Fired-up Fethard go close
Cloughbawn get out of jail in memorable encounter
PRE-MATCH favourites Cloughbawn got out of jail in a cracking curtain-raiser in Innovate Wexford Park on Sunday, with the Senior runners-up from 2016 put to the pin of their collars to secure a draw with a fired-up and extremely impressive Fethard outfit in a rousing The Courtyard Ferns Intermediate hurling championship final.
The game had been full of quality from an early stage, and the initiative swung firmly in favour of the seasiders after two goals in less than two minutes from Jimmy Sutton early in the second-half pushed them into a 2-13 to 1-10 lead.
Cloughbawn were in serious trouble, and although the switch of midfielder Colm Kehoe to centre-back made an immense difference and probably saved them in the end, they were still struggling to get back at the leaders.
Joint captain Garrett Foley had the game of his life at centrefield for the reigning county Intermediate ‘A’ and Leinster Junior champions, firing over six sweet points from play, and they edged closer to glory when goalscorer Sutton registered a superb score over his shoulder in the 56th minute before being strangely replaced (2-18 to 2-15).
When half-time Cloughbawn substitute Connal Flood replied, the margin was down to two points for the fourth time since those Fethard majors.
The Enniscorthy District side had been unable to narrow the gap any further up to that stage, but that changed in a remarkable finish when they hit the front with a well-taken goal 17 seconds into added time.
Bob Whitty may have mis-hit the ball in a frantic piece of action, but it was plucked from the sky at the Clonard end by substitute Paul Foley who gave his namesake Seán, the Fethard netminder, no chance with a rocket shot to the net.
Incredibly, Cloughbawn were ahead by the minimum (3-16 to 2-18), but it would have been cruel luck on their rivals if they were to be pipped in such a heartbreaking manner.
Garrett Foley and Bob Whitty swapped wides before the Fethard man was rewarded for bravely having another go just over three minutes into added time, with his sixth point registered off the hurl of Cloughbawn netminder Noel Carton.
Now all eyes were on referee Brian O’Leary, but with neither side able to fashion another chance, it ended in a draw and the high quality of the game was reflected in the generous applause afforded to both teams in the immediate aftermath.
The young Fethard men were later cheered off the field by their appreciative supporters after their warm down, and they certainly deserved it as that famous club spirit was rarely expressed with greater fervour than in this first-rate clash.
Perhaps the fact that Cloughbawn were fancied in most quarters had a negative impact on their thinking. Still, they must be credited too for digging deep to rescue the situation when they looked in danger of falling to what would have been a shattering defeat on the afternoon that their Senior champions of 1993 were honoured.
They were level with Fethard at half-time (1-8 to 0-11), with Garrett Foley picking off four points from play for St. Mogue’s while his fellow joint captain, Graham O’Grady, chipped in with three.
The sides were level four times in all in the opening quarter, and it was 0-7 to 0-5 to Cloughbawn midway through the half after Harry Kehoe had shot five points, including two from play.
As expected, he was followed wherever he went by Fethard’s man-marking specialist, Rúairí Tubrid, but his opportunism kept Cloughbawn in the hunt when others around him were struggling.
M.J. Furlong and Barry Carton also contributed to that scoring total, while Fethard picked off five eye-catching points from play courtesy of O’Grady, Ciarán Dwyer, Garrett Foley, Mark Wallace and Foley with his second.
Furlong and John Tubritt exchanged points before Foley and O’Grady left the teams level once more (0-8 each) in the 25th minute, although there was a let-off for Fethard beforehand when a Colin Doyle shot was saved and the rebound was fluffed by a colleague.
The Cloughbawn goal followed, and it was created by a lovely pass into space by team captain Barry Carton from under the stand.
He had spotted veteran M.J. Furlong’s run into the right corner, and the ex-Wexford regular’s shot injured netminder Seán Foley with its ferocity but crept over the line before Martin Power could get back to keep it out.
The measure of Fethard’s response to that setback showed that they were really up for this challenge, as if there was any doubt in the first place by that juncture.
The last three points of the half were a statement of strong intent, with Garrett Foley, Mark Wallace (their first from a free) and Graham O’Grady keeping the umpires busy and leaving the sides level (0-11 to 1-8) at the interval.
And that defiant message from Fethard continued just 14 seconds into the new half when wing-back Richard Waters thundered away from new arrival Connal Flood before picking off an inspiring lead point.
Harry Kehoe levelled from a free, and points were exchanged between Ciarán Dwyer and Flood before that two-goal burst from Fethard in the 34th and 36th minutes had their supporters in dreamland.
Dwyer, who had a fine game in what has been a tough year for his family, popped a handpass to Jimmy Sutton who shot low past Noel Carton for the first, and the second was an absolute cracker.
This time Garrett Foley sprayed the ball into the left corner and Sutton hared away from his nearest opponent after gathering possession before planting a beauty in the roof of the net (2-13 to 1-10).
Harry Kehoe pulled back a point from a free before his namesake, Colm, was moved to centre-back, and the first sign of real hope for Cloughbawn appeared after points were swapped by the on-fire Foley and the opposition’s free-taker.
This pulsating clash was in its 44th minute when Harry Kehoe’s shot from a tight angle on the right was saved by Seán Foley, but the break was first-timed to the net by Bob Whitty (2-14 to 2-12).
Fethard looked like they were ready for anything that was going to be thrown at them all the same, as Mark Wallace pointed from the left corner before Kehoe responded from a placed ball.
The first of just three second-half frees for the south county side arrived in the 48th minute and was knocked over the bar by Wallace, and when he added a ‘65 there was a margin of four heading down the home straight.
Harry Kehoe (free) and Bob Whitty narrowed that gap to two, with the latter killing a Colm Kehoe pass with a superb piece of control before splitting the posts (2-17 to 2-15).
What followed was championship hurling at its compelling best, and the replay next Saturday at the same venue is a game not to be missed because it’s nigh on impossible at this stage to call an eventual winner.
It was good to see Mikie Dwyer making a very late appearance for Fethard, with his troublesome left knee strapped, and if he is fit enough for a longer spell on the field it will further enhance his side’s prospects.
Incidentally, there was a novel family clash in this final as Fethard trainer Kevin Bolger, the former Geraldine O’Hanrahans and county Minor goalkeeper, had a son, Corey, on the Cloughbawn bench.
Cloughbawn: Noel Carton; Gavin Murphy, Tomás Furlong, James Dempsey; Barry Kehoe, Conor Harrington, Johnny Cullen; Páidí Cullen, Colm Kehoe; Harry Kehoe (0-10, 8 frees), Alan Carton, Colin Doyle; Bob Whitty (1-1), Barry Carton (capt., 0-1), M.J. Furlong (1-2). Subs. - Connal Flood (0-2) for Doyle (HT), Paul Foley (1-0) for Harrington (40), also Seán Keating, Joey Lawlor, Thomas Foley, David Doyle-Murphy, Corey Bolger, Liam Kehoe, Billy Wickham, Kyle Murphy.
Fethard: Seán Foley; Daniel Mullan, Kevin Rowe, Martin Power; Richard Waters (0-1), Daire Barden, Rúairí Tubrid; Joe Sutton, Garrett Foley (joint capt., 0-6); John Tubritt (0-1), Ciarán Dwyer (0-2), Graham O’Grady (joint capt., 0-3); Mark Wallace (0-5, 2 frees, 1 ‘65), Darren Foley, Jimmy Sutton (21). Subs. - Bryan Power for D. Foley (43), Eddie Power for Jimmy Sutton (57), Mikie Dwyer for C. Dwyer (59), also Kieran Furlong, Jesse Foley, Adam Swan, Brian Dillon, James Dillon, Shane Tubrid, Chris Molloy, Seán Sutton, Ricky Rowe, Paul Foley, Adam Waters, Noel Colfer, Aran Murphy.
Referee: Brian O’Leary (Crossabeg-Ballymurn).