Keating double helps Gowran to under-19 B crown
Young Irelands 2-14 St Martin's 1-10
A determined performance from Young Irelands of Gowran saw them rewarded for their progression at underage over the past few years, as they won the u-19 Roinn B Hurling County Final against St Martin’s last Saturday Afternoon.
A brace of goals in the first-half in quick succession by Mikey Keating sent them on their way, as they always held a clear advantage on the scoreboard afterwards.
Young Irelands were quick out of the blocks and they led 0-3 to 0- 0 after just three minutes, with Jake Byrne opening the scoring with a long range effort within seconds of the throw-in, while Killian Carey(free) and the tireless working Jim Conlon were also on target during those opening few minutes.
Micheal Keane kept the scoreboard ticking over for St Martin’s throughout, and he opened the scoring with a point from a ‘65 in the 8th minute. 0-3 to 0-1.
Killian Carey pointed a free from 65 metres in the 10th minute, before a well taken goal by Jamie Morrissey in the 12th minute for St. Martins brought them level. 0-4 to 1-1.
Micheal Keane added another free in the 14th minute to give St Martin’s the lead for the only time, as Young Irelands responded quickly and emphatically with Mikey Keating’s golden brace.
First, a long puckout by Tim Brennan found Jim Conlon racing forward with a clear path through on goal.
Jim’s shot was saved by Niall Shore, before Mikey Keating followed up displaying great predatory instincts to dispatch the sliotar to the net (1-4 to 1-2), before applying the finishing touch with a superb strike moments later following an inch perfect diagonal ball into open space. 2-4 to 1-2.
Young Irelands maintained their dominance throughout the second quarter as they outscored St Martin’s 0-5 to 0-4 to lead 2-9 to 1-6 at half-time.
Points from a Micheal Keane free and Sean Hunt from play in the 33rd and 37th minutes respectively narrowed the deficit to just four points (2-9 to 1-8), before Young Irelands steadied themselves with pointed frees in quick succession from placed balls by both Killian Carey and Paddy Langton - a long distance free from 90 yards - in the 44th and 45th minutes respectively as they restored their six point half-time lead, 2-11 to 1-8.
Micheal Keane added points from play in the 46th and 53rd minutes, and they were sandwiched in between by another long distance free by Paddy Langton in the 49th minute. 2-12 to 1-10.
Further points down the home stretch were added by Ben Phelan in the 54th minute, before Killian Carey concluded the scoring with a point from play in the 63rd minute.
Teams and Scorers
Young Irelands: Mikey Keating 2-1, Killian Carey 0-6(0-4 frees), Jim Conlon, Ben Phelan and Paddy Langton (frees) 0-2 each, Jake Byrne 0-1
St. Martins - Micheal Keane 0-8(0-5 frees 0-1 ‘65), Jamie Morrissey 1-0, Conor Dooley and Sean Hunt 0-1 each
Young Irelands: Tim Brennan; Charlie Brennan, Bobbie Brennan, Charlie Fitzgerald; Jake Byrne, Paddy Langton, David Langton; Luke Phelan, Diarmuid Langton; Ben Phelan, Padraig Naddy, Jim Conlon; Cian Phelan, Killian Carey, Mikey Keating.
Subs: Thomas Langton for Charlie Brennan half-time, Kieran Timmins for Luke Phelan 58 minutes.
St. Martins: Niall Shore; Ewan Buggy, Ciaran Nolan, Cormac Quirke; Colin Hayes, Cathal Keegan, Matthew Bolger; Aaron Farrell, Micheal Keane; Ross Dowling (Captain), Jamie Morrissey, Conor Dooley; Sean Hunt, Jack Coogan, James O’Neill.
Referee: Paul Hunston