Valley Rovers land hurling title after thrilling shootout with Belgooly
Valley Rovers' Jason Cronin blocked by Belgooly's Barry Dwyer and Eddie Corkery. Picture: Denis Boyle
Valley Rovers claimed the South East Junior A Hurling League title after a classic game at Kinsale.
The three-point margin really didn’t reflect how close the contest had been.
Had not Eoin O’Donovan blasted wide on 23 minutes or forced a fine save from the Valleys defence on 46 minutes the result may have been different.
Valleys were first to get off the mark with a fine strike from Evan O’Shea before Gary Deane added a second.
Belgooly’s response came from the evergreen Barry Dwyer, who knocked over two points.
With both sides vying to take control, it was Shane O'Leary who nudged the Rovers back in front before Kevin Fitzgerald levelled the contest on eight minutes.
Valleys then hit something of a purple patch with four scores, as O’Riordan replied with a monster free, with the tallies at 0-7 to 0-5 in favour of the rovers on 18 minutes.
From there to the break it was nip and tuck, Dwyer saved from Ciaran McCarthy, as Eddie Corkery, Conor O’Donovan and Dwyer (3) had points.
Three points from O'Shea (2) and Sean McEntee as they found the target for Valleys, left Belgooly leading by a single score at half-time.
Valleys opened the second 30 minutes at a blistering pace with four points in as many minutes, only for Dwyer (2) and O’Donovan to bring their side back into the game.
A point a piece from Fitzgerald and O’Donovan replied to by another O'Leary score had the Belgooly men still leading by a point on 46 minutes.
A nasty injury to Sean Kiely on 49 minutes, when a sliotar hit his face guard seemed to hand the momentum to Valleys, as three unanswered points from the Innishannon outfit had them in front on 0-19 to 0-17 on 52 minutes.
From here to the finish it was all to play for but Belgooly couldn’t make the breakthrough as Eoghan Crowley made sure of the result with the final point.
S O'Leary, E O’Shea (0-3 f, 0-1 65), 0-6 each, S McEntee, C Tahaney 0-3 each, S Ryan, G Deane B McCarty, E Crowley 0-1 each.
B Dwyer (0-6 f, 0-3 65) 0-10, E Corkery, C O'Donovan, K Fitzgerald, E O'Donovan, 0-2 each, G O'Riordan 0-1 each.
A White; C O’Sullivan, B McCarthy, J Cronin; J O’Leary, E Delaney, D Lynch; C McCarthy, G Deane; E O'Shea, C Desmond, S O'Leary; S McEntee, C Taheny, Kevin Dart O’Flynn.
S Ryan for C McCarthy (40), E Crowley for J O'Leary (52).
R Dwyer; C O'Sullivan, N O'Sullivan, J O’Sullivan; D Walsh, G O’Riordan, T O'Donovan; E Corkery, R Reynolds; R Long, B Dwyer, S Kiely; K Fitzgerald, E O’Donovan, C O'Donovan.
J Dwyer for S Kiely (49 inj).
M O'Mahony (Kilbrittain).
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