Rejuvenated Belmont leave stuttering St Rynagh's staring group exit in the face

BELMONT continued their rehabilitation with a completely deserved win over St Rynagh's in the Senior Hurling Championship in Banagher on Friday evening.

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

Belmont 0-20

St Rynagh's 0-14

After drawing with an understrength Kilcormac-Killoughey in the first round, this was a season changing win for a fired up Belmont and puts them within touching distance of qualification for the quarter-finals.

With two defeats out of two, it leaves a shell shocked St Rynagh's staring an early exit in the face and they are going to have to beat Kilcormac-Killoughey to have any chance of survival. On current form, that is a huge ask and St Rynagh's had absolutely no complaints at their defeat as Belmont were clearly the better team on the day.

With their star player Oisin Kelly still in a America, this represents a fairly sensational turnaround for Belmont who had their worse season in some time in 2024. They are playing with terrific heart and spirit and they had heroes all over the field here, pulling clear before half time and maintaining their advantage in a thrilling second half.

There was almost nothing between the teams for much of a very closely contested first half but three points at the start and four at the end saw Belmont grab a 0-11 to 0-6 half time lead.

On a perfect evening for hurling with almost no wind,. Belmont started very well with points from Conor Dunican, David Nally and Colin Egan in the first seven minutes. St Rynagh's settled down after this and began to make inroads. They had it back to a point, 0-4 to 0-3 after thirteen minutes but couldn't get on level terms. They were 0-5 to 0-4 and 0-6 to 0-5 behind before David Nally's free edged Belmont two clear in the 25^th minute.

The game changed coming up to half time. St Rynagh's had a great goal chance in the 26^th minute but the excellent Darragh Flynn denied Shane Rigney with a super block. Aidan Treacy went short with the '65' and Rigney won a free that Stephen Quirke converted to make it 0-7 to 0-6.

Belmont finished with all guns blazing. David Nally got a '65' and three in a row from Adam Egan gave them a very nice five point half time lead.

The opening few minutes of the second half was decisive in terms of the result as Belmont got three of the first four points, all from David Nally to push the gap out to seven, 0-14 to 0-7. St Rynagh's almost got a goal in the 36^th minute when Stephen Quirke hit the post with a fairly simple free and the ball fell to Aaron Molloy but he lost possession at the crucial moment.

An instant point from the on fire Nally gave Belkmont an eight point lead and it was theirs to lose. St Rynagh's rallied superbly to get back into it. They had only got three points from play after 39 minutes and scoring was their major problem but they finally began to find the range when they really needed to. Darragh Scully, Aaron Molloy, Aaron Kenny and Shane Rigney all got points from play in a great spell of pressure and there was only four points in it.

It looked like St Rynagh's had all the momentum but unlike the K-K game when they stopped scoring late on, Belmont were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over on this occasion. David Nally settled them with a free, Aidan Treacy replied for Rynagh's and Nally restored a five point lead with a sensational 46^th minute score.

St Rynagh's lost the game in the next few minutes. Shane Rigney was penalised for over carrying when cutting in along the end line with only one thing on his mind but the real damage was done by poor wides from Darragh Scully, Stephen Quirke and Aidan Treacy.

Conor Clancy kept St Rynagh's alive with a fine save from Nally, who was on advantage and tapped over the free for a 0-18 to 0-12 lead with ten minutes left. St Rynagh's had to get goals but Belmont defended magnificently, managing to hit the 20 point milestone while Rynagh's points from Aaron Kenny and Aaron Molloy, who went for goal but flashed it over the bar, were nowhere near enough.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

David Nally (Belmont): Belmont had contenders all over the field. Darragh Flynn gave a master class in defensive play at corner back, clearing so much ball and getting in the crucial hooks and flicks that make such a difference. Jack Clancy was inspirational at centre back and Colin Egan showed his vast experience at midfield and late on at full forward, brilliantly winning one long ball in there and being fouled for the free. Adam Egan had a brilliant spell coming up to half time – on a different day, Darragh Flynn or Jack Clancy would get the nod but his influence was so profound that David Nally has to be man of the match.

In terms of winning the game, he showed terrific leadership. He stood up to be counted when St Rynagh's turned the screw in the second half, won crucial ball, converted his frees and got excellent scores from play. A 13 point haul, five from play, tells its own story while he also showed his hurling brain by looking for and winning crucial frees in the second half, tempting St Rynagh's players to foul. It was a fantastic performance by a player currently in great form in both hurling and football.

On a disappointing, thought provoking day for St Rynagh's, Ben Conneely had a great game at the heart of the defence. He was a real man of the match contender as he did so much to keep St Rynagh's going but he reached a standard that other players only achieved briefly and most fell well short of. Conor Clancy was flawless in goals, Simon Og Lyons and Matthew Maloney had good spells in defence and Joey O'Connor tried to rally the forces with surging runs at the Belmont defence. This game, however, provided further evidence that St Rynagh's are heading into a transitional period and an group exit would be very foreign territory for them.

THE SCORERS

Belmont: David Nally 0-13 (7f and 1 '65'), Adam Egan 0-3, Colin Egan 0-2, Adam Nugent and Conor Dunican 0-1 each.

St Rynagh's: Aidan Treacy (1f) and Stephen Quirke (3f) 0-3 each, Shane Rigney, Aaron Molloy and Aaron Kenny 0-2 each, Joey O'Connor and Darragh Scully 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

BELMONT: Damien Egan; Darragh Flynn, Conor Butler, Patrick Taaffe; Conor Kenny, Jack Clancy, Shane Nally; Colin Egan, Ronan Flynn; David Nally, Darragh Corbett, James Nally; Adam Nugent, Adam Egan, Conor Dunican. Subs – Ronan McEvoy for Nugent (47m),

ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Keelan Rigney, Simon Og Lyons, Dominic Healy; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Aidan Treacy; Ciaran Daly, Paul Cannon; Shane Rigney, Joey O'Connor, Aaron Molloy; Darragh Scully, Stephen Quirke, Aaron Kenny. Subs – Daniel Healy for Daly (43m), Ronan Hughes for Quirke (52m), Eoin Woods for Scully (52m),

Referee – Shane Guinan, Drumcullen.

REFEREE WATCH

Shane Guinan had a really good game with almost nothing contentious and neither side had many grounds for complaint. The call against Shane Rigney was borderline questionable but he may have taken a couple of steps and the referee was very consistent with penalising this.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

It was clear at half time that St Rynagh's would need a goal to win and a big turning point came in the 36^th minute when Aaron Molloy failed to convert his chance after Stephen Quirke's free hit the post. Belmont swept straight into attack with David Nally firing over the easiest of his five from play. It gave Belmont an eight point lead which was a huge advantage at this stage.

VENUE WATCH

The Banagher pitch was in great order and St Rynagh's hosted the fixture with the professionalism we now take as normal.

WHAT'S NEXT

St Rynagh's play Kilcormac-Killoughey and Belmont have Kinnitty in a Birr double bill.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Rynagh's - 12 (6 in first half); Belmont – 9 (6 in first half).

Yellow cards: Belmont – 1 (Ronan McEvoy); St Rynagh's – 1 (Paul Cannon).

Red cards: 0