Barrett to the fore as Holycross stay alive
Holycross/Ballycahill 0-23
Eire Og Annacarty 1-18
Eire Og Annacarty 1-18
Holycross/Ballycahill got their County Senior Hurling Championship campaign up and running following this two-point victory over Eire Og Annacarty in Clonoulty on Sunday.
This victory keep their hopes of qualifying for a quarter final place very much alive as they face up to neighbours, Clonoulty/Rossmore in round three next weekend while for Eire Og Annacarty, their hopes hang by a thread as they prepare to face Nenagh Eire Og, as a relegation campaign looms.
This was a Holycross victory that was always very much on the cards throughout, although they found it difficult to shake off the challenge of the West men. It was hard earned but their ability to work scores at vital times was ultimately the difference. Cathal Barrett and Darragh Woods contributed in no small way to this with Woods accounting for seven points and Barrett chipping in with six.
Holycross signalled their intent from the start and Darragh Woods opened the scoring in the first minute. This was the start of a glut of scores from both sides with eleven points registered in the opening eleven minutes with Holycross grabbing eight of them from five different players.
Tom Fox and Dinny Crosse had tied up the game early on with well-taken scores but three unanswered points from Luke O’Mara, Raymie Nally and Darragh Woods gave the Mid men a cushion as the water break approached.
The second quarter was Eire Og’s best spell as they outscored their opponents 0-5 to 0-3 with Seanie Ryan adding two in injury time to leave the half time score at 0-11 to 0-8 with Annacarty ending the half on a high.
As in the opening half, the second period started with a flurry of points, Darragh Woods accounting for three in as many minutes. Tipp star Cathal Barrett was coming more into the game who along with Woods were causing all sort of problems to Eire Og’s inside back line.
Eire Og needed a tonic and they got it in the form of a Donal O’Dwyer goal on 43 minutes when he reacted quickly to a wonderful Dinny Ferncombe save. This brought Eire Og back within two points but Cathal Barrett stretched the lead out to three with a point from under the stand.
Holycross were able to afford the luxury of failing to convert a penalty after 50 minutes when a Darragh Woods shot went wide. The final ten minutes saw Eire Og unable to eat into the Holycross lead, despite Seanie Ryan putting over three points. Holycross, with Barrett and Woods in particular were always able to react positively to an Eire Og score.
However, injury time brought added drama, as Eire Og sought an equaliser. They were awarded a 25-metre free to the left of the Holycross goal. Goalkeeper Darragh Mooney came up field but his resulting shot skimmed the crossbar for a point, inches away from an equalising goal as time ran out for the West men, who now need a victory over Nenagh Eire Og in round 3 to have any chance of avoiding the relegation play off.
MATCH DIGEST
Player of the Match: Cathal Barrett (Holycross/Ballycahill)
Holycross/Ballycahill: Dinny Ferncombe (7); Jack Ryan (6), Philip Fogarty (7), Gavin Dunne (7); Michael Doyle (0-1, 7), Bryan O’Meara (0-1, 7), Conor Ryan (0-1, 7); Jamie Woods (6), Raymie Nally (0-1, 7); Paraic Russell (6), Cathal Barrett (0-6, 9), Stephen Flanagan (0-1, 6), Luke O’Mara (0-3, 8), Aidan Stakelum (0-2, 7), Darragh Woods (0-7, 4f) 8).
Subs used: Eoin Morris, Jack Skehan, Eanna Ryan.
Eire Og Annacarty: Darragh Mooney (0-1f, 7); Diarmaid Ryan (6), Conor O’Brien (7), David Fox (6); Brian Fox (7), Kevin Fox (0-1, 6), Liam Og O’Dwyer (7); Paul Devlin (7), Seanie Ryan (0-8, 4f) 8); Paudie O’Dwyer (0-1, 6), Tom Fox (0-2, 7), Dinny Crosse (0-2, 7); Aidan Griffin (0-1f, 6), Ronan O’Brien (0-1, 6), Donal O’Dwyer (1-1, 7).
Subs used: Mikey O’Brien, Paul Downer, Eoin Bradshaw.
Referee: John O’Grady (Rosegreen).
Player of the Match: Cathal Barrett (Holycross/Ballycahill)
Holycross/Ballycahill: Dinny Ferncombe (7); Jack Ryan (6), Philip Fogarty (7), Gavin Dunne (7); Michael Doyle (0-1, 7), Bryan O’Meara (0-1, 7), Conor Ryan (0-1, 7); Jamie Woods (6), Raymie Nally (0-1, 7); Paraic Russell (6), Cathal Barrett (0-6, 9), Stephen Flanagan (0-1, 6), Luke O’Mara (0-3, 8), Aidan Stakelum (0-2, 7), Darragh Woods (0-7, 4f) 8).
Subs used: Eoin Morris, Jack Skehan, Eanna Ryan.
Eire Og Annacarty: Darragh Mooney (0-1f, 7); Diarmaid Ryan (6), Conor O’Brien (7), David Fox (6); Brian Fox (7), Kevin Fox (0-1, 6), Liam Og O’Dwyer (7); Paul Devlin (7), Seanie Ryan (0-8, 4f) 8); Paudie O’Dwyer (0-1, 6), Tom Fox (0-2, 7), Dinny Crosse (0-2, 7); Aidan Griffin (0-1f, 6), Ronan O’Brien (0-1, 6), Donal O’Dwyer (1-1, 7).
Subs used: Mikey O’Brien, Paul Downer, Eoin Bradshaw.
Referee: John O’Grady (Rosegreen).