Reds through to county final
Lawless shines for Glenealy
5-7 0-6
GLENEALY will meet Western Gaels in the final of the under-13 ‘C’ hurling championship after an impressive performance saw them routinely past Barndarrig on Saturday afternoon.
The reds scored the equivalent of eleven points on either side of half-time, with Kenzie O’Connor and Alex McKenna shining, as well as solid performances from Keith Lawless and Alex O’Dowd.
An improved second-half showing from Barndarrig was not enough to quell the superior Glenealy, as further goals from James Byrne (2) and Kenzie O’Connor further sealed their place in the final, where they will meet Western Gaels.
It did not take long for Glenealy to fire the first major shot across the bow of Barndarrig.
With just over three minutes on the clock, Kenzie O’Connor rose highest to lay claim to a Barndarrig puck-out, before advancing on goal and dispatching the ball into the back of the net.
Barndarrig responded through Colclough Byrne, but Glenealy were able to keep them at arms length; a trio of scores from
Daragh Lacey giving them a six point cushion going into the final ten minutes of the first-half.
The game was all-but settled shortly thereafter, when Alex McKenna squeezed a shot into the back of the net from an angle, as Glenealy went into the break with a comfortable 2-5 to 0-1 advantage.
The second half went much the same was as the first. Glenealy never looked like surrendering their advantage, despite the best efforts of the resilient Barndarrig. When Daniel Jones notched a free inside the first 60 seconds, Glenealy responded in truly devastating fashion, with James Byrne scoring a brace of goals, both of which coming after he bullied his way into gaining possession in the breakdown, before firing the ball beyond Ronan Wynne in the Barndarrig goals, Kenzie O’Connor completed his brace shortly thereafter.
Remarkably, that second goal – coming before the 40th minute – was the last time Glenealy would register a score until injury-time, as they slightly took their foot off the gas, somewhat understandably given how the score sat at 5-5 to 0-2.
In the meantime, Barndarrig very nearly got a goal, only for DJ Williams to strike the upright, while Daniel Jones – one of the best performers on the day, in spite of the final scoreline – split the posts from play, from a free, and from a 65 to give the scoreline a bit of a gloss.
Unfortunately for Barndarrig, whenever they did threaten to pose significant problems to the Glenealy goal, they were so often repelled by the exceptional Keith Lawless, who was the undisputed best player on the park, alongside Alex O’Dowd.
A further Jones free was sandwiched between a couple of scores from James Byrne as the game entered injury-time at the end of the game.
Glenealy ended up coming out of the game deserved winners, and will ride a wave of momentum into the county final against a Western Gaels team that will too fancy their chances following a pulsating, clinical win over Michael Dwyer’s in the other under-13 ‘C’ semi-final also played in Ballinakill on Saturday.
GLENEALY: John Lynch; Fionn Keogh, Keith Lawless, Joseph Cooney, Aaron Meredith, Darragh Lacey (0-3, 1f), Alex O’Dowd (0-1), Kenzie O’Connor (2-0), James Byrne (2-3), Bobby Fanning, Alex McKenna (1-0), Lorcan Little, Paddy Moorehouse. Subs used: Luke Kennedy, Paddy Kenny.
BARNDARRIG: Ronan Wynne; Daniel Delahunt, Jack Nolan, DJ Williams, John Byrne, Ronan O’Shea, Evan Doyle, Toby Sally, Colclough Byrne (0-1), Cian Jones, Daniel Jones (0-5, 3f, 1 65’), James Russell, John Murray Subs used: Hugh Keaney, Benny Williams. Subs not used: Brian Jones, Fionnan Doyle.
Michael Owens (Avondale)