Kilkenny IHL- Danesfort make their mark in big win over St Lachtain’s

It was a bit of a reality check for All-Ireland junior hurling champions St Lachtain’s as they fell to a heavy defeat against Danesfort in round 1 of the Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai IHL league on Sunday evening.

Aside from a 1-3 tally from play by Shane Donnelly, the Freshford boys relied heavily on placed ball efforts from Cathal O’Leary and Danesfort’s better spread of scorers told a tale in the end.

Danesfort had 11 different players on the scoreheet as they found their range from all angles including a dominant half-back line that contributed 1-5 while Anthony Ireland Wall really came of age with a fantastic showcase of point taking.

It was nip and tuck in the early minutes with St Lachtain’s actually looking the brighter as they opened up a 0-3 to 0-1 lead with a Cathal O’Leary free adding to points from play by Alan Rafter and Cian Donnelly.

Danesfort’s only score in that opening stanza arrived via Cathal Kearney but they soon found their groove as the experienced Robbie Walsh set up Brian McDonald for the opening goal of the contest.

Another five points soon followed for the ‘Fort and a six point lead ultimately seperated the sides.

Both teams had their purple patches during an open half of hurling as Freshford respnded to being 1-6 to 0-3 down by adding on seven points without reply where O’Leary knocked over the frees and Brendan Quinn and Shane Donnelly registered from open play.

It still wasn’t enough to go into the break with an advantage as Danesfort replied in style and ran riot in the second quarter as they scored eight points without reply before Daire O’Neill scored a fine indivdual goal to leave them 2-16 to 0-11 leaders at the half-time interval.

A Shane Donnelly goal within five minutes of the restart where he batted in a log delivery from Darragh Maher gave hope to a Freshford revival but it was never a realistic option as Danesfort continued to keep the scoreboard tapping away.

A fine pointed sideline cut from Anthony Ireland Wall was one of the standout plays in the game and it was just one of a number of big plays for the corner forward who scored eight points in total.

Finn Mahony was another man to show well with two points off the bench and in this type of form they look like they have the tools to compete at the latter stages of this year’s championship campaign.

Teams and Scorers

Danesfort: Anthony Ireland Wall (0-8, 2fs); Cathal Kearney (0-5, 3fs); Daire O’Neill (1-1); Brian McDonald (1-0); Dan Dowling, Colm Phelan (0-3 each); Des Dunne, Paul Murphy, Finn Mahony (0-2 each); Sam Hayes, Robbie Walsh (0-1 each)

St Lachtain’s: Cathal O’Leary (0-10, 8fs and 1 ‘65); Shane Donnelly (1-3); Cian Donnelly (0-2, 1f); Alan Rafter, Brendan Quinn (0-1 each)

Danesfort: Paddy Hogan; Darren Booth, Diarmaid Phelan, Adam Byrne; Daire O’Neill, Paul Murphy, Des Dunne; Cathal Kearney, Cathal O’Neill; Colm Phelan, Dan Dowling, Sam Hayes; Anthony Ireland Wall, Brian McDonald, Robbie Walsh.

Subs: Darragh Coverdale for C.Phelan, 47 mins; Finn Mahony for McDonald, 56 mins; Aiden Cowley for Walsh, 56 mins.

St Lachtain’s: Darren Brennan; Jerry Bergin, Conor Donnelly, Simon Rafter; Padraig Donnelly, Brian Kennedy, Cathal Hickey; Alan Rafter, Brendan Quinn; Cathal O’Leary, Paddy Killeen, Cian Donnelly; Darragh Maher, Cian Dawson, Shane Donnelly.

Subs: Alexander Rafter for A.Rafter, 38 mins; Liam Hickey for Dawson, 38 mins; Cathal Power for O’Leary, 56 mins.

Referee: Paul Cahill