Birr school lose momentum after injuries as Colaiste Choilm pull away for convincing win in Offaly derby

COLAISTE Choilm, Tullamore pulled away for an ultimately impressive and convincing win when they defeated St Brendan's Community School, Birr in the first round of the Leinster Colleges Seniior “B” Hurling Championship at Crinkill on Wednesday.

Leinster Colleges Senior “B” Hurling Championship

Colaiste Choilm, Tullamore 2-13

St Brendan's Community School, Birr 1-7

It was a good win for the Tullamore students, who were pushed hard by the Birr school in the first half but struck for a decisive 1-2 in injury time. That 1-2 gave Colaiste Choilm a 2-4 to 0-6 interval lead and with the strong wind to come in the second half, it was theirs to lose.

They were never in danger in the second half as they outscored St Brendan's by 0-9 to 1-1 and didn't concede a score from play. They were comfortable throughout the second half and had the luxury of running in late subs.

It was a dead rubber of a game as both sides were through before the throw in. With Maynooth having withdrawn, this game was to decide who topped the group and both will go into the knockout stages.

You certainly couldn't judge either side on this game, though Colaiste Choilm will be much happier for obvious reasons. With a number of last year's Offaly minor hurling team in action on both sides, we anticipated a good, competitive game of hurling – Colaiste Choilm were missing their star player, Dan Ravenhill, still not back from a lengthy injury lay off, but they were clearly the better side.

The conditions were not conducive for hurling. They were horrible at the start with driving rain and wind making things very unpleasant for players, officials and spectators.

It meant that the first half was very stop start with neither side able to get any momentum. There were delays any time a free was awarded within scoring distance as players waited for someone to come on with a towel to dry their hurl. It was all very messy and there was a long 10 minute plus delay when Birr sub Darragh McNamara received treatment for a bad looking shoulder injury. McNamara had come on in the 21st minute for a key Birr player, Rian Nolan, who also sustained a shoulder injury, and was only on a few minutes when he got injured.

It resulted in over ten minutes of injury time being played in the first half and the game changed dramatically in that period. Before that, Colaiste Choilm had been struggling and St Brendan's were the better side. They led by 0-4 to 0-1 and 0-5 to 0-2 at different stages and were full value for that advantage but a very good 18th minute goal from Thomas Grace levelled it up.

An Eoin Bailey O'Brien point put St Brendan's back in front but they didn't score again until sixteen minutes into the second half. It had all went wrong for them deep into first half injury time as the superb Dan Bourke converted two frees and Robbie Gallagher got in for a well taken goal.

It was a lead that Colaiste Choilm didn't fully deserve but it put them in a very strong position and they were complete masters in the second half. With the weather conditions improving, Colaiste Choilm played very well, getting on top in every sector and quickly pulled out of sight. They got four points before Ben Miller ended St Brendan's long famine with a 46th minute free.

The winners added three more points before Eoin Burke goaled from a 51st minute penalty, conceded by Ben Heffernan who put in a hefty hit to stop a raiding forward in his tracks. It only had a cosmetic bearing at this stage as Dan Bourke got the final two points, one free, for a facile win.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Niall Furlong (Colaiste Choilm): Three stand out contenders here and all on the Colaiste Choilm team – Ter Guinan, Niall Furlong and Dan Bourke. Furlong is the choice. He started off quietly but came into the game in the second quarter as he moved out the field and began to win dirty ball. He was immense in the second half, getting on a big volume of ball, moving very well and using it efficiently.

THE SCORERS

Colaiste Choilm: Dan Bourke 0-9 (6f), Robbie Gallagher and Thomas Grace 1-0 each, Kieran Coonan 0-2 (2f), Ter Guinan and Niall Furlong 0-1 each.

St Brendan's CS: Eoin Burke 1-2 (penalty and 2f), Peter King 0-2, Ben Miller (f), Darragh Tierney and Eoin Bailey O'Brien 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

COLAISTE CHOILM, TULLAMORE: Kieran Coonan; William Grace, David O'Rourke, Jack Daly; Cillian Bourke, Ben Heffernan, Eoghan Spain; Brian Guinan, Ter Guinan; Niall Furlong, Cillian Martin, Steven Doran; Robbie Gallagher, Dan Bourke, Thomas Grace. Subs – Oisin Boland for Brian Guinan (51m), Aaron Rattigan for Thomas Grace (51m), Eoin Dunne for Gallagher (60m).

ST BRENDAN'S CS, BIRR: Liam Hoare; Caelum Larkin, Patrick Bergin, Patrick Dooley; Rian Nolan, Ben Miller, Ajay Cleary; Steven Gilligan, Cathal Robinson; Darragh Tierney, Eoin Burke, Marc Ryan; Eoin Bailey O'Brien, Peter King, Shane Connolly. Subs – Darragh McNamara for Nolan, inj. (21m), Conor McDowell for McNamara, inj. (27m).

Referee – Declan Cooke (Crinkill).

REFEREE WATCH

Declan Cooke had a very good game. A vastly experienced official, conditions didn't make it easy but he was fair and always in control. He dealt efficiently with anything that came up – a couple on the Colaiste Choilm sideline over contested a few decisions in the first half and he told them in no uncertain terms that this wouldn't be tolerated. He gave a Birr point in the first half that had been waved wide and he even went for the stretcher when the unfortunate Darragh McNamara got his shoulder injury.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Robbie Gallagher's goal in 11 minutes into injury time gave Colaiste Choilm a 2-4 to 0-6 half time lead and more or less killed the Birr challenge off.

VENUE WATCH

Considering the rain that fell, the Crinkill pitch held up remarkably well. It was heavy but there was no surface water on it. The venue was very exposed for spectators with no shelter but the pitch was as good as the teams could have hoped for.

TALKING POINT

It was nice to see two Offaly schools in action and a few of the Offaly minor hurling side that were so unlucky in last year's All-Ireland final in action. It does of course raise the question of competing in “B” hurling and not “A”. Both sides are at the right level but for Offaly to return as a force at senior level, they really need schools competing and challenging in the top flight.

With both sides qualifying, this game wasn't that important for St Brendan's CS but the nature of the defeat was thought provoking. In fairness, they had the wind knocked out of their sails and never regained their momentum after the first half injuries – they might also have been better off going in for shelter and a bit more comfort at half time than staying out in the cold, though this was certainly not the reason they lost. However, they were well beaten and they included players from a number of clubs across the south Offaly area, where hurling is very much their main game. The Colaiste Choilm team included a handful of players whose first game is football and who would not be natural hurlers – their athleticism and physicality was an atttribute in those conditions.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both sides progress into the knockout stages and await news of who they meet next.

STATISTICS

Wides: Colaiste Choilm – 8 (2 in first half); St Brendan's – 10 (5 in first half).

Yellow cards: Colaiste Choilm – 0; St Brendan's – 1 (Cathal Robinson).

Red cards: 0.