Kilkenny SHL: Thomastown stay top of the tree with a hat-trick of wins

Thomastown continued their unbeaten run in commanding fashion on Sunday, beating Tullaroan to end their opponent’s unblemished senior league record so far.

Thomastown’s win was in no small part aided by the impressive Robbie Donnelly who was unerring on frees (0-14) with a healthy balance of sturdy backs and dangerous offence play on show.

Thomastown’s win was in no small part aided by the impressive Robbie Donnelly who was unerring on frees (0-14) with a healthy balance of sturdy backs and dangerous offence play on show.

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Thomastown were quick out of the blocks and were 0-5 0-2 in front inside seven minutes, with Jack Holden, Peter McDonald, Rory Connellan and a Robbie Donnelly 65 all raising white flags.

Tullaroan managed to reign their opponents in, not letting the scoreboard widen too dramatically. A trio of frees from the reliant Shane Walsh as well as Bill Walton and Dylan Simpson points meant by the midway mark of the first half it was 0-8 to 0-6 in favour of the promoted team. If Thomastown were slow out of the traps in the first 15 minutes, they certainly upped the gears in the second period of the half, hitting seven points in a row in an eleven minute blitz. Robbie Donnelly’s assassin like shooting and an inaugural score from Zach Bay Hammond left the scoreline at 0-15 to 0-6 with four minutes of the half remaining.

Gearoid Dunne took advantage of a wayward Thomastown clearance to convert his team’s first point in 13 minutes to inject some life into the ‘Sash’ but a potent Thomastown forward line dampened the mini-revival as they found three points of their own to lead 0-19 to 0-9 at half-time.

The rate of scoring dramatically decreased in the second half as Tullaroan began to find their bearings. The teams exchanged scores in the opening fifteen minutes to leave the scoreboard at 0-22 to 0-11, an exemplary handpass from John Donnelly to Zach Bay Hammond for Hammond to score the standout moment.

Tullaroan eventually found their swagger with long range shooting the order of the day. A hat-trick of scud missiles from Dylan Simpson, a rasper from Tomas Dunne and a hat-trick of Shane Walsh frees gave Ken Coogan’s team something to cheer about as they bagged six of the match’s last eight points but it wasn’t to be as Thomastown ran out deserving winners.

TEAMS & SCORERS: 

Thomastown - Robbie Donnelly (0-14, 0-12 frees); Jack Holden (0-3); Peter McDonald, Rory Connellan, Zach-Bay Hammond (0-2 each); Eddie Donnelly, John Donnelly (0-1 each).

Tullaroan - Shane Walsh (0-9, 0-6 frees); Dylan Simpson (0-4, 0-2 frees); Bill Walton (0-2); Gearoid Dunne, Mossy Keoghan (0-1 each).

Thomastown - Diarmuid Galway; Peter Connellan, Ned Kirwan, Brian O’Hanrahan; Brian Staunton, Eddie Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond; Jonjo Farrell, Peter McDonald; Robbie Donnelly, Luke Connellan, John Donnelly; Rory Connellan, Jack Holden, Alex Cass.

Tullaroan - Paul Buggy; Joe Coughlan, Mark Simpson, Martin Walsh; Tomás Dunne, Padraig Walsh, Charlie Cleere; Bill Walton, Jack Keoghan; Dylan Simpson, Mossy Keoghan, Bill Gaffney; Cialín Brennan, Gearoid Dunne, Shane Walsh.

Referee - Paddy Bowden (Lisdowney).