Glen Rovers pull off crucial minor hurling win away to Douglas

Douglas 1-16 Glen Rovers 2-16

GLEN Rovers' Premier 1 Minor Hurling Championship victory away to Douglas means the two clubs, along with Inniscarra, have finished level on points in their group.

The result means one of the three clubs will be drawn out of the hat by Rebel Óg as group winner, with the other two in a playoff, as scoring difference does not count.

Douglas put over three quick scores just before halftime, two from star forward Ronan Dooley and one from Cork U16 Mark O’Brien, to lead 0-10 to 0-8.

Facing elimination from the championship, the second half belonged to the Glen. Their physicality and determination carried them as they scored 2-2 in 10 minutes to take control. The first goal came from half-back Jake Brosnan after 37 minutes, using his pace before smashing the ball past Michael Kelly.

The second goal five minutes later was a pure manifestation of the fight that Glen had been showing all game. A scramble involving six players and Douglas keeper Kelly resulted in Glen corner-forward Jack O’Sullivan eventually tapping the sliotar into an empty net. 

In the meantime, Diarmuid Wall continued to put over score after score from placed balls and play in what was an emphatic personal display.

It would have been easy for Douglas to crumble but they fought back to within two and then bagged a goal of their own thanks to sub Darragh Taaffe. Catching the sliotar on the edge of the square, Taaffe’s powerful effort whizzed into the top left corner to put the home side ahead.

But, remaining composed, Glen Rovers rallied and posted five massive scores coming down the stretch, three from main man Wall and one each from Conor McCarthy and Evan McGuckin, to take the spoils.

Scorers for Douglas: R Dooley 0-10 (0-2 f), D Taaffe 1-0, M O’Brien, T Lucas 0-2 each, D Murray, J O’Brien 0-1 each.

Glen Rovers: D Wall 0-12 (0-6 f, 0-2 65), J Brosnan, J O’Sullivan 1-0 each, G O’Callaghan, S Lawlor, C McCarthy, E McGuckin 0-1 each.

DOUGLAS: M Kelly; L Kelleher, B O’Hehir, S O’Sullivan; D Murray, D Reddington, D MacFadden; O Haynes Barry, J O’Brien; J Mouret, R Dooley, S Coakley; T Lucas, D O’Connell, M O’Brien.

Subs: C Hallihan for D O’Connell (40), D Taaffe for D Murray (45), F Gallagher for T Lucas (56), W Banks for C MacFadden (58).

GLEN ROVERS: J Goulding; K Cronin, O O’Connell, J Murphy; C Connolly, J Brosnan, C Hughes; M Gayfer, C McCarthy; M Brosnan, D Wall, A Clifford; J O’Sullivan, G O’Callaghan, S Lawlor.

Subs: E MacGuckin for A Clifford (38), J Brosnan for S Lawlor (42), D Heffernan for C Hughes (58).

Referee: Simon Stokes (Tullylease).