Kilkenny JHC- Conahy Shamrocks too strong for out-of-sorts Johnstown
Conahy Shamrocks 3-19 Fenians 0-13
Conahy Shamrocks took advantage of a misfiring Fenians side as they ran out big winners in Round 1 of the JJ Kavanagh Junior Hurling Championship last weekend.
Jim Lyng’s Conahy outfit did what they had to do and with Mark Gunner netting a pair of goals in addition to former Kilkenny player James Bergin also starring with 1-4, they were very much in control for the majority of the 60 plus minutes.
For the Fenians, it shows that you just can’t turn it on when the championship comes around as the performance was along similar line to what they produced during a poor league campaign.
After relegation from the intermediate ranks in 2025, much was expected of the Johnstown team but they have failed to fire for whatever reason and the sole tally of five points from play and just three players getting on the scoresheet rather summed up their efforts.
The opening 10 minutes told a different story to the one we finished up with however as it was nip and tuck during the first stanza.
Conahy began with Edmond Delaney knocking over three points of which included an expertly taken sideline cut and the Johnstown response saw Conor Tobin convert two frees either side of team captain Willie Brennan floating a lovely effort between the posts.
The turning point of the game then arrived in the aftermath of Delaney getting a fourth point of the half with James Bergin claiming a direct pass inside before he offloaded to Mark Gunner who made no mistake in shooting past Padraic Delaney in the Conahy goal.
Tom Phelan duly added to the Conahy tally when pointing from range on the back of claiming a big catch in midfield and with a 1-5 to 0-3 buffer on the scoreboard, the Shamrocks looked in a decent position.
Johnstown grew into the game and with just six minutes remaining in the opening half, they had the deficit back to just a point after Conor Tobin and Willie Brennan combined to score four points in succession for Declan Brennan’s side.
A James Bergin free after Tom Phelan was fouled then left the scoreboard reading 1-6 to 0-7 in Conahy’s favour and they would get more joy before the half-time whistle after they added on a second goal to their tally.
The goal arrived after a mistake by Johnstown stopper Darragh Tobin saw his clearance blocked by James Bergin and Mark Gunner was there to finish the job.
With Edmond Delaney adding on another Conahy score afterwards, the scoreboard read 2-7 to 0-8 in their favour at the change of ends.
Two quickfire points from Delaney and Thomas Rice inside the opening three minutes of the second half quickly put seven between the sides and from there, the Fenians were largely chasing shadows.
Conor Tobin kept Johnstown tapping away at the scoreboard but with their only point from play in the second half arriving deep into stoppage time, they were always up against it with Conahy getting their scores a lot easier all over the field.
Such was the one sided nature of a lot of the second half, Conahy managed to rack off 1-8 without reply between the 47th minute and Johnstown’s final point of the game five minutes into added time.
The scoring spell saw Delaney, James Bergin, Tom Phelan, Ciaran Rice and Harry O’Mahony all feature with points while there was also a third goal in the midst of all the action as Conahy put in a statement display.
The Conahy goal arrived when James Bergin flicked the sliotar to the net after a long free via Edmond Delaney hovered around the danger area and at the end of the scoring streak, the winners held a huge 3-19 to 0-12 lead.
Johnstown ended the game’s scoring with a Kieran Grehan effort from play but it was all about Conahy as they booked a round 2 fixture with Kilmacow this coming weekend.
Teams and Scorers
Conahy Shamrocks: Edmond Delaney (0-8, 4fs and 1 ‘65); Mark Gunner (2-1); James Bergin (1-4, 2fs); Tom Phelan (0-2); Bill Murphy, Thomas Rice, Ciaran Rice, Harry O’Mahony (0-1 each)
Fenians: Conor Tobin (0-10, 8fs); Willie Brennan (0-2); Mark Hughes (0-1)
Conahy Shamrocks: Patrick Delaney; Padraig Gunner, Phillip Cass, Darragh Horgan; Ciaran Rice, Darragh Hennessy, Jack Rhatigan; Liam Cass, Edmond Delaney; Rob Ring, Tom Phelan, Thomas Rice; Bill Murphy, James Bergin, Mark Gunner.
Subs: Patrick Kennedy for Ring, h-t; Karl Downey for Muphy, 53 mins; Harry O’Mahony for Bergin, 56 mins; John Kennedy for P.Gunner, 62 mins; Jack Murphy for T.Rice, 62 mins.
Fenians: Darragh Tobin; Cathal Phelan, Rory Phelan, Padraig O’Grady; Jerry Henderson, Sean Brennan, Shane Curran; Rory Garrett, Niall Carroll; Kieran Grehan, Conor Tobin, Paddy Cullen; Sean Tobin, Mark Hughes, Willie Brennan.
Subs: Darragh McCormack for Carroll, 36 mins; Kevin Reid for Cullen, 40 mins; Regan Downey for Hughes, 48 mins; Mark Webster for S.Tobin, 48 mins.
Referee: Richard Holland