Coolderry up and running with convincing win over Seir Kieran

A SOLID, professional display saw Coolderry get off the mark with their first win in the Senior Hurling Championship at Birr on Saturday evening.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 2

Coolderry 1-27

Seir Kieran 2-13

After an opening round defeat by St Rynagh's, this was a must win game for Coolderry and they did what they had to do in an efficient manner, convincing manner

It was Seir Kieran's first game in the campaign and while they competed well for a while and tried hard, they fell well away in the second half. The underdogs were in bother when they went in trailing by four points, 1-11 to 0-10 after playing with the wind in the first half.

There was an air of inevitability about the way Coolderry pulled away in the second half and Seir Kieran were a badly beaten team from a long way out.

The Seir Kieran attack struggled to make any headway against a very good Coolderry defence, where every man did his primary marking duty very well – until the last few minutes when they relaxed and became a bit sloppy, conceding soft goals.

Coolderry hit the 20 point mark with Eoin Burke's 52^nd minute free for a 1-20 to 0-12 lead and Seir Kieran's frustration and error count increased as it wore on. Their first score from play in the 2^nd half came from Kevin Dunne, one of their better players, in the 54^th minute and their first consolation goal two minutes later was fortunate as Luke Carey's shot from distance crept into the net when Stephen Corcoran came for but didn't get the ball.

They got a second consolation goal in the 59^th minute when Tom Dooley did well to flick Luke Carey's free to the net but it says everything about Coolderry's superiority that these didn't raise a murmur of excitement.

Coolderry were in a very strong position when they held that lead at half time after playing against the wind in the first half.

It was a lively, entertaining affair with both sides missing chances. Both sides had seven wides, many of them scoreable but Seir Kieran's were the more costly by far as they really needed to convert everything and be ahead at half time.

The sides were level on six occasions in the first half and were tied at 0-8 each after 21 minutes when Coolderry got 1-1 without reply. Conor Molloy fired over a good point from distance and Kevin Connolly got in for an outstanding 26^th minute goal after Eoghan Parlon powered up the wing.

Those scores enabled Coolderry to lead by four points at the break and with the wind to come, that was a very significant advantage.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Kevin Connolly (Coolderry): Kevin Connolly had a great game in the Coolderry attack, getting important scores and showing some great skill, He was also fouled for frees and Seir Kieran never got to grips with him.

Wing back Eoghan Parlon was a contender while Coolderry had several other very solid performers all over the field.

THE SCORERS

Coolderry: Eoin Burke 0-8 (4f), Kevin Connolly 1-5, Eoin Ryan 0-4, Shane Ryan 0-3, Stephen Corcoran (f), Eoghan Parlon, Conor Molloy, Andrew Connolly, Daniel Miller, Ajay Cleary, Gearoid McCormack 0-1 each.

Seir Kieran: Luke Carey 1-5 (5f), Kevin Dunne 0-3, Tom Dooley 1-0, Peadar Murray 0-2 (1 sideline), Barry Kealy, Darragh Guinan, Sean Dooley 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

COOLDERRY: Stephen Corcoran; Stephen Connolly, Billy Burke, Stephen Burke; Eoghan Parlon, David King, Conor Molloy; Cian Burke, William Malone; Gearoid McCormack, Eoin Ryan, Shane Ryan; Eoin Burke, Kevin Connolly, Daniel Miller. Subs – Conor Hogan for Molloy (48m), Andrew Connolly for McCormack (50m), Ajay Cleary for Cian Burke (54m), James Tooher for Malone (54m),

SEIR KIERAN: Joseph Connors; Stephen Gilligan, Pat Gilligan, Michael Gilligan; Sean Coughlan, Conor Dooley, Barry Kealey; Kevin Dunne, John Coughlan; Darragh Guinan, Sean Dooley, Tom Dooley; Luke Carey, Joe Bergin, Peadar Murray. Subs – Tomas Connors for Murray (42m)

Referee – Declan Cooke (Crinkill).

REFEREE WATCH

Declan Cooke likes to let the play run and he did that once again but had a good game. He gave a Seir Kieran player the benefit of the doubt for what was very close to a helmet pull in the first half but had no qualms about showing yellow to Stephen Gilligan and Michael Gilligan for the way they tried to stop Kevin Connolly as he raced through for Coolderry's first half goal. Michael Gilligan looked set to get a second yellow during the second half after being reported by a linesman and an umpire was then consulted but Cooke let him off with a warning. Seir Kieran's tackling was borderline at times but that was far more careless than malicious and the referee was always in control.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Kevin Connolly's 26^th minute goal was a great finish and helped Coolderry to a 1-11 to 0-10 half time lead.,

VENUE WATCH

Full marks to Birr for having their full quota of stewards here early as their senior B hurlers were out against Clara at 4pm. They were their usual professional hosts and their pitch was in good order.

WHAT'S NEXT

Coolderry have a bye in round 3 while Seir Kieran meet title favourites Kilcormac-Killoughey.

STATISTICS

Wides: Coolderry – 11 (7 in first half); Seir Kieran – 13 (7 in first half).

Yellow cards: Coolderry – 1 (Conor Molloy); Seir Kieran – 4 (Stephen Gilligan, Michael Gilligan, , Tom Dooley, Darragh Guinan).

Red cards: 0.