James Stephens celebrate Division 2 Hurling League success
James Stephens 2-17 Clara 1-14
James Stephens grabbed some early seasom sillverware when running out six point winners over Clara in the St Canice’s Credit Union Division 2 Senior/Intermediate League Final.
The Eoin Larkin managed outfit coasted through the round-robin stage of the league with seven wins from seven and the famed Kilkenny city outfit maintained their winning momentum with another victory.
Matthew McWey found the net twice in the second half to put the seal on the success for the Village but with both teams down a number of regulars, it’s uncertain how much can be garnered from the encounter.
It was nip and tuck throughout the opening few minutes with the sides sharing the opening four points with Matthew McWey and Jamie O’Keeffe on target for James Stephens and the Clara response arriving via Conor O’Shea and Rory Glynn. The home team began to exert a bit of dominance with O’Shea, Luke Lawlor and Dara Glynn pointing in succession for the Clara men.
Oisin Bateman and Conor McEvoy replied to leave just a point between the sides but with Kilkenny senior star David Barcoe pointing in advance of a well needed water break, it was Clara that held the initiative on a 0-6 to 0-4 scoreline. The Village came out of that brief interlude rejuvenated with points from McEvoy, Sean Deely and Shane Donohoe edging the side in green and red into a narrow one point lead.
James Stephens wouldn’t score again in the opening period however with Rory Glynn, Martin O’Connell and Dara Glynn on target for the opposition and if it weren’t for a point blank save from Sean Manogue, then the half-time deficit could have been much more.
Although Clara held that two point buffer, it was an uneasy advantage and it wasn’t long till James Stephens wrangled back control of the contest as they outscored the home team 0-7 to 0-1 in the third quarter.
O’Shea and McEvoy initially exchanged frees but the city side soon got going with points from goalkeeper Sean Manogue and Oisin Bateman deadlocking the sides at 0-10 each before Sam McEvoy, Stephen Manogue and ace free-taker Conor McEvoy opened up a four point gap between the teams.
Clara’s only score in that 18 minute spell was via a placed ball effort from Conor O’Shea and the centre forward followed up with three more frees before they registered on the scoreboard from play.
In advance of Liam Ryan splitting the posts in stoppage time, the Village had already done the damage with Matthew McWey finding the net twice inside the final five minutes.
The first major was a flowing team move before McWey got his second via a deflected shot and with Conor McEvoy adding on three more frees afterwards, James Stephens pushed clear on the scoreboard. Clara did reply with a late consolation goal from Conor O’Shea but James Stephens still had enough to win out with a degree of comfort.
Teams and Scorers
James Stephens: Conor McEvoy (0-8, 6fs and 1 ‘65); Matthew McWey (2-1); Oisin Bateman (0-2); Stephen Manogue, Sean Deely, Niall Mullins, Shane Donohoe, Sam McEvoy, Jamie O’Keeffe (0-1 each)
Clara: Conor O’Shea (1-6, 6fs); Rory Glynn, Dara Glynn (0-2 each); Luke Lawlor, David Barcoe, Martin O’Connell, Liam Ryan (0-1 each)
James Stephens: Sean Manogue; Luke Murphy, Sam McEvoy, Ben Lawlor; Eoin Deely, Jamie O’Keeffe, Paddy Kehoe; Niall Mullins, Shane Donohoe; Sean Deely, Oisin Bateman, Bill McDermott; Stephen Manogue, Matthew McWey, Conor McEvoy. Subs: Dara Behan for Kehoe, h-t; Daniel Ring for Donohoe, 34 mins; Zak Scanlon for McDermott, 51 mins; Conor Heffernan for Stephen Manogue, 51 mins; Stephen Manogue for Sean Manogue, 55 mins.
Clara: Kevin Nolan; Bill Carrigan, Matt Kenny, Paddy Bolger; Luke Lawlor, David Langton, Shane Staunton; Martin O’Connell, Rory Glynn; Dara Glynn, Conor O’Shea, Chris Bolger; Joe Power, David Barcoe, Peter Nolan. Subs: Liam Ryan for P.Nolan, 38 mins; Phillip Carrigan for Langton, 40 mins; Ciaran Prendergast for Power, 49 mins.
Referee: David Hughes (Barrow Rangers)