Under 21B Hurling Championship Semi Final
Heartbreak for Under 21’s
St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield 1-15 O’Callaghan’s Mills 0-08
Clooney was the venue on a crisp Sunday morning for this under 21 B Semi Final. Acknowledging the loss of some starting players the full panel of players were willing to step up to the plate. Great credit should go to the Under 21 B & C squads for their commitment at training over the winter months.
After a nervous first 5 minutes from St. Joseph’s and a corner forward for the Mill’s being yellow carded, the first point came O’Callaghan’s Mills way in the shape of
Jacob Loughnane. He then got another on the 7-minute mark. David Conroy responded with St. Joseph’s first score on the 10-minute mark and another in the 12th. After 15 minutes played the score was 0-3 to 0-2 in favour of the Mill’s.
O’Callaghan’s Mills conceded 6 free’s in 15 minutes and their fouling persisted and a penalty was awarded, taken by David Conroy which was saved. Seamus Nugent was shown a yellow card in the 24th minute and the Mill’s were awarded a penalty, which was calmly dispatched by the full forward.
St. Joseph’s earned a 65, which was not converted, and subsequently O’Callaghan’s Mills punished with 2 points in a row. Before the half time break Cathal Ruane pulled one back but the Parish were already in trouble at this stage. The half time score read St. Joseph’s 0-03, O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-06. Something major needed to be said at half time in order to inject something into their play.
However the second half started brighter for the Mill’s with two unanswered points. Ciaran O’Halloran went to ground with a bad injury but mustered up the courage to continue. A switch was then made by the backroom team, which saw David Clancy’s entrance with Niall Duggan being withdrawn.
David Conroy converted a free to keep the score respectable but 4 unanswered Mill’s points spelt disaster for St. Joseph’s. After 12 minutes of the second half it was 1-12 to 0-05 in favour of O’Callaghan’s Mills.
A major blow occured when David Conroy got badly injured in a tackle and was forced off after 19 minutes of the second half. Colm Devine came in, in his place. The game petered out and the game wrapped up with a converted free from Cathal Ruane and point from Colm Devine.
The final score ended St. Joseph’s 0-08 to O’Callaghan’s Mills 1-15.
Some of the statistics from the game are interesting. What was interesting and of note was the number of frees O’Callaghan’s mills conceded in the game. This amounted to 17 compared to St. Joseph’s 7. St. Joseph’s were more disciplined. Total shots from St. Joseph’s was 14 converting 8, that’s a 57% success rate.
Total shots from O’Callaghan’s Mills were 23 converting 16, that’s a 70% success rate. The wide counter read 7 wide’s to O’Callaghan’s Mills and 5 to St. Joseph’s.
It’s a sad end to the campaign but important that the U-21’s continue to hurl in run up to the summer and join the Junior and Intermediate panels.
The team was; Kevin Moloney, Peter Collins, Eoin Hanrahan, Seamus Nugent, Ciaran O’Halloran, Scott Currid, Ben Baker, Conor O’Brien, Conor Kerins, Cian Barron, David Conroy, Conor Tierney, Ciaran Thynne, Niall Duggan, Cathal Ruane.
Subs; David Clancy for Niall Duggan, Diarmaid Barron for Ciaran O’Halloran, Sean Mulqueen for Kieran Thynne, Colm Devine for David Conroy and Gearoid Neylon for Conor O’Brien.
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