Silvermines battle their way past Gortnahoe Glengoole to a deserved U21B hurling success

FBD Insurance U21B Hurling Championship Final

Silvermines 2-13

Gortnahoe Glengoole 1-14

An enthralling U21B hurling decider ended dramatically as Silvermines scored 1-2 in the final five minutes of the game to win the FBD Insurance U21B Hurling Championship Final against a Gortnahoe Glengoole team which left everything on the pitch in Golden on Saturday afternoon.

A slow start to the second half erupted into life in the final quarter and eventually, it saw Gortnahoe make the first dash for home as they took a three-point lead going into the final three minutes of the game, thanks largely to Damien Corbett’s incredible doubled finish in the 47th minute, but a late goal from Sean Nolan and a stunning late point from Conor McKelvey snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for Silvermines in the dying embers of the game.

Gortnahoe came looking for an equaliser with time almost up but it was Sean Nolan who proved to be the match-winner late on, scoring his second point of the day late to give Silvermines some breathing room, and even with a late Oisin Cleary free to deal with, Silvermines held out to add to their North title in what has been a lucrative year for this group of players, having won a U19 Divisional title earlier this year.

It will be a bitter pill for Gortnahoe Glengoole to swallow looking back at this game, as they were in the driving seat late on to win it, and had been the slightly better team early in the game as they raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead in the first ten minutes of the game thanks to scores from Damien Corbett (2), Liam Hayes and Oisin Cleary, with the crossfield breeze in Golden favouring no team throughout.

Conor McKelvey played a captain’s role on the day and he was the main man in terms of scores in the first half he had his team off the mark with a free in the sixth minute before he brought it back to two points in the 11th minute with his first of te day from play.

McKelvey was being picked up by county teammate Conor Gleeson but the ‘Mines forward was proving hard to contain as he hit another from play right after Oisin Cleary hit Gortnahoe’s fifth point after 12 minutes. But Gortnahoe were doing more hurling at this stage but were being let down with wayward shooting as they hit eight wides in the first half although a Damien Corbett 65 and a first from play from Darragh Maher did have them in front by 0-7 to 0-3 by 18th minute.

Michael Corcoran made a terrific block which ended in a fine score for Sean Nolan in the 19th minute to get the North champions going again, but Gortnahoe kept getting sights of goal with Damien Corbett again on target to maintain the four-point gap.

The aforementioned Corcoran was operating as a spare man to curtail the Gortnahoe attack in the first half, but he turned into an attacking weapon two minutes from half-time when he made a lung-busting run from deep, linking up with three teammates on his way upfield to give Sean McGrath a sighter and despite Robbie Gleeson making a fine save from McGrath’s driven effort, Gleeson fouled Sean Nolan near the breaking ball to cough up a penalty.

Up stepped Conor McKelvey to lash the ball to the top corner and put Silvermines in a much healthier position with half-time to come.

In fairness to Gortnahoe, that score didn’t derail them and they hit two of the last three points of the half with Conor Gleeson pointing a beaut’ from range and a final free apiece from Damien Corbett and Conor McKelvey giving the Mid club a slender 0-10 to 1-5 lead.

The second half started rather slowly considering what had unfolded to date and, indeed, what was to come as Danny Quinn’s early score from the restart proved to be the only point of the game in the first quarter as both sets of defences were well on top in this period.

It took a piece of real quality to ignite the contest again and it came in the 47th minute from Gortnahoe’s star forward Damien Corbett who caught a well-struck Oisin Cleary sideline on the double perfectly around the square to flash the sliotar past Conor Murphy; Gortnahoe all of a sudden opening a four-point lead.

That seemed to inject a lot of urgency into the Silvermines players and they rallied brilliantly after that goal, hitting four fine scores on the trot in as many minutes from Conor McKelvey (2), Sean McGrath, and a huge effort from Adam Steed to level the game yet again. Nothing seemed likely to separate the teams.

This final was entering epic proportions now with savagely intense passages of play ensuing going into the final ten minutes, and one of those plays eventually led to Gortnahoe gaining a free for Corbett to convert and allow his side to re-take the lead in the 54th minute, which was quickly followed by a huge Oisin Cleary point for the Mid side.

Adam Steed responded in kind for his side to bring it back to a point but Gortnahoe seemed to have taken their play to another level at this point, with their forwards finding more space which allowed Paddy Norton to score along with substitute Jason Kelly who slotted over a major from the sideline to put the Gortnahoe men into a big three-point lead with less than two minutes to go.

Silvermines needed to find something late on to pull a win out of the hat and once again, it was an inspired run from Michael Corcoran which unlocked the Gortnoahe defence, racing through the middle and despite a good defensive flick from Brandon Ryan Webster, Corcoran found Danny Quinn with a pass and Sean Nolan was the only one anticipating as Quinn scuffed effort dribbled to goal and Nolan somehow got something on the sliotar to bring the sides level again.

All the momentum swung yet again and this time it was Silvermines who had it and it was left to Conor McKelvey to come up trumps for his side again when he hit the leading score two minutes into added time, and by the time Sean Nolan added to his late major it was just about enough for the North club to hold out and claim a fantastic final win dramatically.

Silvermines: Conor Murphy; Kevin Hayden, Sean Ryan Prendiville, Cynan Bailey; Adam Steed (0-2), Luke O’Brien, Cathal McGrath; Michael Corcoran, Sean McGrath (0-1); Brian Leamy, Conor McKelvey (1-7, 1-0 pen, 0-2f), Darragh Treacy; Ger Leamy, Danny Quinn (0-1), Sean Nolan (1-2).

Subs used: Ronan Cunneen for B Leamy (57).

Gortnahoe Glengoole: Robbie Gleeson; Brandon Ryan Webster, Charlie Tobin, Cormac Moloney; Adam Butler, Conor Gleeson (0-1), David Lanigan; Liam Hayes (0-1), Bobby Doheny; Paddy Norton (0-1), Darragh Maher (0-1), Oisin Cleary (0-3); Tomas Meaney, Damien Corbett (1-6, 0-4f), Kevin Laffan.

Subs used: Cian Barnaville for Meaney (38); Jason Kelly (0-1) for K Laffan (47); Luke Kavanagh for Tobin (60, inj).

Referee: Alan Tierney (Shannon Rovers)