Hard working St Brendan's show potential in deserved win

A decent looking St Brendan's Community School, Birr outfit, with potential for further improvement, made the semi-finals of the Leinster Colleges Senior “B” Hurling Championship with a hard earned win in Kilkenny on Wednesday afternoon.

Leinster Colleges Senior “B” Hurling Championship quarter-final

St Brendan's Community School, Birr 2-18

Gorey Community School 1-15

Pushed particularly hard by a very honest, if limited, Gorey Community School in the first half, the Offaly students controlled most of the second half, getting away for a fully deserved win.

As a unit, they were hard working, diligent and focused on doing the basics well while a handful of players put their hands up with some really good individual performances for a win that was not exactly comfortable but was on the cards from early in the second half.

The winners laid a powerful foundation with a flying start that yielded four points in three minutes, a free from Eddie Carty and points from play from Andrew Hogan, Sean Carey and Eddie Carty. A very good fifth minute goal from the very effective Tom O'Dwyer made it 1-4 to 0-1 – O'Dwyer finished well after referee Sean McMahon allowed the advantage when Eddie Carty was taken out of it.

With Gorey using midfielder Cormac Doyle as a sweeper, they looked shell-shocked and they did very well to get back into it with three quick fire points in the space of a minute cutting the gap to three points and settling them.

The first half settled down into an absorbing, very entertaining, ding dong battle after this with every possession hard earned, plenty of turnovers and good hurling. There was almost nothing between the teams and Gorey were 1-8 to 0-7 behind when Conor Fanning netted after a short puckout was overturned – the Gorey sweeper resulted in Birr goalkeeper Kieran Coughlan mixing short puckouts with long ones.

An excellent Sean Carey point made it 1-10 to 1-8 at half time and it looked certain to go down to the wire.

It was only late on that St Brendan's could relax but they had a bit of margin from error from 45 seconds after the restart when Eddie Carty got in for a clinical goal and a five point lead.

Crucially Gorey got the next three points, all from the outstanding Conor Fanning to bring the deficit down to two but that was the closest they got. They were 2-11 to 1-12 and 2-12 to 1-13 behind after 39 and 47 minutes but were on the back foot for extended periods, doing everything under fierce pressure, as St Brendan's work rate and intensity increased.

The Birr school did leave the door open longer than they should have as they briefly ran into free taking difficulties. Sean Carey was wide with a '65' he would expect to point and Eddie Carty under-hit two frees that were well within his range but it was also clear that St Brendan's now had the measure of their opponents.

Kieran Coughlan made a smart save from sub Ruadhan Cullen in the 50^th minute, making amends for not dealing fully with a long ball in. Sean Carey converted an excellent free from their half of the field to give Birr a 2-13 to 1-13 lead with eight minutes left and they were relentlessly impressive from here to the final whistle.

Points from Carey, Eddie Carty and Harry O'Sullivan gave them a 2-16 to 1-13 lead with four minutes of normal time plus four of injury time left. There was ample time for Gorey to rescue it but their race was run as both sides got two points apiece late on.

MATCH ANALYSIS

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MAN OF THE MATCH

Sean Carey (St Brendan's CS): Sean Carey had a super game for St Brendan's at midfield. The Seir Kieran club man got seven points, three of them from play and didn't drop his head when he was off target with a couple of long range frees. His support play between defence and attack was excellent and he won more than his share of breaks and rucks in a really good display.

St Brendan's win was fashioned on a collectively solid display while Barry Bennett, Joey McLoughney and Eddie Carty also produced compelling performances with Harry O'Sullivan finishing very well and several other players having good spells.

Liam Kenny and Eoin Hughes were outstanding at the heart of the Gorey defence in the first half but St Brendan's were better at keeping the ball away from them in the second half. Gorey were way too reliant on Conor Fanning up front and while he was excellent, he could not do it all on his own.

THE SCORERS

St Brendan's CS: Eddie Carty 1-6 (4f), Sean Carey 0-7 (4f), Harry O'Sullivan 0-3,Tom O'Dwyer 1-0, Noel Standish and Andrew Hogan 0-1 each.

Gorey CS: Conor Fanning 1-10 (7f and 1 '65'), Eoin Hughes and Ted Sheehan 0-2 each, Cormac Doyle 0-1.

THE TEAMS

ST BRENDAN'S CS, BIRR: Kieran Coughlan; Philip Larkin, Michael Dooley, Darragh Carty; Darragh Hoyne, Barry Bennett, Joey McLoughney; Sean Carey, Jack Collins; Noel Standish, Andrew Hogan, Tom O'Dwyer; Eddie Carty, Harry O'Sullivan, Ruari Pilkington. Subs – Callum Connolly for Pilkington (34m), Ben Younge for Hoyne (59m).

GOREY CS: Jack Fanning; Cian Meleady, Liam Kenny, Cathal Fitzpatrick; Alex Carton, Eoin Hughes, Emmett Slaytor; Giovani Doyle, Cormac Doyle; Adam Furlong, Ted Sheehan, Eoin Kinsella; Jamie Hughes, Darragh Forde, Conor Fanning. Subs – Cian Keating for Jamie Hughes (39m), Ruadhan Cullen for Forde (48m).

Referee – Sean McMahon, Kilkenny.

REFEREE WATCH

Sean McMahon handled the game very well. He had neutral umpires, though the absence of neutral linesmen was noticeable on at least a couple of occasions – that can't be helped with schools fixtures. He was consistent, allowing a very good advantage for Birr's early goal, communicated well with both teams and there were no big issues.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The free Sean Carey slotted straight between the posts in the 52^nd minute from inside his own half was memorable for a couple of reasons. It gave them a three point gap at a stage when Gorey were still alive and provided the springboard for the push for home. It also came after St Brendan's had missed a few frees and there may have been a temptation for their mentors to implement a plan B. Carey, however, had no compunction about stepping forward and he duly delivered.

VENUE WATCH

The Kilkenny training ground in Dunmore was in excellent condition with the pitch very good for this time of the year. It was a fine venue for this fixture.

WHAT'S NEXT

St Brendan's go into the semi-finals against Cistercian of Roscrea or Ardscoil Ris of Dublin, who meet on Monday.

STATISTICS

Wides: St Brendan's CS – 8 (3 in first half); Gorey CS – 6 (4 in first half).

Yellow cards: 0

Red cards: 0