SHC
MLR 2-14 NAOMH BRÍD 0-7
MAJOR fears surround the fitness of Carlow captain Mark Brennan’s fitness ahead of the Christy Ring Cup final.
The Naomh Bríd man had to be withdrawn in the opening quarter of their important clash with Mount Leinster Rangers and manager Eoin Garvey didn’t try to side step the issue.
“He has a groin problem but hopefully he will be okay for the Christy Ring. If you saw the ball that he hurled over his left shoulder on the sideline, well it tweaked before that and I didn’t know it.
“He felt it again so he had to come off. I am not qualified in that area but it needed rest and icing. Hopefully we can get the injury right.”
Carlow hurling brethren will say Amen to that.
The match itself was one many people were looking forward to but maybe they were expecting too much.
After a pulsating and heartstopping county final last year this game at McGrath Park was never even going to come close to the drama which unfolded that particular day.
Afterwards Rangers selector John Coleman said his team was not even thinking about the last time that both sides met in the championship.
“To be honest it didn’t matter who we got in the first round. Our aim is to get to the semi-final first and foremost and that is two points on the way. We just wanted to win,” he said.
“Sure it was a typical first-round game. Tight and tough in the first half but we got a bit of a run on them in the second half.
“We’ll take what comes our way tonight but it will have no bearing on the rest of the championship. A win is a win and it is two points on the board,” he said while expressing satisfaction with the overall Rangers performance.
“It didn’t always flow for us but the team worked hard. You couldn’t complain about their effort and application to the game and that was pleasing.”
The opening exchanges suggested both sides were very much up for the occasion. By the ninth minute they shared six points each with rival marksmen Sean Michael Murphy and Brendan Lawler pointing two frees each.
But from the moment that Willie Hickey found John Coady in space and the centre-half forward pointed, a Rangers win looked very much on the cards. Hickey himself added another point and a Murphy brace brought his first half total to four points.
In the closing minutes of the half Hugh Kelly raised a white flag for Naomh Bríd but one sensed the game was slipping away from his side as they trailed 0-8 to 0-4.
Immediately after the restart Michael Cowman raised a white flag but the game ended as a contest in a seven-minute spell when Rangers scored 1-3 without reply. Coleman believed that Willie Hickey’s crucial goal was opportunistic.
“I thought Dessie Shaw was going to get there first but Willie got it. That is why he is in there. He can be out of a game but his finishing is lethal when he gets the chance.”
Keeper James Kehoe had also committed himself and once Hickey got the vital touch the sliotar was destined for the net. He was also on hand ten minutes later to deflect the ball under the crossbar when the unfortunate Kehoe parried a goal-bound effort by Sean Michael Murphy.
It summed up an eminently forgettable afternoon for the county champions and Eoin Garvey didn’t look for excuses.
“From our point of view it was disappointing. We were completely outclassed and you cannot put any other spin on that.
“They were ahead of us in every facet of the game. After that you can do only one or two things. You take a step back and see what you can do to come up to that level or you just wither away.
“Hopefully we will be for the former rather than the latter. We are not hurling anywhere near the tempo or pace which we need to. Whether we can lift it is a different story and Rangers exposed that. “It was obvious ten minutes into the second half what was happening. You just have to take a step back from it and let it sit for a while to get our heads around it.”
In the dying minutes Brendan Lawler added two points from frees but the game was over as a contest long before John Sheehan received a straight red card for appearing to strike back at James Hickey as they stepped away from a Naomh Bríd line ball.
Hickey, having been booked earlier in the game, received yellow for his part in the exchange and as a result made his way to the line also.
MLR: Frank Foley; Karl Lawler, Gary Doyle, Gary Kelly; Brian Nolan, Edward Coady, Richard Kelly; James Hickey, Derek Byrne (�-�); Michael Ralph (�-�), John Coady (�-�), David Phelan; Hugh Paddy Byrne; Willie Hickey (�-�), Sean Michael Murphy (�-�, �fs). Subs: Eddie Byrne for HP Byrne (��mins), Tomás Murphy for Kelly (��mins), Denis Murphy (�-�) for SM Murphy (��mins).
Naomh Bríd: James Kehoe; Ger Hickey, Dessie Shaw, Eddie Kane; John Kelly, Johnny Nevin, Sean Watchorn; James Kane, Hugh Kelly (�-�); Brendan Lawler (��, �fs), Willie Ryan, John Kavanagh; Michael Cowman (�-�), Mark Brennan, John Sheehan. Sub: Aidan Nolan for M. Brennan (�mins).
Ref: David Hughes.