Bagenalstown get the better of Ballinkillen to lift U21 'B' title
Bagenalstown Gaels winners of the STRYVE under 21 hurling 'B' final.
Bagenalstown Gaels are the Under 21 B Hurling Champions after they produced a solid performance to see off their rivals in the final at the Carlow SETU Campus on Sunday.
Conditions were hardly ideal so it was more of a battle as the teams coped with the strong wind and the chilly conditions.
The winners never trailed and lead 1-7 to 1-3 at the break. They scored their goal at the start of the second quarter when James Brennan found the bottom left hand corner at the Carlow Town end of the ground.
Ballinkillen dug in and were rewarded themselves when Thomas Sheehan took an inside pass from Ian Craddock. He had it all to do but he finished well finding the net with an unstoppable shot.
At the interval, the eventual winners led 1-7 to 1-3. Ballinkillen couldn’t close the gap. Twice in the half they trailed by four points. Every time they did threaten to get back into the game the Gaels found something extra. It would serve them well and a point by John Lillis from a free in the 63rd minute to put them four ahead was the clincher.
TJ Darcy 0-6 (65 sl, 3fs), J Brennan 1-0, J Lillis 0-2 (1f), P Kelly (f), S Wall, R O’Neill 0-1 each.
T Sheehan 1-3 (2fs), A Ryan 0-3 (2fs), C O’Neill 0-1.
Kyle Clarke; Frank Cushen, Alan Wall, Thomas Geoghegan; Niall Power, Patrick Kelly, Sam Griffith; Sean Wall, James Brennan; Ross O’Neill, Adam Walsh, Jason Dillon; Aidan Dowling, TJ Darcy, John Lillis. Subs: Eoghan Doyle for Walsh (36), Conor Beck for Dillon (41), Jack Farrell for Darcy (58).
Adam Farrell; Conor Meaney, Charlie Byrne, Padraig Kearney; AJ Dooley, Fionn Hickey, Dara Nolan; Adam Ryan, Thomas Sheehan, Ciaran O’Neill; Cian Meaney, Sam Hughes, Ian Craddock. Subs: Kyle Cummins for Hughes (49).
Sean McCormack (Carlow Town)
