St Rynagh's hold off final quarter rally from Coolderry to record second win
Coolderry left to rue missed chances as Rynagh's edge towards knock out stages
Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship Round 2
ST RYNAGH'S 0-23
COOLDERRY 1-18
ST RYNAGH'S held off a determined final quarter fightback from Coolderry to record their second victory in this year's Offaly Senior Hurling Championship after a keenly contested game played in Coolderry on Saturday evening.
Leading by seven points heading into the final quarter, St Rynagh's looked well set to claim the points but backed by a strong wind Coolderry fought back and cut the gap to two points on a couple of occasions. However St Rynagh's showed their resilience and picked off points themselves to keep their noses in front and holding off the Coolderry fightback.
Coolderry will look back with regret on a number of missed opportunities, particularly some late in the game when they had momentum. They hit 10 wides in the second half and some of those efforts were careless pots at goal when they could have shown a bit more patience or composure, which might have enabled them to get something out of the game.
St Rynagh's were quick out of the blocks and they opened up a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after just 10 minutes while wind assisted. Coolderry did get the gap back to the minimum early in the final quarter but St Rynagh's pushed on from their and had established a five point lead at half time, 0-13 to 0-8.
With the wind freshening, one wondered would that be enough and when Coolderry scored two points in the first three minutes of the second half to leave just three in it, the pendulum looked to have swung in their favour. But that quickly changed as St Rynagh's scored five of the next six points against the wind and opened up a seven point lead. A fortuitous goal gave Coolderry hope but Rynagh's dug in and celebrated a hard earned victory.
Following their win over Birr in the first round, St Rynagh's are now on the brink of claiming their place in the knock out stages of the championship. They have games to come against Kinnitty and Kilcormac/Killoughey and will be confident now of finishing in the top three.
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They played well again in this contest and nonemoreso than where their lead came under threat. With wind advantage they had established an early lead and every time that Coolderry got within touching distance of them, they were able to respond positively by picking off scores at the other end to maintain their advantage and ultimately that proved decisive.
Following their opening round victory over Kilcormac/Killoughey, Coolderry went into the game with a positive frame of mind and were hopeful of building on that victory. In the end they came up short but they did show plenty of battling qualities and had they made the most of their opportunities they could have overturned their opponents. They will be frustrated with some of their misses, particularly in the second half when many long range shots with the wind behind them drifted wide of the posts. Better use of the possession on some of these occasions could have yielded more reward but it wasn't to be on this occasion.
Ben Conneely was excellent at full back for St Rynagh's and Joseph O'Connor and Gary Conneely also performed well in defence. Stephen Quirke did some good work around the middle of the field and in attack, Eoin Woods top scored with 15 points and Evan Houlihan and Jerome Flannery, in the first half, also played well.
Stephen Corcoran made a big contribution for Coolderry while Ajay Cleary, Stephen Burke and William Malone were prominent in defence. David King had a good hour in the middle of the field while in attack Cian Burke and Eoin Burke were best.
St Rynagh's opened the scoring with a point from an Eoin Woods free inside the first minute and Jerome Flannery quickly added to that. Shane Ryan replied with a good point from the right for Coolderry but Jerome Flannery hit the target again for St Rynagh's in the fourth minute. Over the following 10 minutes, Eoin Burke pointed two Coolderry frees with Eoin Woods replying with three frees for Rynagh's to leave them 0-6 to 0-3 ahead midway through the half.
Cian Burke and Eoin Burke cut the lead back to the minimum but Evan Houlihan and Eoin Woods from a free inside his own half restored the three point lead. Stephen Corcoran pointed a long range free for Coolderry but Rynagh's then scored three in quick succession from an Eoin Woods free and further points from Shane Rigney and Jerome Flannery. The sides exchanged a brace of points each from frees, Eoin Burke and Stephen Corcoran on target for Coolderry, and Eoin Woods pointing both for St Rynagh's to give them a 0-13 to 0-8 half time lead.
Coolderry made a quick start to the second half with David King and Cian Burke pointing but St Rynagh's hit back with three points in less than two minutes from Eoin Woods, two from frees and a good point from play. Stephen Corcoran then launched a puck out which bounced in the opposition goalmouth and over the bar for an extraordinary point.
Coolderry started to register wides and Rynagh's had a sniff of a goal when Jerome Flannery passed to Aaron Molloy but he was crowded out and Eoin Woods pointed a free in the follow up. Stephen Quirke added another point and they were seven clear. Cian Burke and Eoin Woods (free) swapped points and Rynagh's were seven points up going into the final quarter.
Stephen Corcoran pointed another free and Cian Burke quickly added another from midfield. Almost from the puck out he launched another effort goalwards and as a forward tried to connect overhead it went all the way to the Rynagh's net and suddenly there were just two points in it.
Rynagh's responded positively and Evan Houlihan took a pass from Stephen Quirke and pointed. Stephen Corcoran and Eoin Woods exchanged points from frees before Eoin Burke collected a sideline cut from Marc Ryan and pointed to leave just two in it with nine minutes left. Eoin Woods responded with a good point from play and Shane Rigney added another to stretch the lead to four. Stephen Quirke had a goal effort well saved by Stephen Corcoran and Evan Houlihan pulled the rebound wide. Cian Burke cut the gap to three and Eoin Burke added another from a free in injury time but Coolderry ended the game with three wides and some frustration that they couldn't take anything from the game.
MATCH ANALYSIS
THE TEAMS
ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Daire Daly, Ben Conneely, Dominic Healy; Gary Conneely, Joseph O'Connor, Pat Camon; Ciaran Daly, Stephen Quirke; Eoin Woods, Evan Houlihan, Shane Rigney; Darragh Scully, Jerome Flannery, Aaron Molloy. Subs. Ronan Hughes (for Pat Camon, 46 mins), Niall Flannery (for Jerome Flannery, 51 mins),
COOLDERRY: Stephen Corcoran; Stephen Burke, Ajay Cleary, Joey McLoughney; Marc Ryan, Will Malone, Conor Molloy; David King, Shane Connolly; Cian Burke, Eoghan Parlon, Andrew Hogan; Eoin Burke, Shane Ryan, Eoin Ryan. Subs. Andy Connolly (for Shane Ryan, half time), Gearoid McCormick (for Eoghan Parlon, half time), Declan Parlon (for Shane Connolly, 51 mins).
REFEREE: Matthew Farrell
MAN OF THE MATCH
Cian Burke had a fine game for Coolderry, scoring 1-5, while Ben Conneely was excellent in the St Rynagh's defence. I've gone with Eoin Woods, who scored 15 of Sst Rynagh's points, 13 of them from placed balls. He did a lot of good work in general play, picked off two points from play at vital times, and he just kept the scoreboard ticking over to keep Rynagh's in front and prevent Coolderry from getting any closer to the Shannonsiders.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
“You don't write that down very often,” commented the spectator next to me after goalkeeper Stephen Corcoran pointed for Coolderry five minutes into the second half. It wasn't that the goalkeeper scored, as Corcoran has been a regular scorer for Coolderry, but the fact that the score came direct from a puck out. Backed by the strong wind, his puck out landed in the St Rynagh's goalmouth, bounced on the hard ground and up and over the crossbar. Defintely one worth noting!
REFEREE WATCH
Matthew Farrell kept a good rein on the contest. There were the usual complaints from the sideline but he got the vast majority of the decisions correct. He did have to pull up the game for a lot of frees and did his best to allow advantage where possible and overall did a good job.
WHAT’S NEXT
St Rynagh's will play Kinnitty in their next game in Birr on Saturday August 8th, while the previous event Coolderry will meet Birr in Shinrone.
VENUE WATCH
Coolderry had plenty of stewards on duty to ensure parking was quick and easy on arrival. Unfortunately programmes were in short supply and ran out a good bit before throw in. The pitch was in good order and the firmness was evident by Stephen Corcoran's puckout bouncing over the crossbar.
STATISTICS
Wides; St Rynagh's 9 (6 in first half) Coolderry 13 (3 in first half)
Yellow Cards: St Rynagh's 0 Coolderry 1 (Conor Molloy)
Black Cards: None
Red Cards: None
THE SCORERS
St Rynagh's; Eoin Woods (0-15, 0-13 frees), Jerome Flannery (0-3), Evan Houlihan, Shane Rigney (0-2 each), Stephen Quirke (0-1).
Coolderry; Cian Burke (1-5), Eoin Burke (0-6, 0-4 frees), Stephen Corcoran (0-5, 0-4 frees), Shane Ryan, David King (0-1 each).