Sensational Seir Kieran win leaves shell shocked St Rynagh's depending on other results

A SHELL shocked, devastated St Rynagh's were left staring an early exit in the face after Seir Kieran produced their best performance of the year by a country mile to throw group 2 of the Senior Hurling Championship up in the air.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 4

Seir Kieran 1-20

St Rynagh's 1-17

The win completes St Rynagh's group games and leaves them depending on other results to qualify for the quarter-finals. It could still happen for them – if Coolderry beat Tullamore on Saturday evening, St Rynagh's will be hanging by a thread but there is still a good chance they will survive.

St Rynagh's have four points and their scoring difference is -8 points. Seir Kieran now have two points from three games and one to go against Tullamore.

This was an absolutely massive result for them, a season changing one but they could still go out but they now have an opportunity that they didn't expect. Their scoring difference is -26 points and that is a major problem for them. They are unlikely to close the gap between them and St Rynagh's and the possibility of three teams tying on four points and scoring difference determining which two goes into the quarter-finals now looms large.

Coolderry's scoring difference is +2 points and they simply have to beat Tullamore on Saturday evening. Coolderry face Kilcormac-Killoughey last and will be big underdogs for that. The losing margin there could well determine Seir Kieran's fate and as things stand, the odds are still against the Clareen men making it – firstly they will have to beat Tullamore to give themselves a chance and that is not guaranteed.

At the moment, however, Seir Kieran can bask in the glory of a hugely rewarding, against the odds win. They looked utterly demoralised after a heavy defeat by Kilcormac-Killoughey in their last game and it took serious character to turn that around. They did so with a superbly hard working performance, mixed in with excellent, no holds barred hurling and they richly deserved their win. Indeed, it would have been a travesty if St Rynagh's had managed to salvage it late on, though they were not far away from doing that and Seir Kieran owed a debt of gratitude to goalkeeper Joseph Connors.

It was another substandard performance from St Rynagh's and had it resulted in championship elimination, they would have had no complaints whatsoever. It has been a poor championship campaign by the Banagher club to date. They were destroyed by Kilcormac-Killoughey and while they did what they had to do to beat Coolderry and Tullamore, they have definitely not impressed as champions in waiting.

They may well squeeze it into the quarter-finals but it will take vast improvement for them to turn the corner.

This game was all about Seir Kieran and they showed fierce intent from the start. They showed they meant business by attacking the game with great enthusiasm and scoring the opening three points in two minutes. An excellent Luke O'Connor goal after he raced onto a breaking ball in the 4^th minute settled St Rynagh's and they led by 1-6 to 0-5 after twelve minutes but didn't build on that.

Their error count was worryingly high and Seir Kieran staged a terrific second quarter. The hard working Adrian Hynes brought them back into it with an 18^th minute goal when he batted the ball to the net after great work by Tom Dooley.

Seir Kieran deserved their half time lead of 1-9 to 1-8 and they came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half.. They got two quick points to lead by two but St Rynagh's did well to level it up at 1-12 each after 43 minutes. Just when it was looking like normal service would resume, Seir Kieran found another gear. Working like men possessed all over the field, Adrian Hynes, Luke Carey and Tom Dooley put them three clear with opportunist points in the space of two minutes.

St Rynagh's were in serious bother and with seven minutes left, the gap was five, 1-18 to 1-13. It was sensational stuff by Seir Kieran and St Rynagh's had very little in the tank. Two Luke O'Connor frees brought it down to a score, 1-15 to 1-18 with four minutes left. Twice, Seir Kieran restored a safe four point lead after this and while St Rynagh's effort levels were where they needed to be late on, their composure and option taking was miles off. Their shot selection was poor, they hit harmless wides and just didn't play well enough to win it.

Connors did make a couple of outstanding saves to keep them out and his last one from Stephen Quirke in the 60^th minute was pivotal. With four points separating the sides, Quirke looked certain to find the net as he bore down on goal but Connors saved brilliantly, though it really should have been in the net from five metres. Aidan Treacy sent the '65' wide before O'Connor's free reduced it to a goal again two minutes into the four of injury time. St Rynagh's didn't get within sight of the goals against as Seir Kieran defended heroically and if anything, they should have added to their tally late on.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Joseph Connors (Seir Kieran): All the contenders were on the Seir Kieran team and you could pick anyone of Joseph Connors, Dermot Mooney and Kevin Dunne. Mooney was immense on the full back line, getting through a mountain of work while Dunne's first half tour-de-force, when he scored three points and delivered in a lot of ball, put Seir Kieran in a position to win it. Joseph Connors just edges it as his second half saves were out of the top drawer and without them, St Rynagh's probably would have snatched it.

Pat Gilligan, Tom Dooley, Luke Carey, Adrian Hynes and sub, Darragh Guinan also did trojan work on a day when every Seir Kieran player did his job.,

St Rynagh's didn't have many players who played at top form. Conor Clancy handled a lot of ball very effectively in the goals, Simon Og Lyons defended very well for much of it and there were periods when Ben Conneely dictated the game. Stephen Quirke, Luke O'Connor and Aaron Molloy looked dangerous at times for St Rynagh's up front, showing pace and skill, but neither will be fully happy with their display and it was an overall bad day at the office for the losers.

THE SCORERS

Seir Kieran: Luke Carey 0-9 (5f), Adrian Hyes 1-1, Kevin Dunne 0-3, Tom Dooley and Adrian Hynes 0-2 each, Barry Kealy, Michael Gilligan, Eanna Murphy 0-1 each.

St Rynagh's: Luke O'Connor 1-9 (9f), Stephen Quirke 0-3, Aaron Molloy 0-2, Aidan Treacy (f), Ben Conneely and Darragh Scully 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

SEIR KIERAN: Joseph Connors; Stephen Gilligan, Pat Gilligan, Dermot Mooney; John Coughlan Eanna Murphy, Conor Dooley; Kevin Dunne, Michael Gilligan; Joe Bergin, Luke Carey, Barry Kealy; Billy Connors, Tom Dooley, Adrian Hynes. Subs – Darragh Guinan for Billy Connors (44m), Tomas Connors for Bergin (57m),

ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Keelan Rigney, Dermot Shortt, Simon Og Lyons; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Sean Dolan; Joey O'Connor, Ciaran Daly; Shane Rigney, Stephen Quirke, Aidan Treacy; Darragh Scully, Luke O'Connor, Aaron Molloy. Subs – Conor Hernon for Daly (39m), Aaron Kenny for Scully (44m), Eoin Woods for Shane Rigney (44m),

Referee – Matthew Farrell (Tullamore).

REFEREE WATCH

Roscommon native Matthew Farrell had a very solid game. He knew the rules and enforced them well with no big issues cropping up.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Joseph O'Connor's 60^th minute save from Stephen Quirke was a huge moment and with Aidan Treacy sending the '65' wide, it summed up St Rynagh's day.

VENUE WATCH

St Brendan's Park was in great condition. The unfortunate diagonal scar through the middle of the field, caused by an accident a few weeks ago, has obviously been worked on intensively and while still visible, it was much less noticeable than a couple of weeks ago. - it has improved much quicker than expected. Birr hosted the fixture with great professionalism as usual.

WHAT'S NEXT

Seir Kieran play Tullamore in the final round while St Rynagh's group programme is completed.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Rynagh's – 12 (5 in first half); Seir Kieran – 10 (7 in first half).

Yellow cards: St Rynagh's – 0; Seir Kieran – 2 (Dermot Mooney and Conor Dooley).

Red cards: 0