Mackessy shines as O’Loughlin’s lay down marker
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League
As we enter the ‘free’ weekend for our senior clubs, it is very much a case of ‘as you were’. The two teams blazing a trail remain O’Loughlin Gaels and Thomastown. Last season’s league and championship winners have served notice that they appear to be the sides that will take most beating as this year’s club season really begins to take shape. While city side O’Loughlin’s look to be channeling the hurt from surrendering the Tom Walsh Cup to the Town in 2024 by sweeping aside all before them, Noel Doherty’s Thomastown have been testing their powers of recovery, by coming from behind to claim maximum points in some exciting contests during this campaign.
Last weekend saw the eagerly anticipated clash of The Loughs and Shamrocks Ballyhale in Thomastown; and this game lived up to its billing. In the buildup to this encounter, news of a terrible injury to David Fogarty was the topic of conversation. The talented young O’Loughlin’s wing back has suffered a dreaded ACL injury and will be absent for the next number of months. We wish David well.
A decent crowd was in attendance for this round 4 game and they saw Eoin Cody open the scoring via a long range placed ball inside two minutes. One of Noreside’s most consistent netminders, Stephen Murphy then denied Shamrocks a certain major when he saved brilliantly from the in-form Brian Cody. TJ dispatched the resulting ‘65 to double his sides lead. Brian Hogan’s men then went on the attack and the powerful Fionan Mackessy forced Dean Mason into action, and the young keeper did well to deflect the Kerry man’s effort over the crossbar for O’Loughlin’s first score of the afternoon. The impressive Killian Corcoran then advanced from his corner back position to fire over a lovely score which Henry Shefflin’s charges built on thanks to a brace of placed balls from TJ Reid.
Owen Wall, a late inclusion to the Loughs line-up then set up Conor Heary for a tidy point for their second of the day. Shamrocks Evan Shefflin then showed his scoring threat from distance when he struck over a trademark score. With Brian Cody and Ronan Corcoran on top in the engine room, the latter sent over a cracking point, sandwiched between two frees from Conor Kelly. Richie Reid was then forced into a mistake which resulted in Mackessy registering his second of the game. Paddy Deegan was then shown a yellow card for trying to bag TJ’s jersey before the game ended, TJ popped over the free. Eoin Cody, who was roaming out the Thomastown pitch then rifled over having taken a nice pass from Evan Shefflin. Fresh from his booking, Paddy Deegan then did a little roaming himself and split the posts as he reduced the Shamrocks lead to three points with about ten minutes remaining in fast-moving opening half. Another late inclusion in Brian Hogan’s team, Eoin O’Shea then saw his pass intercepted and Richie Reid punished the turnover with a sweet score. The more defensive of the brothers Reid then doubled his tally, having combined nicely with Eoin Cody from a short free to extend the lead to 5 points.
Then came a major score, in more ways than one. The hard-working Kevin Murphy got his hands on Richie Reid’s attempted pass and popped the ball to Luke Hogan who did what Luke does best and rifled to the net. Shamrocks reacted to this major blow by striking the game’s next two scores. The first of these from TJ, was a real beauty. It looked like Conor Heary had been fouled by Eoin Cody, but the Eoin who mattered the most, referee Maher waved play on. The ball was picked up by Evan Shefflin who gave a hand pass to TJ who gave an incredible ‘dummy’ to Ronan Buckley before splitting the posts from about ‘65 out. Eoin Cody made it a 4-point game shortly after, again coming out the pitch to get involved.
O’Loughlin’s main man on the day, Fionan Mackessy then sent over a quick-fire brace, the first a free, the second after combining nicely with Conor Heary. One of the travelling returners to Shamrocks side, Ronan Corcoran then struck over two beautiful points on the bounce to highlight what a miss he has been to his club in recent seasons. Eoin O’Shea then set Conor Heary up for a lovely point, but the final score of a highly entertaining first half came from a long range placed ball, courtesy of TJ Reid which saw Henry’s men take a 4-ponit lead into the interval.
It appeared that there was plenty to be said in the O’Loughlin’s changing room during the break, as Brian Hogan’s charges kept the Shamrocks waiting for their return to the Thomastown pitch. Whatever who said, clearly had the desired effect on the Hebron Road side, as they returned with a real spring in their step. Trailing by four points, they set about reducing the oppositions lead. Conor Kelly converted a free and a ‘65, before Paddy Deegan added to his tally when himself and Fionan Mackessy combined from a well-worked short free. Ardfert man Mackessy then rifled over to level matters in the 36th minute. Jack Nolan who had been sprung from the bench then gave his side the lead for the first time in the game, but only after a little delay. The umpire said wide, but most could see that the ball had split the posts. Mullinavat ref Eoin Maher, consulted with one of his linesmen before awarding the score.
Shamrocks responded with two points of their own, thanks to efforts from Eoin Cody and Stephen Barron which edged them back into the lead. Conor Kelly struck two more placed ball efforts with another Richie Reid point in between. A second point for Jack Nolan followed, which again demonstrated the energy the sub was bringing to his side. Another player having a decent game, was Eoin O’Shea and he sent over a fine point to give The Loughs a two-point advantage. The next three scores came from clan Reid, two placed balls from TJ and an even longer free from Richie, Shamrocks one ahead with about 7 minutes remaining in Thomastown. I don’t think Henry would have expected that to be the last score his side would register, but their 22nd point was it. Paddy Deegan and Owen Wall tagged on scores for Brian Hogans side before the games deciding score came. Paddy Deegan, who was immense in the second half, went on a great run and then fed Robbie Buckley who applied the finish beyond Dean Mason. O’Loughlin’s built on this second major by striking three further points from the hurls of Fionn Hogan and Kelly’s Conor and Greg to finish seven clear of Shamrocks at the long whistle.
ROUND-UP
Thomastown again made life difficult for themselves, this time coming back from a half time 5-point deficit to claim victory by three points in Gowran and remain unbeaten in the St. Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League. Ballyragget was the venue for the meeting of Graigue Ballycallan and Erins Own. This proved to be another tense encounter with the spoils shared, which meant a second draw of the campaign for the Tom Ryall Park side. Lisdowney are a team with an unwanted 100% record. The newly promoted side have lost all four fixtures but have been competitive in most of the games. This time it was Bennettsbridge that came away with the narrowest of wins in Canon Kearns Park. Mullinavat recorded their second win of Group B with an impressive win over Tullaroan in Hugginstown to move one point ahead of The Sash in the table. Seamy Dollard’s Glenmore side emerged 1-point winners over Dicksboro in Mooncoin to cement their second place in Group A with 6 points after four rounds of action.
