Sarsfields capture Premier 1 Hurling Shield with big win over Glen Rovers

Sarsfields 3-18 

Glen Rovers 1-10 

SARSFIELDS produced a classy brand of hurling to defeat Glen Rovers in the Rebel Og Premier 1 Minor hurling Challenge Cup final at Pairc Ui Rinn on Monday night.

In a game that failed to ignite at any stage the physical power of Sars saw off the Glen challenge without too much fuss over the hour.

Sars got off to the perfect start courtesy of consecutive points from Darragh O’Connor and John Leddy in the opening three minutes.

In between those scores Sars should have raised the opening green flag but a superb save denied Barry O’Flynn with a goal at his mercy.

Credit to O’Flynn he made no mistake in the eight minute when he punished poor Glen defending with a fabulous strike to the corner of the net.

Stephen Lynam did get the Blackpool side up and running in the seventh minute but with Sars punishing their poor defending it was no surprise they led 1-4 to 0-1 in the 12th minute.

Lynam looked the only Glen forward capable of testing Sars defence and it looked ominously bad for them in the 15th minute when Conor O’Rourke drilled a low shot past the bewildered keeper.

The tempo of the game was slow as the Glen continued to over rely on Lynam and when he struck over his fifth point in the 22nd minute it reduced the deficit to five points.

Indeed Lynam will be wondering how he managed to miss a clear goal chance on his next possession but credit to the Sars keeper he managed to parry it to safety for a 65.

Incredibly Lynam was in the thick of the action again with three minutes remaining but his shot this time came back off the post.

The Sars scoring certainly dried up after their impressive opening quarter and after a 14 minute drought up to the 29th minute they finished the half with three unanswered points to command a 2-7 to 0-6 interval lead.

On the restart a brace of Barry O’Flynn points set the ball rolling for Sars and although Lynam brought his tally to 1-5 with a goal in the 38th minute that’s as good as it got for them.

The Riverstown side didn’t have to come out of first gear as they scored at will and when Joe Leddy powered home their third goal with two minutes remaining this game was well and truly over.

In the end the Glen had few answers to their opponents class and physicality as Sars were crowned champions with relative ease.

Scorers for Sarsfields: J Leddy 1-4 (0-2f,65), D O’Connor 0-7 (0-3f), B O’Flynn 1-2, C O’Rourke 1-0, S Gallagher 0-2, D O’Callaghan, D O’Donovan, S McNamara (0-1 each).

Glen Rovers: S Lynam 1-7 (0-3f), C Walsh, K Kelleher, S Lawlor (0-1 each).

Sarsfields: J Austin; J Grainger, J McMahon, A McCarthy; J Huggins, J Leddy, D O’Callaghan; S McNamara, R Hurley; C O’Rourke, S Gallagher, S King; H Jones, D O’Connor, B O’Flynn.

Subs: D O’Donovan for H Jones (h-t), R Barry for J Huggins (48), H McCarthy for C O’Rourke (54).

Glen Rovers: B Heffernan; J Murphy, K Kelleher, E Virgo; A Clifford, C Maguire, C McCarthy; S Lawlor,J Brosnan; E O’Sullivan, C Walsh, C Hurley; J O’Sullivan, O O’Connell, S Lynam.

Subs: T J Kenneally for C Hurley (35), S O’Donovan for J Brosnan (56), A McCarthy-Coade for M Gayfer (59), J Dorney for J O’Sullivan (59).

Referee: Niall O’Neill (Midleton).