Carrig & Riverstown make promising start to Leinster campaign

CARRIG & RIVERSTOWN 2-20

ST BRIGID'S (WESTMEATH) 0-8

CARRIG & Riverstown made a very promising start to their Leinster Club Junior Hurling campaign when they scored an emphatic victory over Westmeath representatives St Brigid's at Grant Heating St Brendan's Park, Birr on Saturday.

The Offaly intermediate champions stamped their authority on the game in the first half when playing against the wind and they built up a healthy 10 point lead at half time.

The second half probably wasn't as fluent, particularly the third quarter, but they pushed on again in the final quarter and were full value for their 18 point victory margin. They will now meet the Dublin representatives in the Leinster quarter final in two weeks time.

After a bright opening, in which the sides shared the opening six points in the first six minutes, the gulf between the teams began to emerge and 1-5 without reply over the next 10 minutes put Carrig & Riverstown in charge and in truth the result was never really in doubt after that.

They would probably have been even more in front but for the brilliance of Paddy Carroll in the St Brigid's goals. He pulled off a string of saves throughout the game to keep Carrig & Riverstown at bay and he certainly played his part in keeping the victory margin down.

St Brigid's, who lost the semi-final of the Westmeath championship but won a play off to represent them in Leinster as the two finalists were both the second teams of senior clubs, made changes at half time and tried to get back into the game early in the second half but they were unable to convert some early pressure into scores.

Carrig & Riverstown weren't quite as sharp in that opening period of the second half but did pick off a number of points to keep the the scoreboard ticking over and after St Brigid's scored three points in a row in the middle of the half, Carrig & Riverstown picked up things again in the final 10 minutes with another 1-4 without reply to seal their place in the quarter finals.

Carrig & Riverstown were very impressive in the first half. They were a lot sharper than their opponents and used the ball wisely. Their defence gave very little away and shut out any danger from St Brigid's who didn't really create a goalscoring chance over the hour. In attack, Carrig & Riverstown looked sharp, they linked up well, took scores well from play and ran menacingly at the St Brigid's defence.

Ross Connaughton, Cathal Hanlon and Patrick Bergin were all prominent in defence, Cathal King and Peter King dominated in midfield while David Egan, Conor McDowall and Lee Hogan all posed problems for the St Brigid's defence.

Paddy Carroll had an excellent game in goals for St Brigid's, Seamus Faulkner and Chris Daly worked hard in defence, Stephen Quinn tried hard at midfield and Conor Slevin was best of their attack.

Lee Hogan put Carrig & Riverstown in front from a free a minute in but Conor Slevin quickly levelled. David Egan and Cathal King twice more put Carrig & Riverstown in front but Conor Slevin levelled each time from frees to leave it 0-3 each after six minutes.

Carrig & Riverstown then began to take control. Lee Hogan and Conor McDowall added points and after nine minutes Peter King burst on to a ball and fired to the net. Conor McDowall, Brendan Hoctor and Lee Hogan (from a free) added further points to make it 1-8 to 0-3 after 16 minutes. Stephen Quinn broke that scoring run with a good point for St Brigid's but Lee Hogan replied with a '65' after Paddy Carroll had saved well from Conor McDowall. Conor Slevin pointed another free for St Brigid's but Cathal King with two points and David Egan with another stretched the Carrig & Riverstown lead and Joe Hoctor and David Egan both saw goalbound efforts well saved by Paddy Carroll.

That left Carrig & Riverstown 1-12 to 0-5 ahead at half time and in a dominant position. St Brigid's looked to make a good start to the second half and got an early chance when awarded a 20m free. Goalkeeper Paddy Carroll came up to take it but his effort was well saved on the line by the Carrig & Riverstown backline. At the other end Carroll pulled off more heroics to deny Joe Hoctor and David Egan again before Carrig & Riverstown got the first score of the half in the sixth minute with a Joe Hoctor point. Lee Hogan missed a gilt edged chance from a Conor McDowall pass but Lee Hogan (free), Cathal King and Brendan Hoctor (free) stretched the lead to 14 points 12 minutes into the half.

St Brigid's didn't get their first score of the half until the 15th minute when Brian Brophy pointed and Conor Slevin then added two further points from frees as Carrig & Riverstown added to their wides tally at the other end.

Carrig & Riverstown eventually clicked and got their second goal with seven minutes left. Kieran O'Brien's ball in broke in the goalmouth and Lee Hogan finished the loose ball to the net. David Egan, Liam Hoare (free), Joe Hoctor and John Hanlon put the icing on the cake with further points to leave 18 points between them at the final whistle.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

CARRIG & RIVERSTOWN: Liam Hoare; Thomas Hogan, Ross Connaughton, Dylan Hogan; Cathal Hanlon, Patrick Bergin, Michael Fitzgerald; Cathal King, Peter King; Joe Hoctor, Brendan Hoctor, David Egan; Lee Hogan, Daniel England, Conor McDowall. Subs. John Hanlon (for Daniel England, 41 mins), Kieran O'Brien (for Conor McDowall, 46 mins), Kian McDowall (for Cathal King, 57 mins), Canice Stevenson (for Peter King, 57 mins), Mark Hogan (for Lee Hogan, 59 mins).

ST BRIGID'S: Paddy Carroll; Eddie Whelehan, Seamus Faulkner, Cormac Eighan; Chris Daly, Joe Hyland, Niall Cully; Stephen Quinn, Kieran Geraghty; Eoghan Gallagher, Conor Slevin, Conall Dunne; Brian Brophy, Alan Farrell, Michael Geraghty. Subs. Aaron O'Brien (for Eoghan Gallagher, half time), Owen Cleary (for Conall Dunne, half time), Danny Hyland (for Michael Geraghty, 41 mins), Conor Collison (for Joe Hyland, 55 mins).

REFEREE: Brian Kearney (Kildare).

MAN OF THE MATCH

St Brigid's goalkeeper Paddy Carroll deserves a mention for a string of fine saves and but for him his side would have suffered a much heavier defeat, but the main contenders were on the Carrig & Riverstown side. In the end I've gone with midfielder Cathal King for an all round strong performance. He scored four points from play and put in a huge amount of work around the middle of the field to keep his side in control of the game.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Carrig & Riverstown's first goal put them in control of the game. The sides had shared the first six points in a bright opening to the game and Carrig & Riverstown had just gone two points up when Peter King burst through to find the St Brigid's net and the result was never really in doubt after that.

REFEREE WATCH

Brian Kearney handled the game well throughout. He was very hot on penalising foul handpasses with both sides penalised and some of them did seem borderline cases. He also penalised dissent on a couple of occasions but overall maintained good control over the hour.

WHAT’S NEXT

Carrig & Riverstown progress to face the Dublin representatives in the Leinster quarter final, which is scheduled for November 11th.

VENUE WATCH

St Brendan's Park hosted the game well. After overnight rain the pitch was quite soft in places and there wasn't much run on the ball but it didn't cut up too much. There were plenty of stewards on duty to cater for the crowd that was present.

STATISTICS

Wides; Carrig & Riverstown 12 (4 in first half) St Brigid's 7 (5 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Carrig & Riverstown 0 St Brigid's 1 (Conall Dunne)

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Carrig & Riverstown; Lee Hogan (1-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 '65'), Cathal King (0-4), David Egan (0-3), Peter King (1-0), Conor McDowall, Brendan Hoctor (one free), Joe Hoctor (0-2 each), Liam Hoare (free), John Hanlon (0-1 each).

St Brigid's; Conor Slevin (0-6, 0-5 frees), Stephen Quinn, Brian Brophy (0-1 each).