Kilkenny SHL- Murphy fires Glenmore to victory over James Stephens

Glenmore took top spot in Group A of the St Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League on Sunday, beating James Stephens 2-18 to 0-23 in Thomastown.

An impressive display from the South Kilkenny side was spearheaded by centre-forward Alan Murphy, whose total of 2-12 was pivotal to Glenmore’s single point victory. James Stephens’ tally of 0-23 was thanks in no small part to Eoin Guilfoyle, with the sharpshooter converting 0-13 frees.

The opening five minutes were nip and tuck, with neither side taking a grip of proceedings. A brace of frees from Eoin Guilfoyle and a point from play courtesy of Ross Whelan edged the Village 0-3 to 0-2 in front.

Glenmore found their feet over the next six minutes and kept the scoreboard officials busy. Two points from Alan Murphy, including a difficult free from the sideline, and a dashing solo run from Billy Reid which earned him a point, turned the match in Glenmore’s favour at 0-5 to 0-3.

Glenmore continued to hold the upper hand and built on their advantage with three further points, Cathal Beirne switched on his radar to slot a point from an acute angle, while Alan Murphy didn’t need a second invitation to score 20 metres from the Village posts. A neat Luke Scanlon point 65 metres from the target kept Brian Cody’s charges in touch by the midway mark, trailing 0-7 to 0-4.

A crafty point from Luke Scanlon following a clever pass from Liam Rafter and a Guilfoyle free put the smallest of margins between the teams by the 17th minute, Glenmore edging the contest 0-7 to 0-6.

However, the gap between the teams would stretch to five by the 23rd minute. Alan Murphy bagged 1-1 in this period as the lively forward, not content with a 20 metre free, swooped past the Village defence, using skill and physicality in equal measure to net Glenmore’s opening goal. The Kilkenny senior hurler was joined on the scoreboard by former inter-county man Ger Aylward in this phase, leaving the Village five points adrift at 1-9 to 0-7.

A point from Ian Byrne and two further frees from Eoin Guilfoyle meant Glenmore held the advantage at half-time at 1-10 to 0-9.

James Stephens began the second half brightly, scoring four of the opening five points. Two shining lights, Luke Scanlon and Ross Whelan both raised white flags as the city men brought the match back to a single point by the 36th minute.

But like the first half, Glenmore were a flu James Stephens couldn’t seem to catch. Alan Murphy found himself in a menacing area yet again for Glenmore as architect Ger Aylward created an avenue for his clubmate to send the ball crashing to the net.

The teams exchanged scores over the next 10 minutes of action, leaving both sets of supporters in for an exciting finish with the scoreboard reading 2-16 to 0-16.

Eoin Guilfoyle’s placed balls were perfect and acted as a safety net for the Village men right throughout the 60 minutes. 0-3 from frees and 0-1 from play were crucial to the late the James Stephens surge.

Two points from Ross Whelan, one of which an impressive strike from long-range along with a Niall Delaney point from long distance gave the Village hope and even drew them level with two minutes to go.

But Glenmore weren’t going to concede victory and in the dying moments regained possession, linked up effectively and who else only Alan Murphy collected a handpass with glee and splitted the posts with the winning point to secure Glenmore’s 2-18 to 0-23 win.

Teams and Scorers

Glenmore: Alan Murphy (2-12, 0-6 frees); Richie Hennessy (0-2); Ian Byrne, Ger Aylward, Cathal Beirne, Billy Reid (0-1 each)

James Stephens: Eoin Guilfoyle (0-14, 0-13 frees); Ross Whelan (0-4); Luke Scanlon (0-3); Niall Delaney, Niall Brassil (0-1 each)

Glenmore: Mikey Kirwan; Ciaran Vereker, Eoin Aylward, Sean Duggan; Shane Murphy, Eoin Murphy, Billy Reid; Shane Doherty, Richie Hennessy; Cathal Beirne, Alan Murphy, Dean Croke; Ethan Phelan, Ger Aylward, Ian Byrne.

James Stephens: Gavin Costigan; Shane Donohoe, Luke Murphy, Adam O’Connor; Niall Delaney, Niall Brassil, Ben Lawlor; Luke Scanlon, James Tyrrell; Cian Kenny, Tadhg O’Dwyer, Ross Whelan; Sean Manogue, Liam Rafter, Eoin Guilfoyle.

Referee- David Hughes