Kilkenny JHC- St Lachtain’s see off Windgap in thrilling semi-final clash

For the second week in a row St Lachtain’s diced very close with elimination but ultimately four goals saw them overcome Windgap in the second of the JJ Kavanagh and Sons Junior Hurling Championship semi-finals.

Freshford are looking to bounce straight back to intermediate level after relegation last term and they had to be thankful to crucial goals from Shane Donnelly who was superb for the whole game, Liam Hickey, James Maher and Paddy Killeen.

Two late frees from Cathal O’Leary also proved crucial and despite losing Brian Kennedy to a late red card, the unbeaten St Lachtain’s did enough to come through a fierce Windgap challenge.

Last year’s beaten junior finalists threw everything at Freshford in the second period with Emmet Landy proving majestic at centre forward and James Culleton pouncing for their only goal.

When it was all said and done though Windgap will look back at James Maher’s opening half goal which arrived in freak circumstances as the unfortunate Eoin Cody let the ball slip through his fingers for the first goal and while Windgap came back to lead at one stage, that goal proved critical in the windup.

It was a pulsating encounter that saw the sides level on six different occasions but as they done against St Patricks of Ballyragget and now with Windgap, St Lachtain’s just seem to be able to find a way to get over the line.

Windgap started the scoring with Emmet Landy knocking over a score from play and the centre forward soon followed up with a free.

Landy hit 12 points in total over the course of the game as he played a captain’s part even in defeat.

Shane Donnelly and Liam Hickey then replied with a point each before Brian Kennedy edged his side in front for the first time.

It was then the turn of Windgap to respond with Landy converting a free before James Culleton scored the first of his three points from play.

Disaster then struck halfway through the half for the Wingap men when a move forward broke down and Brian Kennedy offloaded to James Maher who had a point attempt from 50 yards for St Lachtain’s and while it fell short Eoin Cody lost the ball in the sun and the sliotar trickled into the net.

St Lachtain’s led 1-3 to 0-4 as a result but Windgap didn’t let the heads drop and quickly hit back with a point from midfielder Sean Purcell.

Two Landy efforts which arrived either side of a Darragh Maher score meant Windgap had edged their way to the front.

The story of the game was Freshford’s goalscoring exploits and they soon rocked their opponents once again as good work from centrefielder Alex Rafter evaded the Windgap defence and Shane Donnelly soloed his way through before finishing to the net.

Donnelly continued to torment Windgap with a point from play shortly after his goal and the Freshford side looked to have one foot in the final when Liam Hickey got his team’s third goal in first half stoppage time.

Windgap did hit back in fine fashion however with points from Landy and Jack Doyle leaving four points between the two semi-finalists at the interval (3-5 to 0-10).

The losing side started the second half in style with Landy knocking over a free on halfway before James Power scored well from play.

The goalscoring firepower of Freshford soon came back to bite when James Maher found Shane Donnelly inside and while his attempt was well saved, full forward Paddy Killeen was on hand to bury the ball to the net and all of Windgap’s good work at the start of the second half looked to be undone.

Freshford sub Cathal O’Leary then set up Darragh Maher for another score but they wouldn’t find the target for another 18 minutes as Windgap raced back into the contest.

Pat Robinson’s side scored 1-3 without reply and all of a sudden it was massively game on with James Culleton’s goal proving the catalyst for the fightback.

Windgap looked poised to grab a place in the final for the second successive season but the close nature of the scoreboard brought Freshford to life and two Shane Donnelly scores levelled the game again.

Niall Walsh’s 57th minute point which proved to be Windgap’s last did allow his team to retake the lead but it was cancelled almost immediately by Darragh Maher.

Cathal O’Leary then hit two late frees as Freshford eventually did enough to get over the line and while they will need to improve in the final, the key thing is that they got there and are now 60 minutes away from championship success.

Teams and Scorers

St Lachtain’s: Shane Donnelly (1-4), Liam Hickey (1-1), James Maher, Paddy Killeen (1-0 each), Cathal O’Leary (0-2, two frees), Darragh Maher (0-2), Brian Kennedy, Cathal Hickey (0-1 each)

Windgap: Emmet Landy (0-12, seven frees), James Culleton (1-3), Sean Purcell, Niall Walsh, James Power (0-1 each)

St Lachtain’s: Darren Brennan; Brendan Quinn, Criomhthann Bergin, Simon Rafter; Mark Donnelly, Brian Kennedy, Padraig Donnelly; Alexander Rafter, John Fitzpatrick; Liam Hickey, James Maher, Darragh Maher; Cathal Hickey, Paddy Killeen, Shane Donnelly.

Subs: Cathal O’Leary for Killeen 35 mins, Noel McGree for Fitzpatrick 48 mins, Cathal Power for A.Rafter 54 mins.

Windgap: Eoin Cody; Cian Ryan, Sean Foley, Padhraic Foley; Willie Phelan, Pat Power, James Culleton; Sean Purcell, Sean Power; Niall Walsh, Emmet Landy, James Power; Darragh O’Shea, Michael Power, Jack Doyle.

Subs: Zak Kennedy for S.Foley 42 mins, Adam O’Shea for M.Power 43 mins.

Referee- David Hughes