Young Cats pull clear to secure victory
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
FULFIL LEINSTER GAA U20 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP
TIER 1 GROUP 1 – ROUND 1
Kildare 0-10 Kilkenny 1-16
Henry Shefflin’s reign as Kilkenny U20 manager got off to a winning start with a hard-fought opening round win in the Fulfil Leinster U20 Hurling Championship in a stormy Manguard Park last weekend. The final scoreline may have recorded a 9-point victory for the Noresiders, but Adrian Kinsella’s Lilywhite’s gave a decent account of themselves and underlined the great work taking place in Kildare with the small ball. With just ten minutes remaining in Hawkfield, the home side only trailed by one score, but the lads in stripes pulled away to secure what many had predicted would be the expected victory registering the final six scores of the contest.
The hosts had secured tier 2 wins over Kerry and Westmeath before facing the young Cats, looked sharp early on, and got the scoreboard moving inside the opening minute, thanks to a nice point from Naas’s Oisín O’Neill. The travelling side got moving shortly after, courtesy of a score from O’Loughlin Gaels Greg Kelly. The black and amber boys edged ahead in the 6th minute, the youngest of Ballyhale’s Clan Mullen, Jake notching the first of his 3-point tally. Adrian Kinsella’s side registered the next two scores of the round 1 clash, the first from the game’s top scorer, Maynooth’s Tom Power and a tidy effort from Ardclough’s Tim Ryan. Shefflin’s charges replied with a duo of scores themselves, a second of the afternoon from Jake Mullen and a fine score from Danesfort star Fionn Mahony. The crossfield wind was causing problems for both sides, and this saw fourteen wide’s shared between the teams in the opening period.
Dicksboro speedster Patrick Lacey opened his account on 18 minutes, striking over the first of his three placed ball efforts at the Kildare GAA Centre of Excellence and the attacker notched his second after Tom Power had responded with a free of his own as Kilkenny led by two points with about eight minutes remaining in the first half. Another of the Palmerstown contingent, Evan Murphy then rifled over a lovely score, just ahead of the games only major. Glenmore’s Jack Dollard secured possession before playing an inch perfect pass to Patrick Lacey. The ‘Boro player turned and burst forward from outside the ‘big arc’ before striking his shot across Kildare netminder Cormac Doolan, who despite getting his stick to it, couldn’t prevent the shot from nestling in the top left corner of the net. That was the last score of an entertaining first half which saw the Cats take a 6-point lead into the changing rooms at a very windy Manguard Park.
Kildare would have hoped to close the gap when play resumed, but it was Henry’s boys that pulled further clear at the start of the second period, thanks to scores from Midfielder Kevin Buggy and centre forward Ed Lauhoff which left the home side eight points down, but credit to Adrian Kinsella’s charges they dug in and responded well to the huge challenge posed by Kilkenny. The Lilywhites would register six of the games next seven points, all from the hurl of Maynoooth’s Tom Power via placed balls, something that the Kilkenny management will have been addressing in training since the game. During this purple patch for the home side, Henry Shefflin and his management team made a number of changes, with Colm Treacy, Ollie O’Donovan and Anthony Clifford all sprung from the bench as the visitors sought to inject freshness to their side as their lead had been reduced to just 3 points with about ten minutes of play remaining in Hawkfield.
The Noresiders then took the game by the scruff of the neck, stepping up when needed as their hosts sensed the chances of a huge upset. Sub Colm Treacy got the scoreboard moving again for the Cats, a fine effort from the Thomastown player. The influential Jack Dollard rifled over from out the pitch just ahead of a lovely point from Clara’s David Barcoe, who was thoroughly deserving of his POTM. Former minor star Ollie O’Donovan popped over a sweet score; the John Lockes player is a real talent. Jake Mullen hit his third of the encounter with about 3 minutes left, while his manager made another couple of changes, Louis Raggett and Jim Conlan replacing Greg Kelly and Jack Dollard respectively. The last score of the game came from the Cats stop scorer, Patrick Lacey, the Dicksboro man sending over this third placed ball of the game to leave the full-time score in Manguard Park, Kildare 0-10, Kilkenny 1-16.
Scorers: Kildare – Tom Power 0-8 (7 frees), Tim Ryan 0-1, Oisin O’Neill 0-1.
Scorers: Kilkenny – Paddy Lacey 1-3 (3 frees), Jake Mullen 0-3, Greg Kelly 0-2, Evan Murphy 0-1, Fionn Mahony 0-1, Kevin Bubby 0-1, Ollie O’Donovan 0-1, Kevin Buggy 0-1, David Barcoe 0-1, Colm Donavan 0-1. Ed Lauhoff 0-1.
Kildare: Cormac Doolan; Darragh Devine, Paddy Connolly, Dylan Doherty; Oisin O’Neill, Cian Brody, Odhran Conaty; Michael Owens, Tim Ryan; Cillian Power, Charlie Carroll, Oran Byrne; Mark Kiernan, Tom Power, Tom Boran. Subs: Alex Bell for Charlie Carroll (41 minutes); Cillian Harrington for Mark Kiernan (43 minutes); Rian Cramer for Cillian Power (52 minutes); Rian Curran for Tom Boran (53 minutes); Colm Gordon for Oran Byrne (59 minutes).
Kilkenny: Billy O’Sullivan; Josh Dowling, Darragh Vereker, Rory Garrett; Evan Murphy, David Barcoe, Jack Dollard; Kevin Buggy, Sean Bergin; Patrick Lacey, Ed Lauhoff, Jake Mullen; Fionn Mahony, Ed McDermott, Greg Kelly. Subs: Colm Tracey for Fionn Mahony (41 minutes); Ollie O’Donovan for Ed Lauhoff (41 minutes); Anthony Clifford for Sean Bergin (48 minutes); Louis Raggett for Greg Kelly (55 minutes); Jim Conlon for Jack Dollard (58 minutes).
Referee: Sean Maher (Offaly)
SHERRY SAYS………………….
A great start for our U20 hurlers, recording a 9-point win over Kildare in Manguard Park, Hawkfield. There is no doubting the quality that the management team has at their disposal as they embarked on this Leinster campaign. Rory Garrett has had plenty of minutes with the senior side under Derek Lyng, while POTM last week, David Barcoe and Ed McDermott have been in and around the senior panel also.
Henry Shefflin will be very aware of the talent that his clubmate Jake Mullen possesses, and he along with Patrick Lacey, Fionn Mahoney and Ollie O’Donovan can prove a real threat to opposition defences. Glenmore duo Darragh Vereker and Jack Dollard see plenty of senior club action down at Pairc na Ratha, while Erin’s Own’s Kevin Buggy is highly thought of in Castlecomer.
Last weekend’s bench had plenty of talent also, the aforementioned John Lockes man, Ollie O’Donovan, Louis Raggett, Colm Tracy of Thomastown and Danesfort’s Sam Hayes all chomping at the bit and contributing when called in Hawkfield. Plenty of reasons to get out and get behind this talented bunch during this U20 campaign.
