Colleges Hurling- Fancied Birr side have too much for ‘Comer

St. Brendan’s Community School Birr comfortably saw off the challenge of Castlecomer Community School in the Leinster Post Primary Schools Senior Hurling B Semi-Final in Rathdowney on Thursday afternoon.

The winners dominated from the throw-in and with six of the Birr squad from last year’s Offaly minor squad which lost the All-Ireland Final to Tipperary in their team, this was always going to be a stiff test for the North Kilkenny school.

Two minutes into the game impressive Birr CS midfielder Eoin Burke landed the first of his seven first half points, all from frees.

While Castlecomer CS might argue that a couple of those frees were of the soft variety, their lack of discipline was punished on every occasion by the deft free-taking of Eoin Burke.

Birr CS had wind advantage during the opening 30 minutes and this ensured that they enjoyed the bulk of the possession.

Castlecomer CS tied the game for the one and only time on three minutes when wing back Bobby Brennan pointed, but four pointed frees in a row from Eoin Burke gave Birr CS a clear advantage with 13 minutes gone in the game.

Michael Brennan, from a free, momentarily halted the Birr CS momentum, but the game swung solidly in favour of the Offaly school when Cian Nolan with a point and Shane Connolly with a goal pushed the margin out to seven points.

Connolly’s goal was a well-executed score when he collected a long-distance free which was hit low into his corner.

A sharp turn from the Shinrone youngster saw him bear down on goal and he finished impressively to the Castlecomer CS net.

The winners were solidly in control of the game by the commencement of the second quarter, with Castlecomer CS not helping their cause with wasteful high deliveries into the Birr CS defence.

Here they found the highly impressive Caelum Larkin, Patrick Dooley and Ben Miller commanding in the air and on the ground, making scoring a real challenge for the North Kilkenny school.

Michael Brennan landed two further points from frees for Castlecomer CS before the interval, and at the break his school trailed their Offaly counterparts 1-10 to 0-4.

Castlecomer CS, aided by the breeze in the second half, enjoyed a lot more possession, but struggled to make any inroads into the Birr CS lead.

The winners defence was busier after the interval but they coped admirably with every Castlecomer CS attack. The North Kilkenny school needed to vary their game as their high ball delivery was well defended by the Birr CS rear-guard on almost every occasion. Castlecomer CS had a couple of half-chances for goals, but on every occasion the effort was snuffed out by a vigilant Birr CS defence.

Michael Brennan pointed twice in the opening minute of the second half, bringing the margin back to seven points, but Castlecomer CS could not build on that brief period of dominance.

Birr CS displayed some neat team-work against the breeze in the second half.

Their ability to work the ball from defence to attack with slick off-the-shoulder passing saw them grab some excellent points.

Eoghan Moore, Jamie Morrissey and Jonah Kelly added points for Castlecomer CS in the second half, but they needed goals to make any inroads into the winner’s lead.

The effort from Castlecomer CS could not be faulted and they battled gallantly to the finish; but they simply came up against a better team on the day.

Best for the North Kilkenny School were Niall Shore, Darragh Hennessy, Eoghan Moore, Bobby Brennan, Michael Brennan and Jamie Morrissey.

Teams and Scorers

St. Brendan’s Community School Birr- Eoin Burke (0-8, frees); Shane Connolly (1-2); Cathal Robinson & Cian Nolan (0-2, each); Ben Millar (0-1, free); Darragh Tierney, Eoin Bailey-O’Brien, Joseph McLoughney & James O’Sullivan (0-1, each).

Castlecomer Community School- Michael Brennan (0-5, frees); Bobby Brennan (0-1); Eoghan Moore, Jamie Morrissey & Jonah Kelly 0-1, each).

St. Brendan’s Community School Birr- Charlie Hogan, Caelum Larkin, Patrick Bergin, Patrick Dooley, Cian Nolan, Ben Millar, Ajay Cleary, Stephen Gilligan, Eoin Burke, Peter King, Darragh Tierney, Marc Ryan, Eoin Bailey-O’Brien, Cathal Robinson, Shane Connelly.

Subs- Joseph McLoughney (for Caelum Larkin); James O’Sullivan (for Eoin Bailey-O’Brien); Conor McDowall (for Darragh Tierney) & Andrew Hogan (for Eoin Burke).

Castlecomer Community School- Niall Shore (St. Martin’s), Adan Buggy (Cloneen), Darragh Hennessy (Conahy Shamrocks), Jack Comerford (Erin’s Own), John Brennan (Crettyard), Eoghan Moore (Erin’s Own), Bobby Brennan (Erin’s Own), Michael Brennan (Erin’s Own), Jamie Morrissey (St. Martin’s), Evan Harding (Erin’s Own), Harry Roche (Cloneen), Jonah Kelly (Crettyard), Jake Connery (Erin’s Own), Ross Dowling (St. Martin’s), Michael Keane (St. Martin’s).

Sub – Joey Ryan (Erin’s Own) (for Jake Connery).

Referee – Michael Cleere (Laois).