Allianz Hurling League Division 3A Hurlers survive a wobbly second-half against Cavan
Sligo struggle for first win of Stephen Sheil’s tenure despite holding a 15-point half-time lead
Allianz Hurling League Division 3A – Round One Sligo 4-19 Cavan 3-18
DESPITE Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch stepping in seamlessly to replace the scoring void due to Andrew Kilcullen’s impending departure to Australia and a revamped attack scoring 4-13 in the first-half of last Saturday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 3A fixture, Sligo prayed for the final whistle at Markievicz Park.
Visitors Cavan furiously clawed back the deficit – they ‘won’ the second-half, 3-8 to 0-6 – to the extent that Sligo’s winning margin was a mere four points, 4-19 to 3-18, when Mayo referee James Judge’s full-time whistle sounded.
Cavan, who won the Division 3B title last year when Sligo were slipping out of Division 2B, were able to keep busy on the scoreboard thanks to the adroit finishing skills of Liam O’Brien, who scored
This isn’t how Sligo’s new manager Stephen Shiel wanted things to pan out, surely.
Welcoming back Gerard O’KellyLynch and others to the fold, he was without Finnian Cawley, Conor Hanniffy, James Weir and Eddie O’Donoghue for last weekend’s fixture.
If it is possible to disregard that sluggish second-half, with a mitigating factor the loss of leading scorer Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch, who went off with a knock just six minutes into the second period, Shiel has several positives to take from Sligo’s blistering first-half display.
The four goals were well-crafted – there was one from Conor Griffin and the three O’Kelly-Lynch brothers, Tony, Liam and Gerard.
With Sligo intent on sending fast, smart deliveries into the potent full-forward unit of Thomas Cawley, Conor Griffin and Gerard O’KellyLynch, it was heartening to see that two of the goals – the ones scored by Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch and Conor Griffin – came from direct ball by Rory McHugh and Fionn Moylan.
The number of scores (4-19) that Sligo registered against Cavan in last Saturday’s AHL game.
Rory McHugh was majestic at centre-back and his brother, Joe, a former forward, adapted well to his new role of wing-back. Another constructive aspect of this win was that by half-time all six of Sligo’s starting forwards had scored. Along with the four goals there were chances for at least three more green flag scores. Conor Griffin was a strong and unselfish target man, setting up several scores and also chipping in with 1-1. Michael Munnelly clipped over a hat-trick of tasty points in the opening period and Donnchadh O’Brien, a second-half substitute, made his debut at this level.
There was typical grit from Kevin O’Kennedy, who captained the side, and Niall Kilcullen.
But Sligo were not only weaker offensively when Gerard O’KellyLynch left the fray, there were defensive vulnerabilities when Cavan went direct and put Canice Maher and Nicholas Kenny closer to Sligo’s goal – Kenny blasted two exceptional goals during Cavan’s back-from-the-dead recovery. Cavan, who finished with 14 players due to a second booking for Thomas Leonard, plundered a third goal in stoppage time.
A lot for Sligo boss Stephen Sheil to ponder, with the Carlow
RESULTS
Played on Saturday, February 3 and Sunday, February 4
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3A
FIXTURES
Sunday, February 11
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3A man looking considerably older and more stressed at full-time compared to when Sligo were moving smoothly through the gears in an awesome first-half.
Sheil stated: “It was a bit hairy in the end to be fair – a bit too close for our liking. We said in the dressing-room at half-time that we had to keep the intensity up, it didn’t happen.
“Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch had to come off and that upset the forward line a little bit. He picked up a knock – he got a knee into the back – so we had to take him off.
“We lost our shape in the second-half but, in saying that, there are loads of positives to take from that first-half – we played the way we wanted to play.”
He continued: “We’ll draw a line under the second-half. We got our two points at the end of the day – we’ll move on and see how we get on in Armagh this weekend.
“We’ve been working on few things and it paid off in the first-half, you could see that we got some great scores, especially the way the ball was played into the lads in the full-forward line.
“The lads are downhearted a bit [about the second-half] and they probably deserve to be disappointed with it, performance-wise.
“But I’ve said to them that there are a lot more positives for them to take from the game in terms of the first-half.”
Sligo’s next assignment is an away fixture against Armagh this Sunday (Crossmaglen, 2pm). The Ulster county – last year’s Division 3A finalists – were beaten by Mayo in Castlebar, last Sunday. Armagh, who lost by eight points, 1-18 to 2-7, boasted the game’s top scorer – Alex O’Boyle, who bagged 1-5 (a penalty goal and five converted frees).
Sligo last played Armagh in this tier three years ago – that was a 2-24 to 1-18 win for Sligo at Markievicz Park on May
22, 2021, with Gerard O’KellyLynch supplying 1-11 for the home side and Joe McHugh scoring 1-3.
Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch Luke Comerford, Darragh Cawley, Gavin Connolly, Kevin O’Kennedy (c), Joe McHugh
(0-1), Rory McHugh (0-1), Niall Kilcullen, Niall Feehily
(0-1), Fionn Moylan, Liam O’Kelly-Lynch (1-1), Tony O’Kelly-Lynch (1-2, 2f), Michael Munnelly (0-3), Thomas Cawley (0-2), Conor Griffin (1-1), Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch (1-6, 5f)
Subs used: Brian
Shannon, Donnchadh O’Brien, Fionn Connolly (0-1)
Subs not used: Declan Reidy, Michael O’Callaghan, Donal Keaveny, Donáll Hanley, Shane Brenan, Darragh Flynn, Ciaran Keenan, Oisin Hennessy
Niall Clerkin, Shane Briody, Gavin Fitzpatrick, Philip McCabe, Diarmaid Carney, Enda Shalvey, Dillon Mulligan, Canice Maher (c) (0-3), Liam Og Cooke (01), Liam O’Brien (1-10, 7f, 1 ‘65’), Jack Barry, Nicholas Kenny (2-1), Rian Delaney (02), Mark Moffett, Matthew Hynes Subs used: Thomas Leonard (01), Rory Farrell, Darragh Boyle, James Tully
Referee: James Judge (Mayo)
WINNING START: New Sligo senior hurling team manager Stephen Sheil, oversaw the defeat of Cavan in an Allianz Hurling League Division 3A fixture last Saturday.