Burgess march on as Newport struggle

GAA: FBD Insurance County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Group 3

Burgess 1-20

Newport 0-11

Report: Thomas Conway in Dolla

Burgess secured their place in the knockout stages of the County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship with a win over Newport on Saturday whose own hopes of progression now hang by a thread.

Burgess, on the other hand, have no such concerns. Their performance on Saturday wasn’t perfect, but it has catapulted them to the top of Group 3 and opened up a pathway to the knockout stages. They shot the lights out, more or less doubling Newport’s end tally and departing Dolla with a genuine spring in their step. After a disappointing North Final defeat, Burgess have bounced back.

This result could have serious consequences for Newport though. Perched precariously in third position with just a single point from two games, Tim Floyd’s side now face a do-or-die clash against a near nemesis, Silvermines. Fail to achieve a favourable outcome there and all of a sudden Newport could find themselves staring at the trapdoor, with relegation a very real danger.

There were times when this game felt pedestrian. Yellow cards were issued ad infinitem - it seemed as though referee John McCormack felt compelled to brandish them at every break in play. Yet while the game was robust, it wasn’t really all that rough.

This was a stop-start encounter, a match which began to swing in Burgess’ direction early on and always seemed destined to favour Brian Hogan’s side at the final whistle. The hurling wasn’t top quality, the tempo far from intense, but Burgess did what they had to do and they did it well.

The complexion of the scoreboard might have been entirely different had Conor O’Mahony converted Newport’s 21st minute penalty but Ronan Tucker scrambled to his right to make a game-defining save.

Really and truly, they have Murray to thank. The veteran sharpshooter was typically brilliant - practically flawless from placed balls and treacherous from play as well. He sent his side soaring into an early lead and just never relented. By half-time, the wily corner-forward had registered 1-6 and was himself responsible for all of Burgess’ scores. Their reliance on him was total, and perhaps even excessive.

And yet there was a sense that even if Newport had got to grips with Murray, they still would have struggled to win this game. They were second-best, and even though they only trailed by five at half-time, 1-6 to 0-4, it felt as if the challenge was insurmountable. They had a mountain to climb, and they scarcely even set foot on the track.

Burgess’ first-half dominance was all consuming. The fit again Donagh Maher was awesome, Keith Nealon similarly influential, but Murray himself was the match-winner. His 23rd minute goal was something to behold. It followed a neat passage of play in which Burgess swept the sliotar from one end of the park to the other, opening up a channel for Murray, who let fly with a low raking effort from just inside twenty metres. Paul Hogan might have done better.

No surprise then that Newport failed to launch a credible second-half revival. They tried gallantly - their work ethic and general intensity wasn’t bad, but the breaks just weren’t falling their way. Slowly but surely, Burgess knocked over more scores, broadening the distribution beyond Murray and looking more like a collective than a one-man show.

Conor O’Mahony would keep Newport within some faint distance of their opponents via a series of placed-balls, but many of his efforts were immediately cancelled out by the likes Maher, Kirwan, and Keith Nealon - who drove home a monster point in the 45th minute.

In the end things petered out to a rather mundane conclusion. There were occasional scraps, which yielded several cards of differing hues, but they were only really a sideshow. The main act, the protagonist if you like, was Stephen Murray, and though he would depart the field with an injury in the 55th minute, his work had been duly completed. Burgess are sitting pretty at the top of group 3, and by the looks of it, they seem ripe and ready to embrace the knockout stages.

Player of the Match: Stephen Murray (Burgess)

Burgess: Ronan Tucker (8); Daire Hogan (7), Kieran Ryan (7), Willie Ryan (8), Jack O’Flaherty (7), Pat Woods (8), Johnny Mulqueen (7), Donagh Maher (0-1, 8), Micheál Ryan (0-2f, 8), Eoin Hogan (7), Keith Nealon (0-1, 7), Stephen Kirwan (1-12, 0-10f, 8), Stephen Murray (0-2, 8), Bill O’Flaherty (7), Kieran Grace (0-1, 7).

Subs: Conor Cooney (0-1, 7) for Murray (55 inj); Seán Dunne (NR) for E Hogan (60).

Newport: Paul Hogan (0-1f, 6); Conor Hickey (6), Seán O’Brien (7), Andrew Hickey (6), Odhran Floyd (6), Conor Floyd (7), Aidan Moloney (7), Peter O’Sullivan (0-1, 7), Cian Flanagan (6), Kealan Floyd (6), Conor O’Mahoney (0-5f, 7), Pa Ryan (6), Oran Connors (0-2, 7), Aaron O’Neill (0-2, 6), Colin Floyd (7).

Sub: Daniel Ryan (NR) for Colin Floyd (60+1).

Referee: John McCormack (Knockavilla Kickhams).