Sixmilebridge 4-5 Eire Og 5-11

O’Garney Park was the venue for this Round 3 U-14A tie last Friday evening in glorious sunshine with very little wind. The ‘Townies got off to flier on winning possession from the throw in and when Fionan Treacy received a nice pass he made a blistering run at the ‘Bridge goal releasing a beautiful handpass to the unmarked Fionn McMurrough who gave Mark Sheedy in the ‘Bridge goal no chance. To their credit, the ‘Bridge didn’t panic and got stuck in matching Eire Og all over the field. They were rewarded 5 minutes in when Fionn Hayes showed excellent first touch to control a ball that was getting away from him. He picked out Tom Forde in the corner with a good pass and Forde made no mistake, levelling the match with a cracking goal. Eire Og responded well and were beginning to get on top as the half wore on but were being denied scores by a vey dogged ‘Bridge full back line. When a high ball appeared to be going over the bar for the first Eire Og point 10 mins in, it hit the upright and came back into play where Luca Cleary was quickest to react, billowing the net for his side’s second goal. From the puckout the ‘Bridge won possession and then a free 60 metres out from the Eire Og goal. Seamus O’Connell hit a high dangerous ball into the square and it took an awkward bounce, catching everyone by surprise ending up in the back of the net levelling matters again. Dara Fitzgerald put the ‘Bridge in front for the first time with a pointed free on 12 minutes. For the remainder of the half the ‘Townies dominated proceedings however, outscoring the ‘Bridge 6 points to 1 , with Andrew McElwee, Michael Heneghan, and Fionan Treacy getting two points each, and Gary O’Callaghan getting the ‘Bridge point. Half time score, 2-6 to 2-2 in favour of Eire Og.
The second half began with Luca Cleary pointing in the first minute stretching Eire Og’s lead to 5 points. Again the ‘Bridge responded well and it took an excellent save from Cian Howard in the Eire Og goal to stop a point blank shot from Cian Maxwell 5 minutes in. Three minutes later the ‘Bridge had their third goal when a free from Dara Fitzgerald picked out Ian Collins totally unmarked on the edge of the square and he rattled the net. The intensity of the game was picking up, with both sides playing wonderful hurling. Michael Heneghan pushed the ‘Townies on again with a well taken point before he, and Dara Fitzgerald (‘Bridge), scored two points each for their sides, all from frees. With ten minutes left Mark Sheedy made a brilliant save in the ‘Bridge Goal to keep them in the game. Dara Fitzgerald narrowed the gap to two with a lovely point a minute later and the ‘Bridge finally went ahead with 5 minutes left with a great goal from Fionn Hayes. However, this seemed to ignite Eire Og, and with Michael Heneghan, Fionan Treacy, and Luca Cleary all scoring goals in the last five minutes the game was put beyond the reach of the ‘Bridge lads. Full time score 5-11 to 4-05 in favour of the ‘Townies. This was an excellent game of hurling with both sides showing great heart and skill throughout. Eire Og were the better balanced panel, with Michael Heneghan outstanding at half forward with lots of help from a very dangerous full forward line inside him. For Sixmilebridge Oisin Breen, Tan Greene, Daniel Chaplin, Fionn Hayes and Dara Fitzgerald stood out. This ‘Bridge team is improving with every outing and with over half their team at this age group again next year they are gaining valuable experience in championship hurling for the first time.
Sixmilebridge: Mark Sheedy, Tan Greene, Oisin Breen, Brendan Carey, Cian Johnson, Seamus O’Connell 1-0, Patrick Ahern, Dara Fitzgerald 0-4 (3F), Ian Collins 1-0, Gary O’Callaghan 0-1, Fionn Hayes 1-0, Daniel Chaplin, Danny Dunne, Conor Gilligan, Tom Forde 1-0, Cian Maxwell, Alex Muldoon.
Eire Og: Cian Howard, Jack Kavanagh, Jack Lynch, Noah Daly, Eoin O’Regan, Liam Kavanagh, Alex Dilger, Cillian Moroney, Cian Murphy, Andrew McElwee 0-2, Michael Heneghan 1-6(0-2f), Conor Kilcawley, Fionn McMurrough 1-0, Fionan Treacy 1-2(0-1f), Luca Cleary 2-1.
Referee: Rory McGann.