Kilkenny SHL- Thomastown survive valiant 'Bridge comeback

On a glorious summer afternoon in Thomastown last Saturday, Thomastown won the bragging rights of near neighbours as they fought off a strong Bennettsbridge fightback to make it two wins from two in The Senior League.

The early exchanges were even with the teams level at 0-4 apiece after ten minutes.

Robbie Donnelly (2 frees), Brian Staunton from long range and Jonjo Farrell were on target for Thomastown during the opening period, while Bennettsbridge’stally in the opening stages came from two of their standout performers Nicky Cleere (2 frees) and Ciaran Brennan(2) who contributed 2-11 of their overall tally between them.

However, once Thomastown goalkeeper Diarmuid Galway struck over a monstrous long range point direct from a puck out in the 11th minute to give them the lead(0-5 to 0-4), they began to take control of the game.

Points from Robbie Donnelly(free) and Stephen Donnelly stretched the lead (0-7 to 0-4) and after Nicky Cleere replied with a pointed free, Stephen Donnelly raced through to strike home a brilliant goal midway through the first-half after he was set-up by the excellent Luke Connellan. 1-7 to 0-5.

Points from Thomas O’Hanrahan, John Donnelly(2) and Robbie Donnelly(2) - including a 65 - extended their lead further, but Bennettsbridge had the final say of the first-half courtesy of a Nicky Cleere goal from a long range free by David Blanchfield.

However, Thomastown responded emphatically with four unanswered points after the restart as Luke Connellan(2), Stephen Donnelly and Robbie Donnelly(free) gave them a 9 point cushion. 1- 16 to 1-7.

Bennettsbridge replied with points from James Hughes and a Nicky Cleere free, but they were cancelled out by points from John Donnelly and Luke Connellan in the 43rd and 45th minutes respectively.

Thomastown also had a penalty attempt saved in the 42nd minute, as Robbie Donnelly’s effort was brilliantly saved by Enda Cleere after substitute Alex Cass was fouled.

Thomastown were dominant for the majority of the game, particularly around the middle third with Eddie Donnelly, Jonjo Farrell, Peter McDonald and Luke Connellan leading the way in helping gain supremacy while John Donnelly was the catalyst in attack.

The inter-county senior scored 0-4 from play as his pace and movement caused all sorts of problems for the Bennettsbridge defence.

However, Bennettsbridge kept plugging away despite their struggles and five unanswered points between the 46th and 54th minutes narrowed the deficit to just 4 points - 1-18 to 1-14 - as Nicky Cleere (0-3) - 0-2 frees 0-1 65 , Kevin Blanchfield and Sean Morrissey all found the target to put the Bridge men back in contention.

Bennettsbridge had now found a new lease of life with Conor Murphy, David and Kevin Blanchfield driving them on to greater efforts, and a cracking goal by Ciaran Brennan in the 55th minute left just a point between the teams. 1-18 to 2-14.

Suddenly, Thomastown were now hanging on but to their credit they responded and finished strongly as they outscored Bennettsbridge 0-4 to 0-1 over the closing few minutes.

Teams and Scorers

Thomastown: Robbie Donnelly 0-8(0-4 frees 0-2 65s), John Donnelly 0-4, Luke Connellan 0-3, Jonjo Farrell, Stephen Donnelly 0-2 each, Brian Staunton, Diarmuid Galway, Thomas O’Hanrahan 0-1 each.

Bennettsbridge: Nicky Cleere 1-8(0-7 frees 0-1 65), Ciaran Brennan 1-3, Kevin Blanchfield 0-2, Sean Morrissey, James

Hughes 0-1 each.

Thomastown: Diarmuid Galway; Peter Connellan, Brian O’Hanrahan, Ned Kirwan; Brian Staunton, Eddie Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond; Peter McDonald, Jonjo Farrell; Robbie Donnelly, Luke Connellan, John Donnelly; Thomas O’Hanrahan, Jack

Holden, Stephen Donnelly.

Subs: Alex Cass, Colm Treacy, Naoise Dempsey.

Bennettsbridge: Enda Cleere, Lar Mahon, Enda Morrissey, Timmy Kelly, Bill Hughes, David Blanchfield, Conor Murphy, Hugh O’Neill, Kevin Blanchfield, Liam Blanchfield, Sean Morrissey, Ciaran Brennan, Nicky Cleere, James Hughes, Jason Cleere.

Subs: Aidan Cleere, Shane Byrne, Jamie Harkin, Harry Murphy.

Referee: Conor Everard