Darren Wyse denies Barryroe as Mayfield hurlers avoid being dragged into relegation battle

Mayfield 1-21 Barryroe 1-18 

Mayfield put in an outstanding performance against Barryroe as they looked to avoid being dragged into a relegation battle in the Co-Op Superstores Premier Junior Hurling Championship at Belgooly on Saturday.

Barryroe were looking to book a semi-final spot but missed out and now face Cloughduv in the quarters.

The Seadún side left it all on the pitch, with outstanding performances from Nicky Kelly, Darren Wyse and David O’Neill. From the outset, Mayfield were first to the ball, and they had secured a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 10 minutes, with Kelly claiming two of the scores.

An injury to Brian O’Donovan didn’t help the Carbery side’s cause, but his replacement, Donal O’Buchalla, secured 1-2 for the remainder of the game. Indeed, his introduction almost led to a goal, but Wyse produced the first of three amazing saves over the 60 minutes.

As both sides began to find their range, the score favoured Mayfield 0-8 to 0-5 with 11 minutes to the break, with the pick of the scores coming from a Tomas O’Buchalla point.

An exchange of scores, including another point from the evergreen Kelly, had the score at 0-9 to 0-7 before he struck for a goal four minutes later, on 27 minutes.

From there to the break, Barryroe outscored their opponents by three points to one, with Luke Murphy notching up his third free of the half, leaving the tallies at 1-10 to 0-10.

Despite an early free from Michael Whelton in the second half, Mayfield were dominating this contest, leading by 1-15 to 0-11 on 40 minutes, with O’Neill claiming two of the scores.

The gap had reached 1-19 to 0-12 on 49 minutes, but Barryroe outscored their opponents by 0-6 to 0-2, with O’Buchalla at centre-forward for the remaining ten minutes working to bring his side back in the contest.

Despite Wyse finally being beaten on 62 minutes by a Donal O’Buchalla shot, they deservedly hung on for the win.

Scorers for Mayfield: N Kelly 1-8 (0-5 f), D O’Neill 0-5, D Lucey 0-4, D Malone 0-2, E Scanlon, Michael J Coffey 0-1 each.

Barryroe: D Ó Buchalla 1-3, L Murphy 0-4 (0-3 f), R O’Donovan 0-3 (0-1 f), T Ó Buchalla 0-2, J Maloney, M Whelton (f), A McSweeney, J Murphy, D McCarthy, S Holland 0-1 each.

MAYFIELD: D Wyse; S Keegan, D O’Donovan; L Malone, K Punch, S O’Donovan, G Lehane; D O’Neill, E O’Sullivan; M Coffey, D Malone, E Scanlon; D Lucey, N Kelly, T Horgan.

Subs: F McSweeney for S Keegan (HT), C O’Donovan for T Horgan (49).

BARRYROE: M Whelton; D Maloney, J O’Brien, D O’Sullivan; K Sheedy, C Dineen, J Maloney; A McSweeney, D McCarthy; B O’Donovan, T Ó Buchalla, J Murphy; L Murphy, S Holland, R O’Donovan.

Subs: D Ó Buchalla for B O’Donovan (10, injury), S O’Riordan for K Sheedy (HT), C O’Regan for S Holland (40).

Referee: Tom Manley (Inniscarra).