Kilkenny IHC- Ryan goal propels Rower-Inistioge to victory

A second half goal from Jim Ryan proved to be the springboard the Rower-Inistioge needed to keep their championship hopes alive as they finished strongly against a dogged Fenians (Johnstown) to secure a four point win at Palmerstown on Saturday evening.

The Fenians led for the entirety of the first half and into the early stages of the second but a 57th minute goal from the alert wing-forward, who batted home a Paddy Lyng free from close range was the catalyst Seamus Kelly’s team needed who had hurled in patches early on, a trend replicated in a patchy league in terms of results with three wins and two losses in Group A of the intermediate hurling league.

Meanwhile, the Fenians died with their boots on after a spirited showing and after turning around a poor league campaign to win their last two games against St Martin’s and Blacks & Whites, the Johnstown faithful will be hoping for a bright 2025.

The Fenians started with intent and raced into a 0-3 lead as a brace from Conor Tobin and Darragh McCormack found their radars.

The Rower struggled to find any sort of momentum in the early few minutes courtesy of three Kevin Murphy points and held the advantage at 0-4 to 0-3 inside 10 minutes.

However, the Rower’s slow start caught up with them as a Kieran Grehan exploited a poor clearance to net on the 12th minute mark and extend their lead (1-4 to 0-3).

The teams traded scores for the remainder of the half with Michael Galavan and Conor Tobin dominating the scoring stakes for the Rower-Inistioge and the Fenians respectively to leave the scoreline at 1-9 to 0-9.

However, if the Rower-Inistioge were sluggish in the first half no such accusation could be made about them in the second as they resumed for the second period like a team on a mission.

An opening Conor Tobin free was cancelled out by a hat-trick of points, two from Michael Galavan, one from play and one from a free and a first score of the day for Eoin O’Brien to put the smallest of margins between them (1-10 to 0-12).

As the clock ticked towards the midway mark of the second half, Willie Brennan dug out a few special points from his locker, converting inside his own 65 with team-mate Conor Tobin continuing his fine form on frees.

However, the Rower continued to respond and with eight minutes of normal time to play the Fenians remained on the right side of the scoreboard at 1-13 to 0-15.

But the twist Rower-Inistioge supporters were hoping for eventually arrived on the 57th minute as a pinpoint high-ball delivery from goalkeeper Paddy Lyng was bombed into the Johnstown men’s half and batted to the net by Jim Ryan and with it the green flag raised. The pendulum had swung in favour of the southerners, in a game defining moment (1-16 to 1-14).

This critical juncture proved to be the tonic the Rower-Inistioge needed as late points from Shane Ryan, Michael Galavan and a brace from Eoghan Lyng saw out the victory and ended the Fenians championship hopes, the winners advancing to the quarter-finals with four points to spare.

TEAMS & SCORERS

Rower-Inistioge - Michael Galavan (0-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 65); Eoghan Lyng, Kevin Murphy (0-4 each); Jim Ryan (1-0); Shane Ryan, Jamie Ryan, Eddie Prendergast (0-1 each).

Fenians - Conor Tobin (0-8 frees); Willie Brennan (0-4); Kieran Grehan (1-0); Darragh McCormack (0-3); Regan Downey (0-1).

Rower Inistioge - Paddy Lyng; Eoin Doyle, Ruaidhrí Delaney, Shane Ryan; Ruairi Galavan, George Murphy, Pat Lyng; Eoin O’Brien, Sean Lyster; Jim Ryan, Michael Galavan, Eoghan Lyng; Kevin Murphy, Tom Murphy, Joe Lyng.

Fenians - Billy Garrett, Aaron Dermody, John Henderson, Rory Phelan; Gerry Henderson, Rory Garrett, Darragh McCormack; Willie Brennan, Cormac Ryan; Conor Tobin, Sean Tobin, Kieran Grehan; Cathal Phelan, Mark Hughes, Regan Downey.

Referee - Maurice Flynn (Mooncoin).