Sixmilebridge 2-16 Tulla 1-12

Author: Da Junior B Scribe

Sixmilebridge Junior B hurlers got their league campaign back on track following a well-deserved win over Tulla , at Dr Daly Memorial Park on Saturday evening in perfect conditions for hurling.

The visitors were minus a number of regulars due to conflicting committments, but they put in a very workmanlike shift over the hour, that will have pleased Mikey Corbett no end.

Tulla raced into an early lead with 4 of the first 5 points inside the opening 8 minutes. The solitary Bridge response was a point from play from the impressive Kieran Liddane.

In the 9th minutes Liddane soloed through the heart of the Tulla defence, before confidently laying off to James O'Neill to place a swift pass to Errol Touhy who made no mistake from close distant, and raised a green flag for the visitors, to leave the teams level at 1-1 to 0-4. The Tulla response was swift, with a point from their wing forward following by a goal from the Tulla center forward that will not have the Sixmilebridge defence happy. Mid-way through the first half, this left Tulla leading on a scoreline of 1-5 to 1-1.

The man from manhattan, Michael O'Halloran, then made his seasonal debut and had a huge influence on proceedings. For the remainder of the half, Sixmilebridge raised the intensity and outscored their opponents by 5 points to 2. At half time the score was 1-7 to 1-6 in favour of Tulla.

O'Halloran got the first score of the second half with a fine point, which was immediately matched by Tulla. Then came the games turning point - Duck Devanney cut through the Tulla defence but laying off an intelligent pass to Kieran Liddane. Liddane made no mistake and almost burst the back of the Tulla net , to leave the score 2-7 to 1-8. The Bridge were to never lose that lead for the remainder of the game.

Following Liddanes goal, Devanney turned from provider to scorer, scoring 3 of the next 4 Sixmilebridge points. Caimin Barrett, Jamie Lyons and Liddane also got in on the act , raising white flags of their own.

With 5 minutes remaining on the clock, and the score standing at 2-13 to 1-11, Tulla launched a dangerous attack culminating in a ruck on the edge of the Sixmilebridge square. Billy Maxwell wound up and launched a gladiator style pull which left the referee with little option other than to award a 21 yard free to the hosts , right in front of the Bridge goal. The Bridge packed the goal line and Eric Purcell did very well to deflect a bullet like shot over the bar.

This took the wind out of the Tulla sails and Sixmilebridge closed out the game with the points from Errol Touhy, Duck Devanney and the half finished as it started with a point from play from Michael O'Halloran.

This was a vastly improved performance from Mikey Corbetts side compared to the week before. The work rate and intensity were raised several notches. Sixmilebridge were missing several regulars , who will now be under pressure to regain their places. The backroom team was also depleted on Saturday , with strength and conditioning coach James Liddane away on a dirty weekend in Donegal and dietician Jude Kearney bopping to Ed Sheeran in Pearce Stadium.

Next up is a home game against Parteen next weekend.

Best for the 'Bridge were Eric Lynch and David O'Meara in defence. Kieran Liddane around the middle of the field, and Michael O'Halloran and Duck Devanney up front.

Team

Eric Purcell

Brian O'Loughlin, Mark O'Donovan, Billy Maxwell;

Ian Chaplin, David O'Meara, Eric Lynch; 

Kieran Liddane, JP Griffin;

Jamie Lyons, Duck Devanney, James O'Neill;

Dean McKenna, Errol Touhy, Caimin Barrett;

Subs

Michael O'Halloran for Dean McKenna (20 mins)

Ed Skehan for James O'Neill (55 mins)

Dylan fleming

Scorers

Kieran Liddane (1-2)

Errol Touhy (1-1)

Duck Devanney (0-4)

Caimin Barrett (0-4, 2 frees)

Michael O'Halloran (0-3)

Jamie Lyons (0-1)

Eric Lynch (0-1)