U16 Hurling Championship V St. Annes Sun 04 May 08. Venue: Hollymount
Having lost our previous encounter this was a crunch game against our old rivals from Rathangan.
First Half: The Shels really hit the ground running on this occasion. The mobile Glen Murphy ran to an early ball towards the square from midfield and drove to the net for a goal within minutes. This was soon followed by an absolute cracker of a goal from Dean Corrigan who was to prove a thorn in St. Anne’s side all day. Playing with the wind in this first half we were firing on all cylinders. James Gordon and Feargal Hynes were driving forward constantly from midfield. All six forwards were on fire with further wonderful scores coming from Brian Murphy, Shane Birney, Johnny Campbell and the irrepressible Dean Corrigan. The work rate of the whole team must be praised, as no St. Anne’s man got a free shot all day.
Half-time score: Shels 4-12: St. Anne’s 1-2.
Second half: Understandably the pace of the game, which was effectively over at half time, slackened somewhat in the second half. We conceded two late goals from frees, but our boys must take credit for the fact that they maintained their concentration and effort throughout. Another goal from Dean Corrigan and some fine striking from placed balls from Feargal Hynes kept the scoreboard ticking over. Our backs were solid throughout. Conor Tobin was commanding on the square, while Aidan Cash and Shane Griffith, both recovering from illness and injury, completely snuffed out the Anne’s challenge further out. Cian Lambe, Stephen Dwyer, Niall Tobin, Simon Murphy and Christopher Scallan, all came on and played prominent roles, underlining the strength of our panel. Best wishes to Cian Lambe who suffered an injury – we all hope it’s not serious and that Cian will soon be back.
Full-time score: Shels 5-14; St. Annes 3-3.
Team: P. O’ Leary, A.J. Lehane, C. Tobin, N. Murphy, C. McCabe, A. Cash, S. Griffith, F. Hynes(0-6), J. Gordan(0-1), S. Birney(0-1), S. Corrigan, J. Campbell(0-2), G. Murphy(1-0), B. Murphy(1-3), D. Corrigan(3-1).
Subs: C. Lambe, N. Tobin, S. Murphy, S. Dwyer, C. Scallan.