South Leinster Schools Junior Hurling C1 final
Kilmuckridge VC v Patrician College (Newbridge)
in Fenagh (Carlow)
Patrician College (Newbridge)…………0-15
Kilmuckridge VC…………………………….3-4
Colaiste an Atha, Kilmuckridge recently took on Patrician College, Newbridge in the South East Leinster ‘C1’ Final. Having been postponed previously because of the stormy conditions, both teams arrived in Fenagh, Carlow eager to get the game going.
Kilmuckridge got off to a fine start with wing forward Darragh Hammel scoring the opening point within the first minute. Soon after, a free won by Aaron Nobbs was pointed by Daryl Gray. Five minutes in saw Nobbs collect a ball in the half back line and a quick handpass to Gray resulted in a fine point from play.
Newbridge responded to this with three quick points from the mighty Colm Hartnett who had an exceptional game – two from play and one placed ball. Kilmuckridge had to work hard to get the ball down the pitch again. A free by Daryl Gray fell short in front of the goal and a mishit shot by Jordan Goff resulted in a wide ball.
Then Aaron Nobbs hit the post and this missed goal chance was followed by another wide. After 20 minutes Kilmuckridge forced a ’65 and Daryl Gray’s strike fell short but Jamie Dempsey-Doyle pounced for his first goal of the match.
A quick puck-out was taken by the Newbridge side but it fell into the waiting hands of Jordan Goff. He found Dempsey-Doyle who found the net once again. Newbridge responded with a point by wing forward Conal Kiernan. From the puck-out Kilmuckridge’s captain Darragh Kehoe collected the ball in the centre of the field and a long shot in resulted in Jordan Goff finding the net.
Within a minute of this Darragh Kehoe struck a wide but a resulting poor puck-out by Newbridge landed on Darragh Hammel who was then fouled. Gray then stepped up and pointed from the 30 yard line.
Newbridge, playing against a strong wind, had a goal chance just before half time. A scramble on the line resulted in a ‘65 for Newbridge. Kilmuckridge centre back Andrew Redmond broke the ball down and made a relieving clearance off the goal line leaving the score 3-4 to 0-4 in favour of the Wexford school at half time.
With the wind now on their side the Newbridge students seemed to really pick up their work rate. Their pressure began to tell on the scoreboard and the nine point lead began to dwindle through points.
However, back came Kilmuckridge and on 53 minutes they had a chance for their opening score of the second half but a free went wide. Gavin Morris, having returned from injury, had a phenomenal game at wing back but no matter how many balls he seemed to clear there was no stopping the Newbridge side. Hartnett was dangerous on placed balls and as Kilmuckridge continued to foul, he continued to punish. With four minutes to go the sides were level (3-4 to 0-13) with Kilmuckridge still not having scored in the second half.
Meldon scored to put Newbridge ahead by one point while Harnett scored the security point two minutes into injury time leaving the final score 0-15 to 3-4. A very skilful Kilmuckridge side were physically outmatched by a stronger Newbridge team. However the Kilmuckridge lads have made huge progress in reaching the final and must work harder to improve next year.
Kilmuckridge VC:
Conor Dowling; Davin Kehoe, Cathal Sinnott, Gearoid Redmond; Zach Boland, Andrew Redmond, Mark Ryan; Aaron Nobbs, Darragh Kehoe; Darragh Hammel (0-1), Andrew Bolger, Daryl Gray (0-3, 2 frees); Jamie Dempsey Doyle (2-0), Jordan Goff Masterson (1-0), Gavin Morris.
Subs: Cian Clarke, Liam Walsh, Dylan McLoughlin, Killian Doyle, Conor Doyle, Ryan Byrne, Jimbob Kavanagh, Mark Whittaker, Paul O Neill, Darragh Dunne, James Lawless.