Kilkenny JHC- Kelly leads the way as Ballyragget see off Conahy

St Patrick’s of Ballyragget continued their fine recent form with a local derby victory over Conahy Shamrocks in Castlecomer last Saturday afternoon.

On the back of knocking both Piltown and Windgap out of the championship, the North Kilkenny side produced a big second half display to run out four point winners come the end.

Led by 10 points from Kevin Kelly and second half goal by Sean Brennan, St Patrick’s overturned a half-time deficit to book their place in the semi-finals in UPMC Nowlan Park this weekend.

While Kevin Kelly excelled for Ballyragget, there was notable displays alongside him which was in contrast to Conahy who relied hugely on James Bergin and against the elements in the second period, scores were much harder to find or create.

The bad weather made underfoot conditions difficult for both teams and it was nip and tuck throughout the opening 10 minutes with free-takers Kevin Kelly and James Bergin dominating proceedings.

Bergin knocked over the first four scores for Conahy of which one came from play and in response Kevin Kelly claimed two points for himself including a brilliantly placed sideline cut while a Mark Doheny effort meant there was very little between the sides.

A Kieran Mooney goal in the 15th minute gave Conahy a further boost when the ball rather luckily went in off the centre-forward but the Shamrocks weren’t complaining after Bill Murphy was earlier denied by a great save from Billy Morrissey.

Ballyragget responded with a series of points from Michael Brennan, Sean Brennan and Kevin Kelly to leave just two between them but Conahy ended the half on a high through scores from Bergin and Jack Murphy as they went into the break with a 1-7 to 0-6 advantage.

Back to back Kelly frees in the openig two minutes of the second half immediately got Ballyragget back within touching distance of their neighbours and although Bergin added to the Conahy tally, it was mainly a second half to forget as they failed to score from play until stoppage time.

With Kevin Kelly maintaining his high standard of performance with another two points in the 36th and 38th minutes, the writing looked to be on the wall for a fading Conahy team and that’s what came to pass when Sean Brennan scored a crucial goal to put them even more on the backfoot.

A follow-up Cian Doheny effort increased the Conahy agony but when Bergin took advantage of some Ballyragget indiscipline with back to back frees, the gap between the teams was back to just a point.

St Patrick’s would then go on to dominate the rest of the game and that’s despite Christian Connick rifling an attempt off the crossbar.

Kevin Kelly notched on three more points before the end for the winners while Cian Doheny also added to the tally as they led by five going down the straight.

James Bergin got a couple of points back for Conahy but with Michael Brennan ending the scoring for St Patrick’s, it was the Ballyragget men who were celebrating at the end.

Teams and Scorers

St Patrick’s: Kevin Kelly (0-10, 7fs); Sean Brennan (1-1); Cian Doheny, Michael Brennan (0-2 each); Mark Doheny (0-1)

Conahy: James Bergin (0-10, 8fs); Kieran Mooney (1-0); Mark Gunner, Jack Murphy (0-1 each)

St Patrick’s: Billy Morrissey; Steve Staunton, Mark Staunton, Chris Delaney Ned Glennon, Geoff Brennan, Bill Staunton; Mark Doheny, Richie McEvoy; Christian Connick, Michael Brennan, Cian Doheny; Kevin Kelly, Sean Brennan, Shane Culleton.

Subs: Rob Doheny for Connick, 51 mins; James Gannon for C.Doheny, 61 mins; Marc Bergin for Culleton, 63 mins.

Conahy: Karl Downey; Padraig Gunner, Philly Cass, Darragh Hennessy; Liam Cass, Brian Healy, Ciaran Rice; Eoin Cahill, John Kennedy; Thomas Rice, Kieran Mooney, Jack Murphy; James Bergin, Mark Gunner, Bill Murphy.

Subs: Rob Ring for B.Murphy, h-t; Brooklyn Synnott for Cahill, 47 mins; Harry O’Mahony for Kennedy, 62 mins.

Referee: Owen Beehan.