St Rynagh's draw curtain on disappointing season as Kinnitty head into relegation play off

ST Rynagh's found themselves in very strange territory in Birr on Sunday, meeting Kinnitty in a Senior Hurling Championship tussle with avoiding Seir Kieran in the relegation play off, the only issue at stake.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 5

St Rynagh's 1-26

Kinnitty 0-17

The first time in memory that St Rynagh's have not reached the knockout stages, they at least managed to get themselves up sufficiently to avoid having to prolong their season for another couple of weeks, pulling away in the second half for a comfortable win,

They will be delighted to have drawn the curtain on their worse season in a long time and while they were never likely to be relegated, they needed to remove it off the table here. They did so with a reasonably professional, good performance here, leaving the door open for Kinnitty for a while in the first half but always with an extra gear or two available to them whenever needed.

The big positive for Kinnitty is that they were somewhat competitive for forty minutes or so and they are in a better place heading into the relegation play off than Seir Kieran, who had their bye in this round, and will find it very hard to keep the foot to the floor for that month.

That will be a real dog eat dog tussle between two sides who are very familiar with each other and will fight to the death. That is a story for another day, however, and St Rynagh's did what they had to do here.

They didn't hit top gear in the first half, leading by 0-13 to 0-10 at the break with Kinnitty doing really well to hang in there. St Rynagh's led by 0-6 to 0-2 after 10 minutes and Kinnitty were in danger of being beaten at an early stage. A goal would have put them to bed but they dug deep and played their best hurling from the 11^th to 17^th minutes as they drew level, 0-6 each.

Every time, Kinnitty came at them, St Rynagh's were able to respond in the right way. They went 0-9 to 0-6 clear after 21 minutes and after Kinnitty drew level again, 0-10 each after 28 minutes, St Rynagh's got the final three points for that half time lead.

Kinnitty got the first point of the second half through Danny Flanagan but St Rynagh's were much more efficient. Luke O'Connor, back home from America, made a big difference to St Rynagh's and his point kick started a run of five in a row to make it 0-18 to 0-11.

The result was never in doubt from here on, even though Kinnitty continued to fight. They were trailing by 0-21 to 0-15 when Aidan Treacy raced in for a 47^th minute goal and that was that. Kinnitty were poor in the closing quarter, hitting some bad wides and taking on shots that they shouldn't have attempted. St Rynagh's cruised home with the closing four points and spectator interest had ebbed away well before the final whistle.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Aidan Treacy (St Rynagh's): Aidan Treacy had his best game of the campaign and operated much better in an attacking role, drifting out to midfield in the second half. He got 1-5, a point from a sideline and also helped set up scores.

Ben Conneely ran the show for St Rynagh's in an almost understated way at the heart of defence – his off the ball work and positioning was nearly as important as his efficiency in possession. Darragh Scully had an excellent game in the Rynagh's attack with Simon Og Lyons also doing very well in defence.

THE SCORERS

St Rynagh's: Aidan Treacy 1-5 (one sideline), Stephen Quirke 0-6 (6f), Darragh Scully and Luke O'Connor (2f) 0-4 each, Shane Rigney and Eoin Woods 0-3 each, Aaron Molloy 0-1.

Kinnitty: James Dempsey 0-8 (8f), Danny Flanagan 0-4, James Hardiman 0-2 (1f), Christopher Leonard, Cathal Robinson, Aodhan Kealey 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Keelan Rigney, Simon Og Lyons, Dominic Healy; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Joey O'Connor; Paul Cannon, Eoin Woods; Shane Rigney, Luke O'Connor, Aidan Treacy; Evan Houlihan, Stephen Quirke, Darragh Scully. Subs – Pat Camon for Woods (40m), Aaron Molloy for Houlihan (44m), Ciaran Daly for Joey O'Connor (46m), Daniel Healy for Maloney (55m), Niall Flannery for Quirke (55m)

KINNITTY: Niall Corrigan; Willie Molloy, Paddy Rigney, Paddy Dooley; Conor Meaney, Shane Kinsella, Brian Coughlan; Christopher Leonard, Jason Armstrong; Conor Hardiman, Cathal Robinson, Aodhan Kealey; Odhran Kealey, James Dempsey, Danny Flanagan. Subs - Peadar Robinson for Meaney (35m), James Hardiman for Leonard (37m), Eoghan Callaghan for Dempsey (46m), Shane Ryan for Armstrong (52m), Paddy Byrne for Aodhan Kealey (57m)m,

Referee – Brian Gavin, Clara.

REFEREE WATCH

Brian Gavin had an excellent game with no issues.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

St Rynagh's win was never in real doubt but Aidan Treacy's 47^th minute goal definitely ended Kinnitty's resistance.

VENUE WATCH

Birr had had a busy schedule of games and their pitch is in very good condition.

WHAT'S NEXT

Kinnitty play Seir Kieran in the relegation play off while St Rynagh's are safe for the year.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Rynagh's – 11 (4 in first half); Kinnitty – 8 (3 in first half).

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0