Clonakilty Hurlers Finish Championship with a Strong Win
Clonakilty Junior A Hurlers played Kilbrittain in a must win 3rd round Championship match in Ahiohill tonight. The weather conditions were dreadful and Clon had to play into the wind in the first half. It took 5 minutes for the first score to be registered and it came from a free by Brian White. Kilbrittain equalised shortly afterwards and were guilty of hitting a lot of wides in the first 10 minutes.
The Clon defence really got stuck in to their task led by Captain Ciaran Coakley, Tom Palmer and Seán Coffey in the full back line. Clon got a big boost on 12 minutes when the excellent Eoin McCormack hit the back of the net for a crucial goal. Chris Kenneally added a fine point soon after. The work rate of the Clon players was exceptionally epitomised by the courage and skill of Jack O’Mahony, Mike Noonan and James Campbell. Then Tim McCarthy scored a monster free into the wind to make it 1.3 to a point after 16 minutes.
Matt Murphy was winning a lot of ball and Brian White scored from a free won by Matt on 18 minutes. Clon’s standout player was David Lowney who was now dominating the game in the midfield area. David covered a huge amount of ground and after he was fouled again in the 25th minute, Brian made it 1.5 to a point from the resultant free. Kilbrittain did manage to get a point from a free just before half time. The score was 1.5 to 2 points.
Des Kenneally replaced his brother for the 2nd half. Clon now had the wind but conditions were getting worse and scores were proving hard to come by. Fionn McCarthy and Cian O Donovan were pure workhorses throughout the first half and continued in this vein in the 2nd half. Then Tim McCarthy burst through to score the point of the match after 37 minutes. Clon up by 7 now. It was another 6 minutes before Clon got the next score courtesy of a free by Brian. Kieran Calnan and James Murnane came on as subs and got stuck it with everyone else in the battle. With 10 minutes to go, David Lowney got his reward with a super point before making way for Kevin Bracken to come on. Niall Barrett came in to replace Tom Palmer and help the defence to close out the game. Kilbrittain tried for a goal late on but the returning Shane Collins ensured a shut out with another great save from a free. Shane was very assured all match long. Final score was 1.8 to 2 points to Clon. Clon retain their Junior A status.
Scorers were B White 0.4 (4f), E McCormack 1.0, T McCarthy 0.2 (1f), C Kenneally 0.1, D Lowney 0.1.
Team was S. Collins, T. Palmer, S. Coffey, C. Crowley (capt), J O’Mahony, M. Cronin, J. Campbell, T. McCarthy, E. McCormack, C. Kenneally, M. Murphy, D. Lowney, C. O’Donovan, F. McCarthy, B. White. Subs were E. Morrissey, K. Calnan, J. Murnane, K. Bracken, D Kenneally, N.Barrett, M. White, C. Coakley, E. O’Donovan, P. Murnane, M. Kelly.
Well done to the management team of J. Forristal, K. Kennedy, Ollie Crowley, A. White, JP Forristal along with Conan and Seán O Sullivan. Thanks also to Fiona and Jen.
