O’Dwyer Steel West U21A Hurling : Clonoulty Rossmore see off Eire Og Sean Treacy's

Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-17

Eire Og / Sean Treacys 0-14

Clonoulty/Rossmore got their O’Dwyer’s Steel West Under 21A Hurling Championship campaign off to a winning start, when overcoming the Eire Og / Sean Treacys combination at Clonoulty on Wednesday night. Played in cold dry conditions, on a heavy surface, this was a game that never reached the expected highs.

The fact that eighteen of the scores came from placed balls tells its own story, but having said that there were also some fine individual scores from open play, from both sides. While the home side dictated the proceedings for most of the game, it took a Paddy Kennedy goal on 59 minutes to finally settle the matter. The home side led at the halfway mark by four points, 0.10 to 0.6, with Stephen Ferncombe accounting for seven of those Clonoulty scores.

Clonoulty continued to set the pace of the game after the break, but the visitors will rue their indiscipline as they conceded needless frees around the middle third. Three late points from Darragh Kelly left two points between the sides, with five minutes remaining, but a late rally by the home side, a point from Danny Slattery and a fine individual goal by Paddy Kennedy finally sealing the issue.

Darragh Kelly got the scoreboard ticking in the opening minute with a converted frees at the far end. Jamie Davern equalised before two Paidi Bradshaw points, one from a sideline, gave the visitors a two-point advantage. The home side settled with a Danny Slattery point before Stephen Ferncombe hit three on the trot in a two-minute spell. Darragh Kelly and Stephen McDonald got in for two points, either side of a Tommy Ryan score for the home side to leave the minimum between the sides, with ten minutes remaining. Stephen Ferncombe again hit three on the trot coming up to the half time mark to put Clonoulty four ahead at the break.

The visitors started the second half with two points within the opening 90 seconds but Clonoulty responded, hitting the next two scores to retain parity. Clonoulty still retained a five-point advantage by the three-quarter stage but a mini recovery from Darragh Kelly had the deficit down to two, with five minutes remaining. Danny Slattery hit a good score on the run to push the advantage out to three with two minutes of normal time remaining. Paddy Kennedy then won possession out near the side on the 45-meter line, and raced past the defence, before crashing a low ball past Sean Moloney to give Clonoulty a six-point winning margin.

Scorers & Teams;

Clonoulty Rossmore: Stephen Ferncombe (0.12, 10 frees), Paddy Kennedy (1.1), Danny Slattery (0.2), Jamie Davern (0.1), Tommy Ryan (0.1)

Eire Og / Sean Treacys: Darragh Kelly (0.9, 7 frees), Paidi Bradshaw (0.3, 1 side line), Stephen McDonald (0.1), Darragh Carr (0.1)

Clonoulty Rossmore: Jason O’Dwyer, Cian Quirke, Aaron Kennedy, Keelan Ryan, Paddy Ryan (Lanty), Robert Doyle (Captain), Jack Kennedy, Tommy Ryan, Paddy Kennedy, Jamie Davern, Stephen Ferncombe, Danny Slattery, Sean Ryan (Raymond) (Captain), Aidan Slattery, Cathal Ryan (Raymond)

Subs used: Richard Ferncombe for Paddy Ryan (Lanty) (47 mins), Jack Ryan (Casey) for Cathal Ryan (Raymond) (47 mins)

Eire Og / Sean Treacys: Sean Moloney, Philip Treacy, David Fox, Brian Nolan, Eoin Sheldon, Paul Nolan (Captain), Stephen McDonald, Dan Kelly, Darragh O’Brien, Paidi Bradshaw, Darragh Kelly, Thomas O’Dwyer, Stephen Rochford, Michael Furlong, Darragh Carr

Sub used; Jaydon Healy for Michael Furlong (53 mins)

Referee; Phil Ryan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)

Report and photo by : John O'Shea