Kilkenny SHL- O’Loughlins made to dig deep to grab league title spoils

O’Loughlin Gaels gained a small bit of revenge for defeat in last year’s county final when they overcame Thomastown in the senior league decider at UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday.

O’Loughlins had to do it the hard way on the back of corner-back Ronan Buckley being sent off after only 10 minutes of play for an incident involving Daithi Barron but, with Mark Bergin adding 1-8 and Conor Heary and Conor Kelly to the fore, the city side did enough to prevail.

Whatever about the result, Thomastown will be disappointed with aspects of their performance over the course of the hour but with Stephen and John Donnelly to come back into the team, we are sure to see a different animal when they face Shamrocks in the senior championship quarter-finals.

While it was a league final that lacked the intensity and drive of a championship encounter, it was still a decent watch and Thomastown led 0-2 to 0-1 after three minutes of play with a Luke Connellan score from play and a Robbie Donnelly free getting them up and running.

O’Loughlins only score in reply arrived from Luke Hogan but they were in front just a couple of minutes later as Fionan Mackessy excellently gathered a long ball into the Thomastown danger area and although being surrounded he found Mark Bergin who had just enough space to fire the ball past Diarmuid Galway for the opening goal of the final.

Conor Kelly and Peter McDonald who were both very influential for their clubs then swapped efforts from play before referee Eoin Maher gave Ronan Buckley his marching orders and O’Loughlins looked in a bit of bother with 50 minutes to come while being a player light. Thomastown immediately took advantage of the numerical disparity with a pair of Robbie Donnelly points as well a Luke Connellan effort meaning they led 0-6 to 1-2 approaching the halfway mark of the half.

O’Loughlins adapted to the situation put in front of them and with the next four points on the bounce, they soon retook a three point lead on the scoreboard with Conor Heary scoring back to back efforts from deep while Mark Bergin and Kevin Murphy also spilt the posts.

It then remained point for point until first half stoppage time and it was here that Thomastown got a bit of momentum going with two Robbie Donnelly frees and a Daithi Barron score ensuring there was nothing to separate the teams going into the break.

O’Loughlins must have been disappointed at how they ended the opening half as they came out with a point to prove in scoring four points on the spin to put Thomastown on the backfoot once again.

Paddy Deegan, Luke Hogan, Mark Bergin and Conor Kelly all knocked over points and if it wasn’t for a brilliant save from Diarmuid Galway at the expense of Fionan Mackessy, then the game could have been as good as done even at that early stage.

Thomastown had a goal attempt of their own during this chaotic spell of action but like at the other end, it was the goalkeeper that stood tall with Stephen Murphy denying Daithi Barron.

The county champions did get the deficit back to two points with successive scores from Robbie Donnelly and Luke Connellan but they could never quite turn the tie in their direction.

As soon as they got within range, O’Loughlins seemed to have another gear in them and with Mark Bergin scoring five more placed balls before the end, the experienced schoolteacher punished Thomastown for the concession of scoreable frees.

That in essence left Thomastown with too much to do and while Peter McDonald and Luke Connellan added to their tally before the end, it was largely academic in the grander scheme of things.

Both teams will take what they can from the game but also know that their season will be determined on how the championship goes over the next few weeks.

Teams and Scorers

O’Loughlin Gaels: Mark Bergin (1-8, 0-7 frees); Conor Heary (0-3); Luke Hogan, Conor Kelly (0-2 each); Fionan Mackessy (0-1, free); Jamie Ryan, Paddy Deegan (0-1 each).

Thomastown; Robbie Donnelly (0-8, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65); Luke Connellan (0-4); Peter McDonald (0-3, 0-2 frees); Zach Bay Hammond, Daithi Barron (0-1 each).

O’Loughlin Gaels - Stephen Murphy; Tony Forristal, Huw Lawlor, Ronan Buckley; Conor Heary, Paddy Deegan, Jamie Ryan; Jack Nolan, Eoin O’Shea; Luke Hogan, Conor Kelly, Cian Loy; Mark Bergin, Fionan Mackessy, Kevin Murphy.

Subs: Finn Hogan for Loy, 33 mins; Robbie Buckley for Murphy, 40 mins; Greg Kelly for Ryan, 52 mins.

Thomastown - Diarmuid Galway; Oisin O’Reilly, Ned Kirwan, Peter Connellan; Brian Staunton, Eddie Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond; Jonjo Farrell, Alex Cass; Peter McDonald, Robbie Donnelly, Luke Connellan; Naoise Dempsey, Daithi Barron, Rory Connellan.

Subs: Eanna O’Keeffe for R Donnelly, 44 mins; Sean Denieffe for Dempsey, 52 mins.

Referee - Eoin Maher (Mullinavat).