(JJ Hurley)
St Catherine 0-18 Ballygarvan 1-14
Ballygarvan were left to rue a string of first half wides at Pairc Ui Rinn on Friday night as St Catherines march onto the final of the Co Op Superstore Premier Junior Hurling Championship.
In a case of what might have been, a failure to take scores in the first thirty minutes proved Ballygarvan's undoing as their opponents recovered their composure in the second half to carry the tie.
Ballygarvan were first on the score board in the opening minutes as Ray O’Halloran opened their account.
It took another seven minutes to register their next score, as they were guilty of some poor shooting.
St Catherine’s got off the mark with a free on ten minutes, but they were rocked by an O’Halloran goal two minutes, later he dispatched the sliotar to the Imokilly side’s net.
Another O’Halloran point had them leading by 1-3 to 0-1 on 13 minutes, with Catherine’s needing a response, they grabbed the next two scores as Oisin Fitzgerald and Rory Galvin sent over two points.
Determined to hold on to their lead, Cillian O’Regan and Evan O’Connor had a point apiece to restore their five-point advantage.
Depending on Rory Galvin’s accuracy as he was keeping his side in the contest, Ballygarvan continued to add to their tally.
The Carrigdhoun side should have had a goal on 26 minutes but Michael Cussen failed to hit the target after a perfect pass from Niall Dowd.
From there to the interval Michael O’ Mahony and Michael Cussen points to Galvin’s frees left the half-time score at 1-8 to 0-7.
Catherines got the start they required with a point from Eoin Condon, but O’ Halloran and Cussen replied with two points.
Growing into the game, St Catherine’s had reduced their arrears with two Galvin points, before scores from Sean O’ Donoghue and Kevin Barry had left the minimum between the sides on 39 minutes.
With conditions making for poor hurling, it was Catherines who took control of this game, as Barry, O’ Donoghue and Galvin increased their side’s lead by 0-16 to 1-11.
The introduction of Gary White for Ballygarvan saw him opening his account almost immediately, having waited 20 minutes to get their second score of the half.
However, St Catherines were refusing to surrender and Galvin, who racked up 10 points on the night, added three points as two late White points left only a white flag between them, but the Carrigdhoun side were unable to find the equalising score.
Scores:
Scorers for St Catherine’s: R Galvin 0-12 (0-9 f), K Barry, S O’Donoghue 0-2 each, O Fitzgerald, E Condon 0-1 each.
Ballygarvan: R O’Halloran 1-3, G White 0-4 f, M Cussen 0-2 f, M O’Mahony, F Mackey (f), E O’Connor, S Brady, C O’Regan 0-1 each.
ST CATHERINES: E Davis; F O’Connell, N Sheehan; C Hegarty, O Fitzgerald, K Nevile; S Cotter, J Hayes; J Neville, R Galvin, S O’Donoghue; B Mulcahy, E Condon, W Leamy.
Subs: K O’Donoghue and K Barry for P Keane, W Leahy (HT), J Hayes for R O’Connell (50)
BALLYGARVAN:D Mackey; P Ryan, R O’ Leary E Mackey; S Fenton, P O’Halloran, K Lyons; C O’Regan, M O’Mahony, R O’Halloran, D O’Connor, S Brady; E O’ Connor, M Cussen, N Dowd.
S O’Donovan for E Mackey (inj21), G White for M Cussen (46), D O’Sullivan for C O’ Regan (47),K McIntrye for N Dowd (52
Referee: Pat Lyons
Ballygarvan seen here in action at a recent JAHC. Credit Delores Kidney
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