Impressive Clodiagh Gaels return to final as Carrig-Riverstown fail to ignite

AFTER some stuttering, unconvincing displays in their group, Clodiagh Gaels have found form at the very right time and they returned to the Offaly Senior “B” Hurling Championship final with a clearcut win over Carrig-Riverstown in a keenly contested semi-final in O'Connor Park on Saturday afternoon.

Molloy Precast and Environmental Systems Senior “B” Hurling Championship semi-final

Clodiagh Gaels 2-15

Carrig-Riverstown 0-15

Carrig-Riverstown had been the more impressive in the group stages but Clodiagh Gaels showed their class and experience when it mattered most. Leading by 2-7 to 0-10 after playing against the wind in the first half, they controlled this game almost the whole way, never looking like losing.

Carrig-Riverstown didn't play well on the day, never ignited apart from one all too brief first half spell but credit for this has to go to Clodiagh Gaels who were so solid and efficient in the way they played. It wasn't flawless and they hit a few very poor wides with the wind on their backs in the second half. 19 wides was way too many but there was still something very impressive about the way they performed. They played snappy, fast hurling and also won a lot of the physical battles against a Carrig-Riverstown side who were in their first year up out of intermediate and will have learned a lot from this.

Clodiagh Gaels laid a very solid foundation when playing against the wind in the first half and a 2-7 to 0-10 interval lead had them in a very strong position.

That lead was a fair reflection of the way the first half went as the Killeigh-Killurin outfit defended very solidly and broke forward with real menace.

Carrig-Riverstown took too long to settle in the first half and that can be one of the downsides of starting off with a strong wind. The game was nine minutes old when Lee Hogan got their first point from a free and that was too long with that wind on their back.

Clodiagh Gaels had two points on the board at that stage and it was 0-3 each when Cathal Brady got the first of his two first half goals in the 17^th minute. Brady finished comfortably after Cathal Curran passing following a mistake by C-R full back Michael Fitzgerald. Liam Langton added a free for a 1-4 to 0-3 lead and those scores spurred C-R into action.

They played their best hurling in the next few minutes, firing over four unanswered points in a great spell of sustained pressure from the 19^th to 21^st minutes to level it up.

Liam Langton (free) and Cathal King exchanged points to leave it all square after 23 minutes and excellent Clodiagh Gaels goalkeeper, Kevin Kinahan rescued his side with a fantastic treble save from David Egan, Andrew Coakley and Lee Hogan in the 24^th minute. Frees from Lee Hogan and Liam Hoare got C-R two points in front with three minutes left but the momentum swung back for Clodiagh Gaels before the half time whistle.

An outstanding second goal from Cathal Brady in the 29^th minute galvanised Clodiagh Gaels, with Curran again the supplier after a Sean Brady clearance. Ben O'Brien and Liam Langton (free) added points and a three point lead with the wind to come was a very significant advantage.

Carrig-Riverstown fought with everything they had in the second half and got the gap back to two points, 0-12 to 2-8 after 36 minutes before two Langton frees put Clodiagh Gaels two clear again.

Conor and Liam Langton had poor wides before Conor put them three ahead but Clodiagh Gaels weren't clinical. Cathal Curran passed to Cathal Brady when he should have tapped an easy point over the bar and Mark O'Brien's point brought the gap back to three with 17 minutes left.

As it went into the last quarter, it was clear that Carrig-Riverstown had to get a goal to survive and they suffered a blow when top scorer Lee Hogan had to go off after seeming to injure his hand while taking a free.

Free taking immediately became a problem with Hogan gone and Clodiagh Gaels got 2-14 to 0-13 clear with 14 minutes left. They had a few bad wides but were never in danger of losing from here.

Both sides hit dreadful wides from the 46^th to 56^th minute before Ruari Dunne pointed for the winners, followed by a C-R one from Andrew Coakley.

Cathal King and Joe Hoctor were off target with frees but the difference was that Clodiagh Gaels could afford their misses whereas Carrig-Riverstown couldn't. - Liam Hoare had to and did go for goal from a 58^th minute free but it sailed over the bar to leave them trailing by 2-15 to 0-15 as injury time approached.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Kevin Kinahan (Clodiagh Gaels): All the contenders were on the Clodiagh Gaels team and the choice is goalkeeper Kevin Kinahan. He made three great saves in the one play in the first half but also did a lot more than that. He handled a lot of ball very efficiently and his clearances generally hit the target. He had one or two scary moments in the second half but got away with them and he was a very reliable last line of defence.

He was also very well protected by an outstanding full back, Mark Kelly and centre half back, Clint Horan who were serious options for man of the match. Kelly never put a foot wrong and Horan was immense in the first half against the wind.

Elsewhere, Liam Langton is playing much better in the attack for them than last year and this is important for them. He is more focused on doing his own job, taking the simple option rather than looking for the spectacular and he was good here. Cathal Brady and the very lively Cathal Curran were also excellent in the Clodiagh Gaels attack.

Cathal King was probably Carrig-Riverstown's best performer but they will be disappointed at their display.

THE SCORERS

Clodiagh Gaels: Liam Langton 0-8 (7f), Cathal Brady 2-0, Conor Langton and Ruari Dunne 0-2 each, Ben O'Brien, Sean Brady, Pat Lyons 0-1 each.

Carrig-Riverstown: Lee Hogan 0-7 (5f), Cathal King and Liam Hoare (2f) 0-2 each, Conor Freeman, David Egan, Andrew Coakley, Mark O'Brien 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

CLODIAGH GAELS: Kevin Kinahan; Dylan Hyland, Mark Kelly,Aaron Flanagan; Joey Keenaghan, Clint Horan, Eoin Dunne; Ben O'Brien, Sean Brady; Ruari Dunne, Liam Langton, Cathal Curran; Cathal Brady, Pat Lyons, Conor Langton. Subs – David Buckley for Curran (55m), Peter Walsh for Sean Brady (59m),

CARRIG-RIVERSTOWN: Liam Hoare; Thomas Hogan, Michaell Fitzgerald, Dylan Hogan; Caelum Larkin, Patrick Bergin, Timmy Carey; Cathal King, Joe Hoctor; Conor Freeman, Lee Hogan, David Egan; Andrew Coakley, Brendan Hoctor, Peter King. Subs – Mark O'Brien for Fitzgerald (HT), Conor McDowell for Brendan Hoctor (HT), Conor Hanamy for Hogan, inj. (45m).

Referee – Shane Guinan (Drumcullen).

REFEREE WATCH

Shane Guinan had a good, steady game. He was fair, got most calls right and explained decisions to players. Clodiagh Gaels were very relieved when he opted to give yellow rather than red cards to Dylan Hyland and C-R's Mark O'Brien after a brief injury time flare up. They swung punches each other, could very easily have seen red and the loss of Hyland would have been a complete disaster for Clodiagh Gaels as the Geashill man had also missed last year's final through suspension.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Cathal Brady's second goal before half time was a great score and had a huge influence on Clodiagh Gaels not being truly extended in the second half.

VENUE WATCH

O'Connor Park was in great condition.

WHAT'S NEXT

Clodiagh Gaels play Kilcormac-Killoughey or Lusmagh in the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Carrig-Riverstown - 13 (5 in first half); Clodiagh Gaels – 19 (8 in first half).

Yellow cards: Clodiagh Gaels – 1 (Dylan Hyland); Carrig-Riverstown – 2 (Timmy Carey and Mark O'Brien).

Red cards: 0.