St Rynagh's saunter to expected easy win
WITH a quarter-final place in the bag and a semi-final one a long shot, St Rynagh's still did exactly what they needed to do when they faced off with Kinnitty in a Senior Hurling Championship dead rubber in Tullamore on Sunday – winning convincingly, never giving their opponents a sniff of it but holding a little bit back as they prepared for the much bigger battles ahead.
Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 1
St Rynagh's 3-19
Kinnitty 0-11
It was one of those surreal type championship games that crop up every now and again with very little other than pride at stage. Kinnitty were already in the relegation play off before this one and this showdown against Seir Kieran is their biggest game of the year.
While they gave a terrific performance when drawing with St Rynagh's last year, a repeat here was not even a remote possibility and this game went exactly as we expected it.
St Rynagh's motored well, played some decent hurling and from an early stage, the only issue at stake was their winning margin.
Almost inspite of themselves and without obviously going for the jugular, St Rynagh's did just enough to ensure that they will probably qualify for the semi-finals if Birr surprise Kilcormac-Killoughey in the following game and a three way tie emerges at the top of the group. Their 17 point winning margin put them on +29 points, the same as K-K and bar Birr produced something extraordinary to get a big win, that would put St Rynagh's on top if a three way tie did emerge – and that represented a satiasfactory afternoon's work for them as they did what they needed to do, and if K-K get a draw, they will be top.
St Rynagh's started slugglishly as Kinnitty got the opening two points but St Rynagh's clicked into gear then and it wasn't long before there was daylight between the sides.
St Rynagh's had five points on the board when Eoin Woods got a fine opportunity goal in the 11th minute. It was all over that day as St Rynagh's briefly upped the tempo to make sure of the win. It was 1-9 to 0-5 when Luke O'Connor got an excellent 19th minute goal, breaking free to hammer it home despite being clearly fouled.
At half time, it was 2-13 to 0-6 and it meant that the second half was a non event. St Rynagh's won't have been overly pleased with their second half display as it was a bit sloppy, their shooting not always clinical as they hit a few messy wides but it was as good as they needed it to be.
They were never in one bit of danger as they outscored their opponents by 1-6 to 0-5. They did have to wait until the 41st minute for Eoin Woods to get their first second half point from a free and scores were fairly hard to come by after this. St Rynagh's became increasingly dominant as it wore on and Kinnitty were confined mainly to hopeful punts in and the St Rynagh's full back line dealt confidently with these.
Aidan Treacy got a 53rd minute goal for St Rynagh's and there was really very little to get the juices flowing in the second half.
MATCH ANALYSIS
MAN OF THE MATCH
Shane Rigney (St Rynagh's): Shane Rigney showed his quality as he started and played the full game. He scored three points, got on a lot of ball and used it well.
THE SCORERS
St Rynagh's: Eoin Woods 1-7 (6f), Aidan Treacy 1-2 (1f), Luke O'Connor 1-1, Gary Conneely and Shane Rigney 0-3 each, Matthew Maloney, Aaron Kenny and Paul Quirke 0-1 each.
Kinnitty: Colm Coughlan 0-5 (2f), Cathal Robinson and James Dempsey (2f) 0-2 each, Paddy Delaney and James Hardiman 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Stephen Wynne, Matthew Maloney, Simon Og Lyons; Brian Rigney, Ben Conneely, Michael McLoughlin; Aidan Treacy, Shane Rigney; Paul Quirke, Sean Dolan, Gary Conneely; Luke O'Connor, Aaron Kenny, Eoin Woods. Subs – Stephen Quirke for Paul Quirke (44m), Gary Kelly for Kenny (46m), Evan Houlihan for Woods (57m), Pat Camon for Brian Rigney (57m), Conor Hernon for McLoughlin (61m).
KINNITTY: Niall Corrigan; Willie Molloy, Christopher Leonard, Conor Meaney; James Hardiman, Paddy Delaney, Brian Coughlan; Jason Armstrong, Bryan Donnelly; Cathal Robinson, James Dempsey, Odhran Kealey; Shane Ryan, Aodhan Kealey, Colm Coughlan. Subs -
Referee – David McLoughlin, Shinrone
REFEREE WATCH
David McLoughlin did well. While it was one sided, it was physical and he had a bit to deal with, He did this efficiently, quickly sorting out a second half dust up and consulting with his officials.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
Eoin Woods' 11th minute goal killed this match off suitably early for St Rynagh's.
VENUE WATCH
The O'Connor Park pitch looked very well.
WHAT'S NEXT
St Rynagh's are in a quarter-final, at least and Kinnitty face Seir Kieran in the relegation play off.
STATISTICS:
Wides: St Rynagh's – 16 (7 in first half); Kinnitty – 8 (2 in first half).
Yellow cards: St Rynagh's – 1 (Shane Rigney); Kinnitty – 2 (Willie Molloy and Paddy Delaney).
Red cards: 0.