St Catherine's edge out Sligo champs Easkey to reach All-Ireland junior hurling final
Eoin Condon and Conor Hegarty celebrate after the final whistle. Picture: Ray Ryan
ST Catherine’s have marched on into the All-Ireland Junior Club Hurling final after a one-point victory over Sligo and Connacht champions Easkey in Ballinasloe.
It was nip and tuck throughout until Catherine’s hit a purple patch in the closing ten minutes to hit four points unanswered and opened up a three-point gap that Easkey could not find a way to close in the remaining time.
Both teams struggled with their shooting throughout this game; a fact that will matter little to St Catherine’s now on their way to an All-Ireland final but will prove a sting in the tail to Easkey hitting the road back home to Sligo.
Easkey led by one on a scoreline of 0-6 to 0-5 going at the break but it was a half defined by poor shot selection as Easkey dropped four chances short into the hands of the St Catherine’s custodian Eoin Davis while St Catherine’s racked up five wides. Matthew Mulcahy opened the Munster side’s account with a point from play.
The Junior Championship’s leading scorer Andrew Kilcullen provided half of the Sligo men’s tally in the first half, opening their scoring with a delicious point from a sideline ball. Eoin Condon fired Catherine’s back in front before Kilcullen and Fionnan Cawley pointed to put Easkey ahead. Matthew Mulcahy popped up again to make it level once more, after Easkey spurned a number of chances, in a back-and-forth game.
Mikey Gordon’s turned over Kieran Neville and fired over for Easkey but Kyle Wallace responded again for Catherine’s. Kilcullen and Cawley took scores back-to-back for Easkey. Sean O’Donoghue’s free put a point between the sides at half-time.
The Saints took the first three points of the second half to put themselves two in front. Within sixty seconds of the restart, they were ahead as O’Donoghue added his second point of the game and Brian Mulcahy added another. Seven minutes later, O’Donoghue put them two in front. The profligate nature of the game remained as both sides struggled for scores.
Easkey eventually got themselves back in front, taking the next three scores unanswered. Fionnan Cawley scored his third point of the afternoon and Kilcullen his fourth from a free. Rory McHugh added the next for the Blues.
St Catherine’s hit their stride in the closing quarter and opened up an unassailable lead. Kyle Wallace came to the fore in this period, winning possession in the middle of the park well and taking two points from play to boot. The Ballynoe men’s keeper Eoin Davis scored a massive point, a free from beyond the 65 metre line either side of Wallace’s two points. Full-forward Eoin Condon’s next point was massive, opening up a three-point gap and leaving Easkey needing a big moment in the closing stages to get back into this game.
The west Sligo men pursued it with great vigour and into the first minute of the three-minute injury-time period, Andrew Kilcullen brought their points tally into double figures with a free. Substitute Adam Rolston fired over a fine score to cut the gap to a point. There was no time for Easkey to manifest a levelling point and the final whistle came as sweet relief to St Catherine’s.
K Wallace 0-3, S O'Donoghue 0-3 (0-2 f), M Mulcahy, E Condon 0-2 each, B Mulcahy 0-1, E Davis 0-1 f.
A Kilcullen 0-5 (0-3 f, 0-1 sl), F Cawley 0-3, A Rolston, M Gordon, R McHugh 0-1 each.
E Davis; F O’Connell, E O’Riordan, L O’Connor; K O’Donoghue, O Fitzgerald, K Neville; K Wallace, S Cotter; W Leamy, R Galvin, S O’Donoghue; B Mulcahy, E Condon, M Mulcahy.
K Barry for M Mulcahy (45), G O’Brien for Leamy (51), C Hegarty for K O’Donoghue (53), E Wallace for O’Connor (56).
J Gordon; E Rua McGowan, G Connolly, D Hanley; N Kilcullen, R McHugh, R Molloy; M Gordon, F Cawley; F Moylan, J McHugh, J Weir; T Cawley, A Kilcullen, F Connolly.
S Molloy for McGowan (52), A Rolston for Molloy (56).
Peter Owens
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