BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior League Group A Round 3
Bennettsbridge vs James Stephens
Friday 23rd Aug @ 7pm
Venue: Danesfort Referee: Conor Everard
Glenmore vs Dicksboro
Sunday 25th Aug @ 12 noon
Venue: Dr Tierney Park Referee: Patrick O Reilly
Tullaroan vs Thomastown
Sunday 25th Aug @ 2pm
Venue: Clara Referee: Paddy Bowden
St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League Group B Round 3
O`Loughlin Gaels vs Erins Own
Saturday 24th Aug @12 noon
Venue: Ballyragget Referee: Gavin Quilty
Clara vs Shamrocks Ballyhale
Saturday 24th Aug @ 4pm
Venue: Thomastown Referee: Eoin Hayes
Mullinavat vs Graigue Ballycallan
Sunday 25th August @ 4pm
Venue: Dunnamaggin Referee: Raymond Byrne
Time is flying. We have had the opening two rounds of this season’s St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League and the teams have had a bye week to treat the wounded and work on a few things before matters resume this evening. With games across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there’s plenty of opportunity for Gaels to take in a game, or two, or three!
We get underway with an interesting encounter, the meeting of James Stephens and Bennettsbridge at Danesfort. This is a game that The Village will not want to lose, having failed to get off the mark in rounds one and two against Thomastown and most recently, Discksboro. Brian Cody will know that shipping three majors and not registering any in the opening two games is part of the problem. Losing two players to red cards doesn’t help either, and tonight’s tussle with Noel Doherty’s charges will tell us a whole lot more about Cody’s men. The Bridge had a comprehensive win over struggling Glenmore in round one, before a stirring second half comeback against ‘new boys’ Thomastown saw them lose out by 4 points.
The first of Saturday’s offerings see’s County champions O’Loughlin Gaels take on Erins Own at Ballyragget. The St John’s Park outfit have clicked straight back into gear, winning both their games this campaign. They built on a decent performance against Clara by dismantling The Vegas Boys by a whopping 16 points in Thomastown. Kerry County man Fionán Mackessy looks like a quality addition to the Gaels and has settled in nicely to a side full of confidence. Erin’s Own in contrast are hoping it’s third time lucky tomorrow. Having lost out to Mullinavat in round one, the Castlecomer side then met Shamrocks Ballyhale, who themselves were smarting from defeat in their opener and went down by 12 points in a game staged in Palmerstown.
Tomorrow’s second encounter takes place in picturesque Thomastown, where Clara face off against Shamrocks Ballyhale. As mentioned above, Shamrocks got back on track from their defeat to Graigue Ballycallan with a comfortable win against the ‘Comer men. Everyone across Noreside knows that the former champions are known for slow starts to the league, but having lost their crown last season, South Kilkenny’s finest will want to get back on top in their County quickly. Having lost county star Adrian Mullen to a red card in round 1 after he took an overzealous interest in Jeff Neary’s headgear, there were lively performances from Eoin Cody, Niall Shortall and Darragh Corcoran, while Finnian Shefflin raised a green flag in the second period, which saw his side pull clear for victory.
While Clara have currently no points on the board going into round 3, they will look to encouraging signs in their defeats to O’Loughlin’s and Graigue Ballycallan. County Panelist, Paul Cody has been in good form, notching some lovely scores, but like tomorrow’s opponents, the dismissal of a key player, in Clara’s case, Lester Ryan, may hurt them in Thomastown. The Carlow Road outfit will look to Chris Bolger, Liam Ryan and James Bergin to lead the way in round 3 and they will hope to remain competitive for the sixty-odd minutes.
The first of Sunday’s triple bill of action see’s Dicksboro taking on Glenmore in Dr Tierney Park (throw-in 12 noon). Again, it’s a case of a team seeking their first points versus one seeking their second win. Dicksboro secured a win in their second-round fixture over The Village in St John’s Park, edging a tight game by 2 points. The Palmerstown side got over-powered by Tullaroan in their first round game, shipping 3 majors in a 3-point defeat. Matthew Kelleher, Kevin Moore and young star Harry Shine have been showing well in the campaign to date, and will be hopeful of troubling the scoreboard against struggling Glenmore.
The Páirc na Ratha side have looked overwhelmed in the defeats to Bennettsbridge and Tullaroan, and without the suspended former county man, Ger Aylward, their attack was reliant on Ian Byrne’s placed ball accuracy last time out. Alan Murphy was back in the Glenmore side and he will add plenty as the season progresses. Make no mistake, this side has quality, they just need to gel and deliver, and soon.
Clara is the venue for the clash of the ‘T’s’ at 2pm when the top two teams in group A clash. Both Tullaroan and Thomastown have maximum points from the first two rounds of fixtures, and both will want to keep the momentum going in game three. There’s has literally been little to separate these sides, in fact it’s a scoring difference of +1 that see’s The Sash top of the table. Netminder Paul Buggy was the hero in the season opener against Dicksboro, making a couple of incredible saves to help get his side over the line, while at the other end of the pitch, Ciallin Brennan (2-0), Dylan Simpson (1-4) and Gearoid Dunne (1-6) contributed handsomely to their impressive total of 4-16 most recently against Glenmore. Throw in the experience of Mossy Keoghan, Padraig Walsh and John Walton and you can see why this Sash side will be a handful for most opponents.
Noel Doherty’s side will have used the recent break in fixtures to prepare for the clash with The Sash. Thomastown put their numerical advantage to good use against James Stephens, with Stephen Donnelly’s goal in the first quarter building the foundation for a 6-point win in Bennettsbridge. County Star John Donnelly has continued his fine intercounty form and will be a constant threat to Tullaroan as his tally of 0-4 against the ‘Bridge showed. Peter McDonald and Jonjo Farrell have been motoring well in the engine room, while Luke Connellan and Zach Bay Hammond have great engines and dynamism in their games. The other Donnelly’s, Stephen and Robbie are key cogs in the ‘Town machine and will get their fair share of scores too. This could be the game of the weekend.
The weekend’s action finishes with the clash of Mullinavat and Graigue Ballycallan in Dunnamaggin. Former Tipp dual star Declan Browne has really hit the ground running with the Tom Ryall Park outfit. A confidence boosting opening day win over Shamrocks Ballyhale was built on with victory over Clara in Pairc Sheamuis Stiopháin in round 2. Aaron McEvoy has been keeping the scoreboard busy, and he has good company in Sean Ryan, Tommy Ronan and Jesse Roberts, who hit a fine goal in the win over Clara. The sky blues will be hopeful of making it a trio of wins on Sunday and will go into the game with no shortage of confidence. Their opponents, have secured one win from their opening two games, a 5-point win over Erin’s Own. John Walsh was the star man, finishing with a personal tally of 0-11, showing deadly accuracy from the placed ball. While the same player top scored for the ‘Vat in the defeat to O’Loughlin’s, some poor shooting meant that the margin of loss was greater than it should have been. Mullinavat have been known to cause problems for many sides and Graigue Ballycallan will do well to not underestimate the Vegas Boys!
