Kilkenny GAA- Donnelly delivers junior league spoils for St Lachtain’s

The St Lachtain’s Junior F hurlers made it a hat-trick of titles, but only after a hard-fought contest with Tullogher-Rosbercon.

The Saints, appearing in a fifth consecutive JJ Kavanagh Kilkenny Junior F league final, had to give their all to get the better of a dogged opponent in sweltering conditions in Danesfort.

This was a tightly contested affair with no quarter asked or given, before Freshford finally edged their Southern opponents by just two points.

Star of the show for St Lachtain’s was midfielder Cian Donnelly who finished with 0-16. Ten of his scores came from placed balls, with six from play.

Twenty minutes into the half St Lachtain’s were just a point ahead, but four of the last five points at the interval had them 0-12 to 0-8 ahead.

Tullogher-Rosbercon stayed in touch all through the second half but the accuracy of Donnelly, particularly in a game where plenty of frees were on offer, made all the difference. Dean Kinsella was the Tullogher-Rosbercon free taker, and he too finished with quite the total, scoring 0-12 (11 points were from frees).

St Lachtain’s had star performances from their captain Darragh Quinn, Marty and Philip Campion and Colin McGree. Full-forward Ben Dermody and main man Cian Donnelly never faltered in their efforts.

Tullogher-Rosbercon were always only a score or two away from ultimate success. Billy Ryan, Dean Kinsella and Richard Aylward were among their top performers.

Three league titles in a row at once means Freshford are installed as the team to beat in the 2025 championship.

Teams and scorers

St Lachtain’s - Cian Donnelly (0-16, 0-9 frees, 0-1 65); Colin McGree, Jordan Burke, Jack Whitty, Ben Dermody (0-1 each).

Tullogher-Rosbercon - Dean Kinsella (0-12, 0-11 frees); Richard Aylward (0-2); Billy Ryan, James Cummins, Kevin Aylward, Richard Aylward (0-1 each).

St Lachtain’s - Robbie Dowling; Caillin McCabe, Darragh Quinn (captain), James O’Connor; Marty Campion, Philip Campion, Colin McGree; Matthew Durnan, Cian Donnelly; Declan Killeen, Shea Burke, Jordan Burke; Jack Whitty, Ben Dermody, Sean Counihan.

Subs: Mark Nolan for Sean Counihan, Jonathan Doheny for Ben Dermody; Luke Phelan, David Burke, Michael Murphy, Leo White, Kevin Dalton, Nicholas Maher, Jimmy Cantwell, Jamie Denieffe, Cathal Bowden, Fergal Tobin, Evan Landers, Jack Dalton, John Dooley, Cian Leahy.

Management: Eamon Ryan, David Martin, Owen Dalton, JP Kavanagh, David Burke.

Tullogher-Rosbercon - Eoin Ryan; John Hartley, Dara Murray, Sam Ryan; Niall Cummins, Anthony Cottrell (captain), Terence Croke; Ronan Moore, Billy Ryan; Dean Kinsella, Marc Lawlor, James Cummins; Kevin Aylward, Richard Aylward Joe Malone.

Subs: Philip Walsh for Mark Lawlor, Brian O’Shea for James Cummins; Padraig Dooley, Tony Conway, Dylan Morrissey, Paul Manning, John Murphy, Matt Rossiter, Jamie Power, Evan Fitzgerald, Liam Murphy, Fergal O'Shea, Liam Walsh, Evan Morrissey, Keelan Ryan, Finbarr Kelly, Robert Hartley, James Mullally, Sean Meaney, James Banville, Liam O’Neill, James Murphy, Frank Murphy.

Management: Ted Cullinane, Declan Grennan.

Referee - Jack Miller (Piltown)