Conor Lenihan in sharp form as Erin's Own outclass Éire Óg
Conor Lenihan of Erin's Own battles with Mark Brady of Éire Óg, during their SHL clash at Caherlag. Picture: David Keane.
ANOTHER impressive step in Erin’s Own's recovery in the RedFM Division 2 Senior Hurling League as they accounted for Éire Óg at Caherlag on Friday.
Erin’s Own played the classier hurling and a seven-point contribution from Conor Lenihan proved crucial in this win.
The game started with both teams playing high energy hurling as a Joe Cooper point opening the scoring in the second minute.
Erin’s Own replied in style with a stunning goal as good movement from James O’Carroll saw him take an assist from Conor Lenihan before placing the ball to the empty net.
In the opening quarter, they were evenly matched and when Eoin O’Shea split the posts in the 16th minute with a fabulous strike it edged the visitors ahead by the minimum 0-7 to 1-3 that brought his game total to four points.
Referee Pa O'Driscoll left an awful lot of contact go for both sides which made this game an interesting spectacle. Erin’s Own kicked on and full-forward Lenihan's second point with eight minutes remaining to the interval gave his side a four-point lead.
They was fierce commitment from all the players to the dirty ball department and Joe Cooper could have brought the teams on parity but his chance was off target. O’Shea’s sixth point of the half brought an end to an interesting period with the Caherlag outfit leading 1-10 to 0-10 at the break.
On the restart, both sides traded points in the opening three minutes but the biggest problem for Eire Og was on the scoring front as following a Cooper point in the 38th minute they failed to land a blow for the next 15 minutes. In this period Erin’s Own were the dominant force as they sprayed passes all over the pitch and punished Éire Óg with some clinical points.
The home side did have a clear chance of registering a second goal when John Kavanagh soloed towards goal but just as he was about to pull the trigger the tracking back Daire McCarthy produced a miraculous block.
In the closing five minutes the tempo dropped and with both sides turning the ball over it was evident the sound of the final whistle would bring relief to all concerned.
Kevin Hallissey did manage a goal with the last puck of the game but all it did was bring respectability to the scoreboard for Éire Óg.
C Lenihan 0-7 (0-3 f), J O’Carroll 1-1, B Óg Murphy 0-4 (0-2, 0-1 65), T Foley 0-3, R O’Regan 0-2, M O’Carroll, C O’Callaghan 0-1 each.
E O’Shea 0-11 (0-7 f), K Hallissey 1-0 f, J Cooper 0-2, D Healy 0-2.
S Bowen; C O’Connor, S Broderick, C Dunphy; R O’Regan, C Dooley, B Og Murphy; J Kavanagh, C McDonnell; R Blackton, T Foley, J O’Carroll; M O’Carroll, C Lenihan, C O’Callaghan.
A Moynihan for C O’Callaghan (40), C O’Sullivan for R Blackton 949).
E O’Shea; J Kelleher, M Brady, J Mullins; D Dineen, B Corcoran, D Herlihy; D McCarthy, E Kelleher; B Hurley, Eoin O’Shea, K Hallissey; D Healy, J Cooper, D Coakley.
K Cooper for G Coakley (43).
Pa O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).
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