Leinster JHC- Second half surge sees Freshford hold the edge over Drumcullen

A power packed second half display saw St Lachtain’s safely book their lace in the Leinster Junior Hurling Championship Quarter-Finals as they saw off Drumcullen of Offaly in UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday afternoon.

Freshford came into the game just a week after defeating Windgap in the junior county decider and for periods of the first half, there was certainly evidence of the celebrations during the week as Drumcullen put it up to the Kilkenny side.

Goals from Darragh Maher and Shane Donnelly had given the home side an early advantage but on the back of 1-5 without reply between the 22nd and 29th minutes, Drumcullen were very much in the contest with Colm Gath’s goal from a penalty and other major contributions from Eoin Gath and Stephen Hanrahan having the game very much in the melting pot.

Whatever was said to St Lachtain’s in the dressing rooms at half-time definitley had the desired effect however as they came out a different team and dominated the second period with the use of their squad proving key once again as they gradually moved clear on the scoreboard.

St Lachtain’s have good pedigree in Leinster competition after previously winning an Intermediate title back in 2009 and they made the ideal start to the junior version when Shane Donnelly took advantage of a well placed inside pass from Brendan Quinn before embarking on a mazy run which ended with him shooting past Killian Spain in the Drumcullen goal.

That goal arrived after Eoin Gath had originally pointed the visitors in front before back to back scores from Darragh Maher and Paddy Killeen kept Freshford’s noses in front.

Further Drumcullen points from Colin and Eoin Gath kept the Offaly side plugging away but they were soon picking the sliotar from their goal for a second time after a long ball in towards the square caused a bit of anxiousness from the Drumcullen side and Darragh Maher was there to pounce as he slotted home to give his side a 2-2 to 0-3 lead after just nine minutes of action.

Freshford’s Darragh Maher, Alexander Rafter and Mark Donnelly then shared efforts alongside Eoin Gath, Mark Kennedy and Colm Gath as Drumcullen refused to allow the heavy favourites to get away from them.

St Lachtain’s did however then knock over three of the next four points to bring their tally to 2-8 by the 20 minute mark.

James Maher who’d been relatively quiet up until this point got his opening score of the day alongside Shane Donnelly and Mark Donnelly adding to their tally and while John Murray got a score down the other end, eight points stil seperated the sides heading towards the break.

Drumcullen got a lifeline when John Murray found Ray Gath who was adjudged to have been fouled in the square and while it looked soft enough, a penalty was awarded by Wexford official Jimmy Heavey and Colm Gath made no mistake in finding the net at the O’Loughlin’s end of UPMC Nowlan Park.

The goal kickstarted a purple patch for Drumcullen as they began to get a bit of momentum with Stephen Hanrahan and Eoin Gath combining for five points between them as Brian Troy’s team cut the gap down to the minimum.

There was then momentary confusion on the cusp of the interval when a Cathal O’Leary effort from a free appeared to be batted down by Killian Spain into the path of Shane Donnelly who tapped home his second goal.

After consultation with his umpires however, Jimmy Heavey disallowed the goal citing that Cathal O’Leary’s shot ahd already gone over the bar and as a result Freshford led 2-10 to 1-11 at the interval.

Brian Kennedy hit a fine individual effort straight from the restart for St Lachtain’s and although it was almost immediately cancelled out by an Eoin Gath free, it wasn’t long till Freshford upped their levels a few gears.

Six points on the spin with Cathal O’Leary, James Maher, Mark Donnelly and Darragh Maher all finding the target all but put the contest beyond the reach of Drumcullen who had been hugely competitive up to that point.

The Offaly side only scored five more points with Freshford matching that and more as Liam Hickey put in a big display off the bench.

Alexander Rafter and Shane Donnelly also had further goal attempts saved but it didn’t matter come the windup as they claimed a nine point victory.

Teams and Scorers

St Lachtain’s: Darragh Maher (1-4); Shane Donnelly (1-3); Cathal O’Leary (0-4, 0-3 frees and 0-1 ‘65); Liam Hickey (0-3, 0-2 frees); Mark Donnelly (0-3); James Maher, Paddy Killeen (0-2 each); Brian Kennedy, Alexander Rafter (0-1 each)

Drumcullen: Eoin Gath (0-10, 0-9 frees); Colm Gath (1-1); Stephen Hanrahan (0-3); John Murray, Mark Kennedy, Conor Gath (0-1 each)

St Lachtain’s: Darren Brennan; Shane Dawson, Croimthann Bergin, Simon Rafter; Padraig Donnelly, Brian Kennedy, Cathal Hickey; Brendan Quinn, Mark Donnelly; Alexander Rafter, Paddy Killeen, Cathal O’Leary; James Maher, Darragh Maher, Shane Donnelly.

Subs: Liam Hickey for O’Leary, 45 mins; Cian Dawson for C.Hickey, 45 mins; Alan Rafter for S.Donnelly, 51 mins; John Fitzpatrick for Kennedy, 51 mins; Jerry Bergin for M.Donnelly, 51 mins.

Drumcullen: Killian Spain; Ciaran Guinan, Donal Guinan, Barry O’Meara; Padraic Guinan, John Cashin, Barry Kinsella; Mark Kennedy, Stephen Hanrahan; Eoin Gath, Colm Gath, Patrick Lyons; Dylan Hollywood, Ray Gath, John Murray.

Subs: Conor Gath for Hollywood, 42 mins; Conor Egan for P.Guinan, 43 mins; Jack Ryan for C.Guinan, 49 mins; Damien Spain for Kennedy, 55 mins.

Referee: Jimmy Heavey (Wexford)