Club Round-Up: Shamrocks and Thomastown claim opening league wins
It was a busy Saturday of action around Kilkenny
Shamrocks Ballyhale claimed a stunning last gasp success over Erin’s Own in Round 1 of the St Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling league at St John’s Park on Saturday evening.
Played in front of a big attendance, the Group B clash proved to be a thrilling encounter but ‘Comer will have come away hugely frustrated to have came away with nothing for their efforts.
The Shamrocks eventually came away with a 1-25 to 2-19 win and the success ecapsulated that they are never beaten as a club with Michael Barron scoring the winning goal with the last puck of the game.
Just minutes prior, ‘Comer looked like they were set to pull off a big shock when Michael Brennan found the net in stoppage time to edge the North Kilkenny side in front before TJ Reid then levelled the game ahead of Barron’s late winner.
Brennan really led the charge at full-forward for Erin’s Own with 2-7 in total and his earlier second half goal really set the ‘Comer performacne into motion with Kevin and Jack Buggy other notable performers.
On the Shamrocks side, Eoin Cody was the leading light with eight points in total of which seven came from play and they will hope to see a marked improvement in the coming weeks.
The other senior league clash on Saturday saw Thomastown run out convincing 1-31 to 2-16 winners over Clara in Mullinavat.
The 2024 county champions raced out of the blocks and immediately went into a seven point lead with Ben Nevin, John Donnelly, Luke Connellan, Robbie Donnelly and Daithi Barron knocking over early scores.
A 20th minute Rory Glynn goal got Clara back into the game but further points from Stephen Donnelly and Peter McDonald left the ‘Town ahead on a 0-15 to 1-7 scoreline at the break.
A Daithi Barron goal inside the final quarter all but ended the game as a contest and Thomastown didn’t let up either as they knocked over 16 points in the second half.
Dara Glynn grabbed a goal inside the final 10 minutes for Clara but Thomastown had already done the job at that stage as they ran out convincing winners.
In the intermediate grade, there was four games across the afternoon with Lisdowney, James Stephens and Young Irelands claiming wins while Mooncoin and Dunnamaggin sharing the spoils.
Lisdowney made it two wins from two when they saw off Blacks and Whites in a thoroughly entertaining affair in Muckalee.
Blacks and Whites bounced back from a heavy loss against the Village a week previous and were well in the game for long periods with Sam Byrne and Aaron Foley proving a handful.
Even with six minutes remaining, Blacks and Whites led by a point but Lisdowney finished in some style as they scored nine of the final 10 points to run good winners in the end.
With Michael Kenny, Brian Kavanagh, Cathal Jordan and Charlie Brennan excelling in the final stages, Liam Dowling’s men did all their good work near the end.
In Hugginstown, Mooncoin and Dunnamaggin prouduced a thrilling draw with ‘Dunna producing a late comeback to grab something from the game.
A goal in each half for the Mooncoin men saw they lead by five points with only five minutes remaining but a Noah Cahill goal launched the Dunnamaggin rally before three points on the trot from Denis Walsh saw Noel Lahart’s men lead with time almost up.
Mooncoin deserved something from the game and they grabbed a late draw when Killian Hogan pointed three minutes into stoppage time.
Elsewhere, championship favourites James Stephens had a 4-14 to 0-17 win over Tullogher Rosbercon but it was only in the second half that Eoin Larkin’s men pulled away.
There was only three points seperating the teams at half-time with Tadhg O’Dwyer’s goal proving the difference between the sides but with Eoin Guilfoyle scoring a stunning second half hat-trick that saw him find the net three times in the space of four minutes.
Danny Glennon and Walter Walsh kept Tullogher competitive throughout but they were always chasing on the back of James Stephens finding the net in quick succession.
The final intermediate game saw Young Irelands run out 4-18 to 1-12 winners over St Lachtain’s in Ballyragget.
The Gowran club bounced back from an opening round loss to Dunnamaggin with Killian Carey, Seamus Farrell and Cian Phelan finding the net in a commanding victory.
The Freshford goal arrived via Cian Donnelly in the second half but Young Irelands were always in a degree of control with St Lachtain’s still searching for their first points of the campaign.
The final game of the day was in the JJ Kavanagh Junior Hurling League and Piltown maintained their 100% start to the campaign with a resounding 2-17 to 3-8 win over Fenians in Danesfort.