Clara/Brosna Gaels impress as they capture Minor B title

CLARA/BROSNA GAELS gave a very impressive performance as they overcame Ballinamere/Durrow by a seven point margin to claim the Kenneth Buggy Cup in an entertaining Minor B hurling competition final played at St Brendan's Park, Birr on Saturday.

Offaly Minor B Hurling Competition Final

CLARA/BROSNA GAELS 1-18
BALLINAMERE/DURROW 2-8

The winners had first advantage of the wind and used it well to build up an 11 point lead at half time and although Ballinamere/Durrow did reduce the gap to four points on a couple of occasions in the third quarter, Clara/Brosna Gaels settled themselves again and extended their lead in the final quarter to seal a deserved victory.

Over the hour Clara/Brosna Gaels were the better team and they picked off their scores well, although they were also guilty of some wasteful shooting and hit a total of 15 wides. They had a good spread of scorers and when the chips were down their big players stood up and carried them through.

Ballinamere/Durrow had to line out without some of their key players, particularly injured captain Dan Ravenhill, while Luke Waters was another absentee, and their absences were felt. Whether their presence would have been sufficient to close the gap between the sides is hard to know, but it certainly would have been closer if they were on the field.

Clara/Brosna Gaels made good use of the wind in the first half and gradually built up their lead. By the midway point of the half they already had 13 shots on goals, eight points and five wides, while in the same period Ballinamere/Durrow had only managed a single point from a free. Clara/Brosna Gaels were a bit wayward with their shooting and hit 10 wides in total in the first half, matching their points tally, and with a little bit more composure could have had an even more commanding lead at half time.

When that lead was down to just four points midway through the second half Clara/Brosna Gaels were under pressure and must have been questioning themselves, but they didn't panic and slowly picked off the points to put daylight between the sides again.

Conor Taylor, Donal Shirley and Ciaran McKeon impressed in the Clara/Brosna Gaels defence, Liam Flynn and Sean Og Foley combined well in the middle of the field and Conor Doyle, Lewis Kavanagh and Greg Byrne were best in attack.

Niall Kelly stormed into the game in the second half for Ballinamere/Durrow and Cian Kinnarney and Martin O'Chealachoir also did well in defence. Stephen Doran was busy around the middle of the field and Simon Drea was the pick of the attack.

Clara/Brosna Gaels made a good start and captain Conor Doyle pointed after just a minute having taken a pass from his county colleague Donal Shirley. Doyle added another from a free and Hugh Murphy and Conor Doyle again made it 0-4 to 0-0 after just five minutes. Donal Shirley scored a fine point after a run out of defence before Ballinamere/Durrow got their first score with a pointed free from Stephen Doran after 10 minutes.

Points from Conor Doyle, Donal Shirley and Greg Byrne made it 0-8 to 0-1 midway through the half.

Ballinamere/Durrow came into it a bit more and hit a couple of wides before Stephen Doran pointed a free after 19 minutes. Sean Og Foley lofted over a huge point from inside his own 65m line and Conor Doyle got a 10th point approaching half time. Then in the last action of the first half Ciaran McKeon came forward but his shot was well saved by Ben Spollen as was the follow up but Lewis Kavanagh pulled on the ball about 20m out and it was deflected past Spollen and into the net to give Clara/Brosna Gaels a 1-10 to 0-2 half time lead.

Ballinamere/Durow got the perfect start to the second half when a long high ball from Niall Kelly ran inside the defence and Simon Drea got to it before goalkeeper Jamie Rigney to divert it to the net and give them a big boost. Niall Kelly pointed a free from inside his own 65m line and straight from the puck out won the ball again and sent it back over the bar and suddenly the gap was down to six points.

Conor Doyle pointed a free for Clara/Brosna Gaels in the sixth minute but two minutes later Ballianmere/Durrow were right back in it when a high ball from Niall Kelly was batted out and Simon Drea won the ball and shot to the net. Conor Doyle pointed another free but Niall Kelly was on target again to leave four it half way through the half.

Three Conor Doyle frees followed by a Lewis Kavanagh point gave Clara/Brosna Gaels some breathing space again. Stephen Doran pulled one back from a free but Donal Shirley linked up again with Conor Doyle to respond immediately. Niall Kelly's '65' and a Simon Drea point cut the gap to six in injury time before Conor Fox had the final say with a Clara/Brosna Gaels point.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

CLARA/BROSNA GAELS: Jamie Rigney; Scott Griffith, Conor Taylor, Ryan Carroll; Donal Shirley, Myles Handy, Ciaran McKeon; Liam Flynn, Sean Og Foley; Ciaran Murphy, Conor Doyle, Evan Cronin; Hugh Murphy, Lewis Kavanagh, Greg Byrne. Subs. Conor Fox (for Evan Cronin, 36 mins), Rhys Johnson (for Hugh Murphy, 49 mins).

BALLINAMERE/DURROW: Ben Spollen; Oisin Cleary, Niall Kelly, Aaron Gorman; Ryan O'Keefe, Cian Kinnarney, Martin O'Chealachoir; Stephen Doran, Adam Spollen; Dan Scully, Darcy Thomas, Cian Doyle; Daire Boland, Simon Drea, Eoin Gaffey. Subs. Sean Kenny (for Eoin Gaffey, 49 mins), Jack Thornton (for Martin O'Chealachoir, 59 mins), Robert Murphy (for Dan Scully, 49 mins), Luke Condron (for Daire Boland, 59 mins), Jamie Leonard (for Adam Spollen, 61 mins), Emmet Buggy (for Oisin Cleary, 61 mins).

REFEREE: Adam Kinahan

MAN OF THE MATCH

Clara/Brosna Gaels captain Conor Doyle led by example all the way. He got things moving with two points in the first two minutes and he finished with 0-11, five points of that from play. He was influential throughout and stood up again in the final quarter when Ballinamere/Durrow had threatened a comeback.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Clara/Brosna Gaels' goal on the stroke of half time gave them an 11 point interval lead and put them in a commanding position. Although Ballinamere/Durrow did get a couple of goals early in the second half, the cushion Clara/Brosna Gaels had gained from that goal enabled them to settle things down again and they pulled away again later in the half.

REFEREE WATCH

Adam Kinahan did a very good job. He was always in command of the game and kept a tight rein on things throughout. He let play flow as much as he could and it was an authoritative performance.

TALKING POINT

Clara/Brosna Gaels responded very well when they came under pressure in the second half. Having gone in at half time leading by 11 points, they saw that whittled down to four with half of the second half to play but they didn't panic and lifted their game again in the final quarter to pull away to win.

WHAT’S NEXT

Clara/Brosna Gaels finish the season as champions.

VENUE WATCH

It was a fine sunny morning but a lot of rain had fallen in the preceding days and the St Brendan's Pak pitch was soft in places. Players did have trouble occasionally keeping their footing but overall the pitch held up well and all other arrangements were in good order.

STATISTICS

Wides; Clara/Brosna Gaels 15 (10 in first half) Ballinamere/Durrow 5 (4 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Clara/Brosna Gaels 2 (Lewis Kavanagh, Greg Byrne) Ballianmere/Durrow 2 (Darcy Thomas, Niall Kelly)

Black Cards: None

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Clara/Brosna Gaels; Conor Doyle (0-11, 0-5 frees, 0-1 '65'), Lewis Kavanagh (1-1), Donal Shirley (0-2), Hugh Murphy, Greg Byrne, Simon Og Foley, Conor Fox (0-1 each).

Ballinamere/Durrow; Simon Drea (2-1), Niall Kelly (0-4, 0-1 free, 0-1 '65'), Stephen Doran (0-3, free).