Kilkenny SHL- O'Loughlins show champion class in emphatic win over Erin's Own
O'Loughlin Gaels 2-33 Erin's Own 1-8
It will go down as one of the least memorable games of this year’s league and championship as O’Loughlin Gaels easily disposed of Erin’s Own in Freshford on Saturdayy afternoon.
All of 28 points seperated the teams by the time referee Gavin Quilty blew his final whistle and even at that, there was a feeling that the defending county champions didn’t even need to get out of second gear.
Sean Bolger and Alex Sheridan bagged second half goals whie Mark Bergin, Conor Kelly, Jack Nolan and Owen Wall also stood out as the city side secured a third win on the trot.
O’Loughlin’s now look in pole position to seal their place in the quarter-finals of the championship and on teh evidence thus far, it will take a very good side to halt their quest to win back to back senior titles.
'Comer on the other hand look to be staring into a relegation battle once again as they remain pointless at the bottom of the group.
Erin’s Own were weakened from the start with Kilkenny stars Conor Fogarty and Conor Delaney bot taking to the field and it was essentially game over at the end of the first quarter as their opponents raced into an 0-8 to 0-0 lead.
That then developed into a ten point O’Loughlin’s lead at the break and also outscoring the beaten side 2-18 to 1-3 in the second period so whatever way you look at it, there was only really one team in it.
David Fogarty, Mark Bergin, Jack Nolan, Conor Heary and Luke Hogan all found their range in O’Loughlin’s ruthless beginning to the contest where it took Comer till the 19th minute to register a white flag.
That score came from the hurl of Jack Buggy who got the side in blue’s only two points from play in the opening 30 minutes of action.
Leading off from previous victories over Clara and Mullinavat, Brian Hogan’s O’Loughlin’s team efficiently went about their business and they quite easily built up a huge margin between the sides.
Scoring 2-28 from play is no mean feat either and while the game was over as a contest at half-time, O’Loughlin’s kept the foot on the accelerator as they scored eight points within the first ten minutes of the resumption with all their main men playing a part including full back Huw Lawlor gettig forward for one of the scores of the game.
The one black mark on the O’Loughlin’s display was the concession of a 46th minute goal that saw Erin’s Own full forward Michael Murphy fire the sliotar past Stephen Murphy via a penalty.
That actually proved to be the North Kilkenny side’s second penalty of the half after Jack Buggy had a shot saved only minutes earlier.
On the back of conceding the penalty 2-10 O’Loughlins went on to score 2-10 without reply as they played some smashing hurling in the process.
Conor Bolger got the first of the three pointers when he showed great skill in batting the ball off the ground before lobbing Sean Buggy to get the ball rolling while sub Alex Sheridan made use of his ten minutes on the park with an impressive 1-1 cameo.
Graigue Ballycallan and Shamrocks will offer bigger tests over the next two weeks but it’s hard not to be impressed by the county champions even if the opposition weren’t at the races.
Teams and Scorers
O’Loughlin Gaels: Mark Bergin (0-10, 5fs); Conor Kelly (0-6); Sean Bolger, Alex Sheridan (1-1 each); Jack Nolan, Owen Wall (0-4 each); Luke Hogan, David Fogarty (0-2 each); Huw Lawlor, Fionan Mackessy, Conor Heary (0-1 each)
Erin’s Own: Michael Murphy (1-1); Jack Buggy (0-4, 2fs); Michael Brennan, Sean Buggy (0-1, 1f each); Declan Dunne (0-1)
O’Loughlin Gaels: Stephen Murphy; Tony Forristal, Huw Lawlor, Mikey Butler; David Fogarty, Paddy Deegan, Jordan Molloy; Jack Nolan, Fionan Mackessy; Conor Kelly, Mark Bergin, Conor Heary; Owen Wall, Luke Hogan, Sean Bolger.
Subs: Jamie Ryan for Mackessy, 45 mins; Kevin Murphy for Heary, 50 mins; Alex Sheridan for Hogan, 50 mins; Finn Hogan for Fogarty, 54 mins; Matthew Russell for Nolan, 54 mins.
Erin’s Own: Sean Buggy; John Dowd, Aidan Moran, Chris Korff; James Brennan, Cathal Holland, Stephen Daly; Rob Moran, Shane Feehan; Eoin Brennan, Declan Dunne, Michael Brennan; Shane Coogan, Michael Murphy, Jack Buggy.
Subs: James Coogan for E.Brennan, 55 mins; Dan Coogan for M.Brennan, 58 mins; Conor Brophy for A.Moran, 60 mins.
Referee: Gavin Quilty (Slieverue)