Clinical finishing the difference as impressive St Rynagh's leave Coolderry regretting missed chances

THE ability to finish chances and conjure up special scores was very much the difference as an ultimately impressive St Rynagh's got an iimportant opening win in the Senior Hurling Championship in Birr on Saturday afternoon.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Group 2 Round 1

St Rynagh's 2-19

Coolderry 0-16

Very fortunate to be 1-9 to 0-9 up at half time, St Rynagh's outscored Coolderry by 1-10 to 0-7 in the second half as they pulled away for a very convincing win.

The manner in which St Rynagh's grabbed control of the game in all sectors in the second half commanded attention and Coolderry were left to reflect on a succession of missed chances in the first half. The losers left at least 2-4 behind them in the first half, with Eoin Burke off target with a couple of frees early in the second half. Their best forward Daniel Miller also got bottled up with a decent goal chance in the 36^th minute and they just couldn't win with all these misses.

Missed chances were the single biggest contributory factor to the defeat of Coolderry, who really missed the influence of county star David King at the heart of defence.

The game was won very emphatically by St Rynagh's in the second half but it was also lost by Coolderry in the first half. They played well for much of the opening thirty minutes and were the better team.

Deservedly ahead by 0-5 to 0-3 after eight minutes, Eoin Burke had a good goal chance blocked down and then missed a free in the ninth minute. Two minutes later, Conor Clancy made an excellent save from Kevin Connolly but it really should have been a goal and this spell came back, almost inevitably, to haunt Cooolderry.

Ajay Cleary did put them three ahead but Coolderry really should have been 2-7 to 0-3 clear at that stage. It would have been a very different game then and St Rynagh's, very sluggish and stagnant early on, settled into it. They were 0-8 to 0-6 behind when a wonderful Aaron Molloy goal turned the tide – Molloy showed great flair as he dummied a handpass and then slotted to the net in the 21^st minute.

Injury time points from Matthew Maloney and Aidan Treacy (free) gave St Rynagh's that 1-9 to 0-9 interval lead and needless to say, they were delighted to be in that position.

Eoin Burke got a quick second half free but those early misses stopped Coolderry really testing the winners. As the half wore on, St Rynagh's became more and more dominant. Their defence were excellent, the outstanding Joey O'Connor ran the game from midfield and Luke O'Connor sprung into top form in their attack while Stephen Quirke made a huge impact off the bench.

They were 1-14 to 0-12 ahead with Coolderry just hanging on when a super Shane Rigney goal in the 47^th minute settled the issue. Rigney had been comparatively subdued, by his own high standards, but when Aaron Molloy did wonderful work to deliver the ball to him, he raced into space with only one thing on his mind – and drove a low shot to the corner of the net.

After this, the only issue was St Rynagh's winning margin and they closed out the deal impressively. They weren't flawless and could have scored a bit more but never allowed Coolderry a sniff of the goals they required to get back into it.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Aaron Molloy (St Rynagh's): St Rynagh's had all of the contenders. Matthew Maloney, Simon Og Lyons and Ben Conneely were immense in their defence. Joey O'Connor was so influential at midfield in the second half while Luke O'Connor stood up to be counted when Coolderry had to be put away. He showed fantastic pace and supplemented his frees with three quality points from play.

The choice is a newcomer on the Rynagh's squad, Aaron Molloy. He showed great flair and an ability to do the unexpected. He got two early points at a stage when Rynagh's weren't going well and his wonderful goal provided the springboard for victory in the first half. He wasn't in the game as much in the second half but showed some great skill, setting up Shane Rigney's goal while he took his eye off the ball when Rigney returned the favour by setting him up for a goal chance minutes later.

Coolderry will be disappointed at some aspects but there were also many positives. Stephen Connolly, Conor Hogan, Eoin Parlon, William Malone and Daniel Miller were among their best performers on the day.

THE SCORERS

St Rynagh's: Luke O'Connor 0-9 (6f), Aaron Molloy 1-2, Shane Rigney 1-1, Aidan Treacy 0-3 (2f and 1 '65'), Matthew Maloney, Joey O'Connor, Sean Dolan, Stephen Quirke 0-1 each.

Coolderry: Eoin Burke 0-5 (4f), Daniel Miller 0-3 (1 sideline), Stephen Corcoran (2f), William Malone and Kevin Connolly 0-2 each, Eoin Ryan and Ajay Cleary 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Ben Conneely, Simon Og Lyons Keelan Rigney; Matthew Maloney, Aidan Treacy, Conor Hernon; Eoin Woods, Joey O'Connor; Sean Dolan, Stephen Wynne, Gary Conneely; Shane Rigney, Aaron Molloy, Luke O'Connor. Subs – Stephen Quirke for Woods, inj. (34m).

COOLDERRY: Stephen Corcoran; Stephen Connolly, Billy Burke, Stephen Burke; Conor Hogan, Conor Molloy, Eoghan Parlon;William Malone, Ajay Cleary; Cian Burke, Daniel Miller, Shane Ryan; Eoin Burke, Eoin Ryan, Kevin Connolly. Subs – Andy Connolly for Cleary (44m), James Tooher for Billy Burke (49m),

Referee – Joey Deehan (Clara).

REFEREE WATCH

Joey Deehan handled the game well and there were no big talking points – though he did pull Coolderry a couple of times for throw balls and there were other suspect ones during the game.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Coolderry's misses in the first quarter, followed by Aaron Molloy's 21^st minute goal was when this game was won and lost.

VENUE WATCH

As usual Birr had loads of stewards to look after the fixture, with some making a quick trip back from their Senior “B” Hurling Championship defeat by Kilcormac-Killoughey in Banagher. The weather wasn't wonderful with rain during the day and wind but the pitch held up well. Unusually, Birr didn't have anyone present to make announcements about the teams and subs and hopefully that is just a temporary blip as it is a great part of the St Brendan's Park service.

WHAT'S NEXT

St Rynagh's play Kilcormac-Killoughey in a big round 2 game while Coolderry meet Seir Kieran.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Rynagh's - 8 (5 in first half); Coolderry – 8 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: St Rynagh's – 1 (Joey O'Connor); Coolderry – 3 (Billy Burke and Ajay Cleary, Daniel Miller).

Red cards: 0