O’Hanlon frees seal the points
Late burst from Horeswood
HORESWOOD 1-16 BANNOW-B’MITTY 2-10
HORESWOOD STAGED a stirring closing five minutes that produced three Michael O’Hanlon pointed frees, helping them emerge with a crucial win over a battling Bannow-Ballymitty outfit in this teak-tough Permanent TSB Junior hurling championship Group A game in Clongeen on Friday.
Inspired by O’Hanlon’s free-taking throughout, Horeswood had the ideal start when he found the net from close range inside 30 seconds of the start.
But they still had to withstand a strong Bannow-Ballymitty second-half surge that looked for spells like producing a winning effort, although in the end the accuracy of the Horeswood full-forward saw his side eventually emerge with a late victory.
Despite that inspired start, Horeswood were still unable to pull away as the accurate Gary Jordan from frees kept the oppo- sition in touch.
However, three successive O’Hanlon pointed frees towards the end of the opening quarter gave the eventual winners a 1-7 to 0-4 lead.
Five minutes later, Bannow-Ballymitty got the breakthrough they so desperately needed when Nicky Doyle pulled a ground shot to the net, to reduce the deficit.
Mark Wallace and O’Hanlon (free) went on to exchange points, leaving Horeswood with a 1-7 to 1-5 interval lead.
Bannow-Ballymitty came under pressure on the resumption as Horeswood opened with three successive points through Jamie Myler, Seán Nolan and O’Hanlon, before they managed to open their second-half account with a fine Gary Jordan 38th-minute point.
Two minutes later they hauled themselves right back into contention when Micheál Murphy shot to the net from close range after a Gary Jordan effort for goal from a free had been blocked, leaving the minimum separating the sides (1-11 to 2-7).
The sides went on to exchange two points apiece, with Myler and O’Hanlon (free) on target for Horeswood, while Gary Jordan responded with pointed frees.
After O’Hanlon (free) and Jordan had exchanged points, the minimum still separated the sides entering the closing five minutes before O’Hanlon shot over the pointed frees to give his side a deserved victory. Horeswood now boast four points, with Bannow-Ballymitty on one.
Horeswood: Declan Murphy; Tomás Kent, Shane O’Hanlon, Eamonn O’Sullivan; Danny Byrne, Barry Hearn, David Murphy; Seán Stafford, Jamie Myler (0-3); Eddie Breen, Damien Hearn, Seán Nolan (0-2); John Bradley, Michael O’Hanlon (1-11, 0-9 frees), Gavin Murphy. Subs. - Leigh O’Brien for D. Hearn, Dylan Whitty for Breen, Eamonn Murphy for Bradley.
Bannow-Ballymitty: Kevin Doyle; David White, John O’Leary, Jaydee Cahill; Arthur Murphy, Arthur Sweetman, Mark Colfer; Micheál Murphy (1-0), Niall Harney; Nicky Doyle (1-0), Mark Wallace (0-2), Gary Morton; Gary Jordan (0-8, 5 frees), David Currid, Alan Barden. Subs. - Robert Cogley for Cahill, Dave Crosbie for A. Murphy.
Referee: Gearóid McGrath (St. James’).