Kilkenny IHL- Rower Inistioge see off Freshford in thrilling affair
Rower Inistioge 2-23 St Lachtain’s 4-16
Rower-Inistioge edged out St Lachtain’s 2-23 to 4-16 in a thrilling encounter at St John’s Park on Saturday afternoon to begin their Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Intermediate Hurling Championship Group A campaign with a dramatic one-point victory.
The Freshford men looked firmly in control during the opening quarter, racing into a commanding seven-point advantage, but a remarkable second-half comeback saw the South Kilkenny outfit snatch victory.
St Lachtain’s flew out of the traps and seized the initiative through Paddy Killeen, whose fifth-minute goal laid the foundations for a rampant opening spell.
Killeen added two further points of his own as the Freshford side reeled off four unanswered scores, with Bobby Darcy and Cathal O’Leary also on target to establish a 1-6 to 0-2 lead after 15 minutes.
Rower-Inistioge eventually settled into the contest through scores from Eoghan Lyng and Eoin O’Brien, but O’Leary quickly restored St Lachtain’s momentum.
Lyng converted two frees while Cian Dalton continued to punish the opposition from placed balls as the Freshford men maintained control.
Points from Eoin O’Brien, Tom O’Callaghan and Michael Galavan gradually reduced the deficit, but Dalton remained deadly accurate from frees to keep the Rower at arms length.
However, the complexion of the game changed completely on the stroke of half-time. Jim Ryan found the net with virtually the final puck of the opening period, slashing what had been a seven-point deficit at one point to the minimum as the sides went in with St Lachtain’s leading 1-10 to 1-9.
The momentum continued to swing after the restart. Brian Kennedy briefly extended the Freshford advantage before Rower-Inistioge finally edged in front thanks to four unanswered points from Lyng, Ryan, Jack Roche and George Murphy.
St Lachtain’s responded in emphatic fashion as Shane Donnelly showed quick hands to rifle home their second goal in the 38th minute before Kennedy, Darcy and Liam Hickey all added points to restore a four-point cushion at 2-14 to 1-13.
O’Brien and Ned Spellman kept Rower-Inistioge within striking distance while Dalton and Murphy traded scores at the opposite end.
With ten minutes remaining, Kennedy appeared to have dealt the decisive blow. Spotting space in the Rower defence, he burst through before drilling a low finish beyond Paddy Lyng to make it 3-15 to 1-16.
Once again, however, Rower-Inistioge refused to yield. Ryan, Leahy and Edward Prendergast all found the target in quick succession.
The decisive moment looked to have arrived when Eoin O’Brien struck brilliantly for goal to put Rower-Inistioge in control. Leahy and two further scores from Jack Roche stretched the advantage to three points and appeared to have secured victory.
Yet St Lachtain’s had one final twist left. Deep into stoppage time, Donnelly and Hickey combined superbly for Hickey to fire home their fourth goal and dramatically level the contest.
But here was still time for one last attack. With the final puck of an enthralling contest, Ned Spellman split the posts to hand Rower-Inistioge a dramatic one-point victory.
Teams and Scorers
St Lachtain’s: Brian Kennedy 1-3, Paddy Killeen 1-2, Liam Hickey 1-1, Cian Dalton 0-4 (3f),Bobby Darcy 0-3, Shane Donnelly 1-0, Cathal O’Leary 0-2, Alex Rafter 0-1.
Rower Inistioge: Eoghan Lyng 0-5 (2f), Eoin O’Brien 0-5, Jack Roche 0-3 (3f), Jim Ryan 0-3, George Murphy 0-2, Ned Spelman, Richie Leahy 0-2 each, Edward Prendergast, Michael Galavan, Tom O’Callaghan 0-1 each.
St Lachtain’s: Darren Brennan; Conor Dalton, Criomhthann Bergin, Jerry Bergin; Padraig Donnelly, Cathal Hickey, Conor Donnelly; Brian Kennedy, Mark Donnelly; Paddy Killeen, Cian Dalton, Bobby Darcy; Cathal O’Leary, Shane Donnelly, Cian Dawson.
Subs: Alex Rafter for Darcy, 51 mins.
Rower Inistioge: Paddy Lyng; Paul Kirwin, Ruairi Galavan, Ruaidhri Delaney; Edward Prendergast, George Murphy, Michael Galavan; Jim Ryan, Sean Bolger; Eoin O’Brien, Eoghan Lyng, Jack Roche; Ned Spelman, Oisin Morrissey, Tom O’Callaghan.
Subs: Richie Leahy for Bolger (39 mins), Darragh Murphy for O’Brien (51 mins), Tom Doyle for Morrissey (51 mins).
Referee: Sean Bolger