BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
St. Canice’s Credit Union Kilkenny Senior Hurling League
After three rounds of this season’s St. Canice’s Credit Union Kilkenny Senior Hurling League, things are beginning to take shape, and it doesn’t make great reading if you are James Stephens or Erin’s Own. While other teams are blossoming, August has proved a very difficult month for the two sides that find themselves pointless and bottom of their respective groups as a result.
Castlecomer’s Erin’s Own struggled last year and narrowly avoided slipping into the Intermediate ranks and many predicted a similar fight this season, but not many would have predicted that The Village would be rooted to the bottom of Group A. Sitting just above Brian Cody’s club, are Glenmore who have also found the going tough this campaign. Somewhat surprisingly, Shamrocks Ballyhale find themselves just north of the men from ‘Comer with two points from the opening three games which is the same return that Clara who secured their first victory of the league over South Kilkenny’s finest last weekend have.
Despite a massive 13-point haul from County star Eoin Cody, it wasn’t enough to register a second win of the campaign, as the Shamrocks fell to a 6-point defeat. Clara had eye-catching performances from Paul Cody and POTM Joe Connolly, who both notched 1-4 in a game staged at sunny Thomastown. There were also telling contributions from James Bergin (0-6) and Chris Bolger (1-2), along with a decent cameo from sub Peter Nolan (1-0). With All-Star Adrian Mullen and legendary TJ Reid missing through suspension and injury respectively, Shamrocks will look to get these key figures back on the pitch and hope to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
The Village had a great start in their clash with Bennettsbridge, but ultimately fell to a very heavy defeat in Danesfort. Cian Kenny (0-8), Eoin Guilfoyle (1-1); Ed Lauhoff, Luke Scanlon (0-3 each) all put in decent shifts for the City side, who unfortunately lost the influential Niall Brassil to an ever-growing injury list. The ‘Bridge went goal crazy, hitting no fewer than five majors in their 13-point win. Liam Blanchfield top scored with 2-4, while Sean Morrissey (2) and Jason Cleere also raised green flags for their team, who had ten different scorers in the round 3 win.
For Erin’s own, there doesn’t appear to be any light appearing at the end of the tunnel. When you are struggling for form and back-to-back defeats, the last team you probably want to face would be the County champions. Well, that was the case for the Castlecomer outfit as they made it three defeats on the bounce when they were beaten by a whopping 28 points in Freshford by a well drilled O’Loughlin Gaels side, who probably didn’t reach their maximum level when cantering to an easy win. As usual, Mark Bergin racked up the numbers, hitting 0-10, while Conor Kelly was on song, notching 0-6. The goals were scored by Sean Bolger and sub Alex Sheridan. OLG are sitting pretty at the top of Group B, largely untroubled so far, while also top scoring and conceding the least across both groups. At this stage of the club season, they look primed to be in pole position to defend their Tom Walsh Cup crown.
As the teams get set for a fourth round of battles this weekend, only two teams have 100% records on the line, O’Loughlin Gaels and Thomastown. Graigue Ballycallan are the only other unbeaten side, having collected two wins and one draw from the first three servings. The action begins with two games at noon tomorrow. Piltown is the venue for Group A leaders Thomastown and fifth place Glenmore. Based on what we have seen so far this season, anything other than a win for the ‘Town would be a surprise. The men in blue had seven points to spare at the long whistle over Tullaroan last weekend in Clara, while the Pairc na Ratha men dug out their first point of the season in an entertaining draw with Dicksboro at Dr Tierney Park. The Murphy clan will bring the fight, but clan Donnelly, might just have enough to maintain their perfect start.
Having taken the scalp of Shamrocks Ballyhale last time out, Clara will head to Jenkinstown confident of securing a second win at the expense of Erin’s Own. Given the form that Paul Cody and Joe Connolly are in, the Carlow Road side will look to heap more misery on the Castlecomer men. When you line out minus the twin towers of Conor’s Delaney and Fogarty, it leaves a couple of huge gaps in your team and anything other than a Clara win appears unlikely.
Gowran welcomes Dicksboro and Bennettsbridge for a 2pm throw-in. The Bridge appear to be scoring freely with the trio of Blanchfield’s very much to the fore. Nicky Cleere is as reliable as ever from the placed ball, while Sean Morrissey and Jack Campion have been adding much value to an entertaining side. Tomorrow’s opponents, Dicksboro have had a little bit of everything in their campaign to date. A win, a draw and a defeat as they take to the pitch for a fourth time. You get the feeling that the Palmerstown side will need to win the physical battle to allow the likes of Harry Shine to do what his surname says.
The second of the 2pm games throws-up the meeting of O’Loughlin’s and Graigue Ballycallan. As mentioned earlier, both sides are unbeaten, but it is the St John’s Park side that sit proudly with the maximum points tally of six. A decent spread of scorers is always a good sign, and OLG had eleven on the board during their demolition of Erin’s Own. Jack Nolan and county panelist Owen Wall shared eight points between them, while defenders Huw Lawlor and young David Fogarty also notched scores. Having beaten Shamrocks Ballyhale, GBC will know this is another huge test and they will need to be on it from the throw-in against the Leinster champions, who have shown why they will once again be the team to beat on Noreside this season.
Tullaroan will hope to bounce back from their loss to new boys Thomastown when they take on James Stephens at Cannon Kearns Park (Throw-in 4pm). Both these sides possess a great deal of quality, but the availability of key players could be crucial in this fixture. Cian Kenny, Eoin Guilfoyle and Luke Scanlon have been plugging away for the city side, but they will face a potent Sash attack in Castlecomer tomorrow. Mossy Keoghan, Gearoid Dunne and Dylan Simpson have been proving a real menace to opposition defences. The Village will feel that they are due a bit of good fortune, and that would need to arrive soon, otherwise it could be a season to forget for the nine times county champions.
The final offering in the senior league see’s Shamrocks Ballyhale make the short journey to Inchacarran to tackle Mullinavat. The ‘Vat aren’t scoring at a big rate and will do well to keep the likes of Eoin Cody and Adrian Mullen quiet. The Vegas Boys have one of everything, win, draw and defeat and may see this as the best chance to take points from their illustrious opponents. To do this, they will look to John Walsh to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Joey Holden’s return to the Shamrocks could prove quite timely, and his experience and ability will be a welcome addition to the side. The return from suspension of Adrian Mullen will be another boost and his class will shine through when the action gets under way.
There’s plenty of games for Gaels to take in tomorrow, it certainly is s a ‘super Saturday’! Who will come to the fore in round four? We will find out soon!
