Doyle strike decides top Minor replay
Joy for Carnew Emmets after thrilling clash
CARNEW EMMETS 2-16 AVONDALE/PARNELLS 0-11
YOU can’t keep a good man down they say and that was very much the case in this hugely entertaining Minor ‘A’ hurling final replay on Saturday afternoon last when Carnew’s John Doyle finally broke free of the shackles of a stubborn Avondale/Parnells defence in the 58th minute to bury the ball to the back of Connor Jameson’s net and secure a sweet victory for the Wexford border club.
The foundations for Carnew’s win were laid by superb performances from Eoin Kavanagh and Owen Young on both 45s with Kavanagh turning in a feverishly energetic and tigerish display at centre back while Young exuded class at centre forward, firing over 10 excellent scores and having a hand in nearly every positive thing Carnew did on a memorable day for the dual club with underage football and camogie titles also heading south.
Throw in class showings from Thomas Collins at full-back and Conor Wafer at half-back and you had all the ingredients for a championship victory.
This was the fourth meeting of these sides for the season and it has been a rivalry that has lacked nothing in terms of commitment, passion and quality hurling. The game doubled as a championship and league final.
A positive start from the Carnew men saw them open up a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 11 minutes courtesy of points from Owen Young (three, two frees) and a wicked score from John Doyle after class work out the field by the Young brothers.
PJ O’Connor notched the first of his nine scores for the day (eight frees) with 12 on the clock before Carnew’s Doyle started to torment the Avondale/Parnells defence but could only register a wide before seeing two shots at goal saved, one from TJ Copeland and the second by Jameson in the Avondale/Parnells goal.
From that situation of potential for Carnew, the Avondale/ Parnells side charged down the field and were level within a few minutes thanks to three more scores from O’Connor (two frees) as the healthy crowd of supporters for the combined team got fully behind their side.
But Carnew’s threat was always there. With Kavanagh working tirelessly across his own 45 and John Young and Ryan Guilfoyle putting in the hard yards at midfield, the opportunities were presented to Owen Young and company.
Young might have had a goal shortly afterwards but saw his shot blaze over the crossbar and he sandwiched two fine points from frees around a Liam Dickenson score for Avondale/Parnells to leave Eddie Brennan’s side leading by 0-7 to 0-5 with 25 on the clock.
An O’Connor free was answered by a monster free from Eoin Kavanagh before a strong finish saw Owen Young and John Doyle open up a 0-10 to 0-6 lead for Carnew Emmets at the break with Avondale/Parnells preparing to enjoy the breeze behind them as they played down to the dressing room ends in the second half.
An electric start from the very useful Avondale/Parnells side saw them eat into the Carnew lead through points from the impressive Zach Cullen and another O’Connor pointed free. But Carnew could always hit back with one or two of their own to maintain the daylight between the teams.
A clever short 65 from Owen Young found Ryan Guilfoyle who swung over the bar at the Rednagh Hill end. O’Connor answered before Young hit back to make it 0-12 to 0-9 with 10 gone in the second half.
A foul on Elliot Young provided O’Connor with a hefty challenge from the half-way line but the young Avondale/Parnells man was more than up for the challenge but the combined outfit followed up this uplifting score with two wides when two points might have changed the entire landscape of the game.
Owen Young and O’Connor traded scores, O’Connor firing over what would be Avondale/ Parnells last score of the game.
Carnew started to grow in confidence from here. A point from James McGing and a 65 from Owen Young left Carnew leading by 0-15 to 0-11 before Caoimhin Rawson and Doyle saw their goal chances blaze wide after 56 and 58 minutes.
But the goals were coming and when John Doyle gathered in front of the very impressive Darren Riley there was only one place that ball was going as he galloped towards goal and that was deep in the bottom corner of Connor Jameson’s net.
A clever Owen Young ball high into the Avondale/Parnells square was seized on by the alert Liam O’Neill who kicked home his side’s second goal before John Doyle closed out the scoring with a fine point from play to leave the final score reading 2-16 to 0-11.
Scorers – Carnew Emmets: Owen Young 0-10 (5f, 2 65), John Doyle 1-3, Liam O’Neill 1-0, James McGing 0-1, Ryan Guilfoyle 0-1, Eoin Kavanagh 0-1 (f).
Avondale/Parnells: PJ O’Connor 0-9 (8f), Liam Dickenson 0-1, Zach Cullen 0-1.
Gavin Murray; Max Keogh, Thomas Collins, Cormac Redmond; Conor Wafer, Eoin Kavanagh, Kieran O’Keeffe; Ryan Guilfoyle, John Young; Liam O’Neill, Owen Young, Dan Redmond; John Doyle, James McGing, Caoimhin Rawson.
Connor Jameson; TJ Copeland, Darren Riley, Tim Byrne; Des Byrne, Shane Brown, Ross Kenny; Liam Dickenson, Elliot Young; PJ O’Connor, Zach Cullen, Oisin Cullen; Ryan Bardon, Liam Somers, Torna Mulconroy.
Chris Canavan (Avoca)