Carnew get job done
Hickey’s men navigate past tough Éire Óg challenge
0-14 0-9
CARNEW EMMETS booked their place in the 2020 Lightning Protection Ireland Senior Hurling Championship final after a 0-14 to 0-9 victory over Éire Óg Greystones in Aughrim last Sunday but they will be only too well aware that a performance such as this is unlikely to get them over the line against a clinical Bray Emmets.
To be fair to James Hickey’s men, semi-finals are entities that just have to be navigated. The manner, style and scoring exploits matter very little when the final whistle sounds. All that matters is whether a team has reached that big day or has made a swift exit from the championship.
Nevertheless, major improvements will be required if the men of Carnew are to end this championship drought, although the potential is certainly there if the performance they are capable of is unleashed.
Éire Óg were never going to make it easy for James Hickey’s side. Indeed, had Eamonn Scallan’s men not been so wasteful with their shooting, especially in the first half with the wind when they registered eight wides (11 overall), this game could have had a very different complexion in the second period when Carnew enjoyed their best spell, with the wind at their backs and Enda Donohoe performing very well from difficult frees.
If quality scoring was what you wanted from the opening half of this game then you had come to the wrong place when referee Ciaran Manley threw the ball in for the start of this encounter. A remarkably low-scoring first half saw the sides retire at 0-4 apiece
with Éire Óg, tellingly, never leading in that opening 30, and with Andrew Walsh or Anto Byrne never receiving the supply they so badly needed to cause Bob Fitzgerald serious headaches in the Carnew goal.
Carnew Emmets showed one change to their named starting 15 with Darragh Foley coming in instead of James Gregan. Martin O’Brien wore number 8 but was deployed at corner-back as James Hickey looked to deal with a very threatening full-forward line. O’Brien picked up Hugh O’Neill with Conall McCrea welcoming Anto Byrne to the edge of the square while Pádraig Doran would have his hands full with Andrew Walsh for a time.
Neil Browne replaced Brian Lawless in the Éire Óg starting 15 while Stephen ‘Chester’ Kelly was named at 25 with the hope around the ground that the dual star would see some game time. We hadn’t long to wait.
A wide apiece were record
ed before Enda Donohoe swept over a free won by the tireless Jack Doyle around the middle of the field and brought forward for dissent.
Kristin Flynn drove wide moments later from deep rather than dropping the ball down on Anto Byrne but perhaps that was his intention but he misjudged the relatively strong breeze heading down the field towards the village end.
Carnew were operating with a two-man full-forward line of John Doyle Jnr and Owen Young with Paudi McGing operating out in the half-forward line.
James Hickey’s men registered the next two wides, one from a goal chance from Owen Young after good work from John Doyle Jnr before Peter Keane showed good prowling skills when he swooped in to rob possession after a loose Carnew pass and drove over a beauty to make it a point apiece after 11.
John Doyle Jnr showed the class act he is when he split the posts from the sideline after losing his marker, Neil Browne.
Hugh O’Neill was the next Éire Óg man to drive an effort from distance wide before Shaun Cranley slotted a screamer of a free from the sideline to make it 0-2 apiece after 16. The endeavor was there from both sides, but the finishing and final passes were not.
A storming run from Jack Doyle earned his side a free and Enda Donohoe fired over to return Carnew to the lead but Éire Óg could only register two wides over the next 10 minutes before Cranley bagged a point from a free with 29 gone, 0-3 to 0-3.
A foul on Paudi McGing gave Donohoe another chance and he duly obliged before Anto Byrne grabbed the score of the game from distance to send them in 0-4 apiece at the break.
Eamonn Scallan released Stephen ‘Chester’ Kelly after the break, realising no doubt that he needed all his strengths to withstand Carnew with the wind at their backs.
A Shaun Cranley free after two minutes following a foul on Hugh O’Neill gave Éire Óg the lead for the first and only time in this game and it lasted less than a minute before Enda Donohoe struck over a master of a score from play from way out the field to level the game at 0-5 apiece.
James Hickey’s men regained the lead when Andrew Hughes capped a strong performance with a strong finish on the run moments after Stephen ‘Chester’ Kelly had tried to find Andrew Walsh with a high ball only for Bob Fitzgerald and Conall McCrea to deal with the threat and McCrea to launch the counter as Fitzgerald gingerly picked himself up off the floor after a collision with the Éire Óg attacker.
Eamonn Scallan had pulled Anto Byrne out the field to try and secure possession, leaving Walsh inside.
A lazy jersey pull on Enda Donohoe allowed the sharpshooter put two between the sides after 11 and a converted 65 pushed that lead out to three as Carnew started to stamp their authority on the matter.
Shaun Cranley from play kept Éire Óg motoring but Carnew were starting to dominate in key sectors of the field and they registered two wides and an Enda Donohoe converted free won by John Doyle Snr by the end of the third quarter to leave it 0-9 to 0-6.
The pressure of the Carnew delivery inside was starting to tell on the Éire Óg defence, and with Enda Donohoe in fine form from the placed balls it wasn’t long before he had another opportunity after a foul on the lively John Doyle Jnr and he proved successful yet again to leave it 0-10 to 0-6 at the second water break.
James Hickey sent in another of Carnew’s young guns after the water break, with Eoin Kavanagh coming in for Owen Young who had performed well under the pressure of Éire Óg’s Billy Cuddihy. Kavanagh would enjoy his time on the field, making a strong claim for a point that was waved wide and chipping in with an excellent score.
Andrew Walsh did very well to gather possession out around the half-forward line but the pressure from Pádraig Doran and Darragh Foley forced him to overcarry and the reaction of the Carnew Emmets players following the decision told you all you needed to know about what this meant. Enda Donohoe powered over the free with the wind at his back.
A helter skelter period of play ended with Anto Byrne firing a harmless wide but did include Andrew Walsh getting on the ball only for his hurl to be broken.
Scallan’s men closed the gap to three by the 24th minute thanks to two points from Shaun Cranley (one free) but Carnew weren’t going to be beaten on the day and they added points from Donohoe (free) and that Eoin Kavanagh peach.
‘Chester’ would reply for the Greystones men but it was almost all James Hickey’s men at this stage and a Donohoe free that was surrounded by Carnew wides brought an end to the scoring.
Éire Óg brought a serious level of energy and passion to this game. They are without a doubt the most improved team in the county but they failed to or in some ways were not allowed to play to their strengths with Andrew Walsh and Anto Byrne not getting anything like the supply they need to cause major damage.
Defensively they were reasonably sound save for the concession of frees to an eager Enda Donohoe and hopefully they will maintain this upward trajectory and be back to fight the good fight at the top level in 2021.
This was always going to be a tricky hurdle for Carnew. The job is done. They will know the task that awaits them in the final against a team that scored 1-15 in the second half against St Pat’s but they’re there and that’s all that matters at this stage.
Bob Fitzgerald; Aaron Kinsella, Conall McCrea, Andrew Hughes (0-1); James McGing, Pádraig Doran, John Doyle Snr; Martin O’Brien, Jack Doyle; Owen Young, Wayne Kinsella, Darragh Foley; John Doyle Jnr (0-2), Paudi McGing, Enda Donohoe (0-10, 8f, 1 65). Subs: Eoin Kavanagh (0-1) for O Young (48), James Gregan for P McGing (51), Drew Brennan for J Doyle Jnr (60).
Dan O’Neill; Neil Browne, Billy Cuddihy, Kristin Flynn; Eoghan Potts, Michael Walsh, Peter Keane (0-1); Shaun Cranley (0-6, 4f), Sean Lawless; James Cranley, Andrew Walsh, Leon Browne; Hugh O’Neill, Anto Byrne (0-1), Daniel Salmon. Subs: Stephen Kelly (0-1) for Daniel Salmon (H/T), Mick Arrigan for E Potts (54).
REFEREE: Ciaran Manley (Glenealy)