult for the Ballyragget men around the 45.
At centre-half back Danny Staunton showed all his class and guile over the course of this game. The Glenealy captain might agree that he had a better first half than second but that’s only to say that his first half performance was magnificent. Was pivotal throughout the game and he got in a vital theft in the second half.
Jonathan O’Neill in the middle of the field. What can you say? How do you do justice to a man who has seen it, done it, bought the t-shirt, got the haircut? He was a man mountain on Saturday. Eight points from frees, some of them truly wonderful strikes, hassled, harried, guided, inspired and drove on his team. You would dearly hope that this man stays playing in 2018.