Banagher College claim place in the Leinster Final

BANAGHER COLLEGE 2-16

ST BRENDAN'S CS 2-9

BANAGHER College claimed a place in the Leinster PP Schools Senior Hurling 'B' final with a well deserved seven point victory over St Brendan's Community School, Birr at The Faithful Fields on Saturday.

Banagher put in a terrific second half performance to overturn their neighbours and claim a place in the provincial decider against Heywood Community School.

It was a close game throughout with St Brendan's holding a two point advantage at half time. A goal in the third minute of the second half put Banagher College back in front but there was still just one score in it with the game in injury time but Banagher broke to score a second goal which sealed their place in the final.

The victory completed a remarkable turnaround for Banagher College as they had lost to St Brendan's by 12 points earlier in the group stages of the championship and to turn that into a seven point victory on this occasion was a huge swing but they certainly deserved the victory on their performance in this game.

St Brendan's had started well and an early goal gave them a bit of an advantage but they were conceding too many frees and Darragh Scully and Shane Rigney kept Banagher in touch, scoring seven of their nine first half points from frees and that left them only two points behind at the interval.

St Brendan's stretched their lead from the throw in at the start of the second half but Banagher College scored the next 1-4 to take control. St Brendan's kept battling and kept in touch but they missed too many chances with almost double the number of wides than their opponents, 13 against seven.

While Shane Rigney and Darragh Scully kept the score ticking over from frees for Banagher, scoring 11 points from placed balls, St Brendan's struggled in that department, failing to convert at least six efforts from placed balls, despite changing free takers on a number of occasions.

Banagher looked that bit sharper throughout. They had pace in the forward line which troubled the Birr backline and they grew in confidence as the game went on. They were also strong in defence, withstanding late Birr pressure when the outcome was still in the balance, Ruairi Kelly coming out with a couple of great clearances.

While they grew in confidence, Birr's seemed to sap. They had played well in the first half but did start to miss opportunities late in the half and they struggled to make any real impact in attack in the second half, often taking the wrong options with a pass.

Earlier in the week, many of these players lined out together for Offaly Schools in their 'A' semi-final defeat to St Kieran's and while the Banagher College contingent got some measure of satisfaction from this victory, it was double defeat for the St Brendan's players with two campaigns ended in a matter of days.

St Brendan's were going for a fourth final in a row at this level but can have no complaints with the result. They were missing forward Eoin Bailey O'Brien who picked up an injury playing with Offaly Schools earlier in the week and he was badly missed from their attack and his absence could have made a big difference.

Banagher College can now look forward to a Leinster Final against Heywood and on the basis on this performance can go into that game with confidence. Ruairi Kelly marshalled the defence well from full back with Daire Daly and Mark Kilkenny also strong in defence. Luke Bowe and Paul Cannon worked hard in the middle of the field while in attack Shane Rigney top scored, with Aaron Molloy, Ricky Fitzsimons and Darragh Scully also catching the eye.

Michael Dooley, Caelum Larkin and Marc Ryan were prominent in defence for St Brendan's, Ajay Cleary had a strong hour in the middle of the field but they missed Eoin Bailey O'Brien in the forward line and were unable to penetrate enough in attack.

St Brendan's made a quick start with Marc Ryan pointing after 16 seconds but Ricky Fitzsimons quickly levelled and Darragh Scully's free put Banagher in front. Ajay Cleary levelled before St Brendan's struck for their first goal after five minutes. Caelum Larkin and Conor McDowall were involved in the build up before Eoin King shot low to the net.

Banagher responded well with Niall Flannery and Darragh Scully (free) both pointing. Andrew Hogan restored the one goal lead with two points, one a free, but Shane Rigney hit back with two Banagher frees.

After 21 minutes St Brendan's netted for a second time. Sean Carey's high effort dropped short but Morgan Feenane, following in, got a touch to it in the air ahead of Eanna Mulhare to divert it to the net. Darragh Scully and Ajay Cleary exchanged points from frees before Shane Rigney added two further frees to leave the half time score, 2-5 to 0-9 in favour of St Brendan's.

Just as they had done in the first half, St Brendan's made a quick start to the second half with Andrew Hogan pointing after 15 seconds. Shane Rigney replied from a free and then in the fourth minute Darragh Scully gathered a ball from defence, made ground before passing across to Shane Rigney who struck first time off the ground from 13m to send the ball to the corner of the net. Paul Cannon, Ricky Fitzsimons and Shane Rigney (free) added further point to stretch the lead out to four 10 minutes into the half.

St Brendan's had gone 13 minutes without a score before goalkeeper Liam Hoar pointed a free from midfield. Shane Rigney and Sean Carey swopped points from frees before Cathal Robinson pointed with six minutes left to leave just two points in it. St Brendan's looked to have a bit of momentum but they were unable to build on it and Aaron Molloy scored a fine point to push the lead out to three again.

Then two minutes into injury time Banagher broke and Shane Rigney's pass found Darragh Scully and he fired to the net to seal the win. Shane Rigney added another free and Banagher were looking forward to a place in the final.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

BANAGHER COLLEGE: Eanna Mulhare; Daire Daly, Ruairi Kelly, Kian Costello; Rob Duffy, Mark Kilkenny, Lee Hogan; Luke Bowe, Paul Cannon; Harry Grant, Aaron Molloy, Niall Flannery; Shane Rigney, Ricky Fitzsimons, Darragh Scully. Subs. Michael Moylan (for Niall Flannery, 41 mins), Killian Fitzgerald (for Harry Grant, 45 mins), Daniel Healy (for Rob Duffy, 56 mins), Liam Donoghue (for Aaron Molloy, 59 mins).

ST BRENDAN'S CS: Liam Hoare; Michael Dooley, Joe McLoughney, Sean Connaughton; Jack Ryan, Caelum Larkin, Marc Ryan; Ajay Cleary, Morgan Feenane; Cathal Robinson, Andrew Hogan, Tom O'Dwyer; Eoin King, Conor McDowall, Sean Carey. Subs. Adriano Szoma (for Tom O'Dwyer, 45 mins), Noel Standish (for Eoin King, 48 mins).

REFEREE: Joey Deehan (Clara).

MAN OF THE MATCH

There was no real stand out figure on either side but when the chips were down Shane Rigney came up with the goods for Banagher College. He scored their first goal, set up the second and added eight points from frees. He also won some valuable possession at vital times in the second half.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The first Banagher College goal was an important score as it signalled a big switch in momentum in the match. St Brendan's led at half time and were slightly the better team in the first half but once Shane Rigney netted in the third minute of the second half, Banagher College took control and went on to secure a deserved victory.

REFEREE WATCH

Joey Deehan handled the game very well. He applied the advantage rule well, was always in control of proceedings and there were few contentious issues to deal with in a game played in a very good spirit.

WHAT’S NEXT

Banagher College meet Heywood CS in the final after the Laois school defeated Naas CBS in the other semi-final.

VENUE WATCH

The Faithful Fields was in very good condition on a good day for hurling, with dry conditions and only a slight breeze. There were plenty of stewards on duty to look after parking and there was a good crowd present for a local derby.

STATISTICS

Wides; Banagher College 7 (5 in first half) St Brendan's CS 13 (7 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Banagher College 1 (Harry Grant) St Brendan's CS 0.

Red Cards: None.

THE SCORERS

Banagher College; Shane Rigney (1-8, 0-8 frees), Darragh Scully (1-3, 0-3 frees), Ricky Fitzsimons (0-2), Niall Flannery, Paul Cannon, Aaron Molloy (0-1 each).

St Brendan's CS; Eoin King, Morgan Freeman (1-0 each), Andrew Hogan (0-3, 0-1 free), Ajay Cleary (0-2, 0-1 free), Marc Ryan, Liam Hoare (free), Sean Carey (free), Cathal Robinson (0-1 each).