Ballinkillen back up opening round win with classy display
Padraig Hynes scored two second half goals for Ballinkillen
Ballinkillen made it two wins out of two in the Carlow Senior Hurling Championship when a strong second half showing saw them see off the challenge of Naomh Bríd.
The first half was an exciting affair with both sides giving their all. The scores were tied at 0-2 each in the opening minutes with Aaron Amond and John Murphy collecting a point each from play for Naomh Bríd while Ciaran Whelan from a free and a Jack Treacy score got Ballinkillen off the mark.
An excellent catch and delivery from Treacy put in the marauding Craig Wall for a goal but the Naomh Bríd keeper, Oisin McNally, was unfortunate as he got his body behind the close range shot but the force of the shot saw the ball cross the line.
Naomh Bríd drew level at 1-4 each on 18 minutes when Conor Twomey took possession on the left at the O’Hanrahan end of the ground, beat two markers and found the top left hand corner of the net.
A Fiach O’Toole free put Naomh Bríd ahead but their advantage didn’t last as Ballinkillen scored their second goal from Treacy with five minutes of the half to go. A Ciaran Whelan free saw Ballinkillen take a 2-6 to 1-7 lead into the second half.
The game swung strongly in favour of the eventual winners when Padraig Hynes swopped for 2-1 without reply in a three minute spell in the third quarter. A shell-shocked opposition were left reeling but they still remained defiant with Aaron Amond bisecting the posts on two occasions. James Maher and Jack Connolly also raised white flags but Ballinkillen probably played within themselves as Cian Meaney, Hynes and English were among the scorers as the game drew to its inevitable end.
P Hynes 2-2, C Wall 1-2, C Whelan 0-5 (4fs 65), J Treacy 1-1, E English 0-3, C Meaney, C Lomax 0-1 each.
A Amond 0-5 (1f), C Twomey 1-0, F O’Toole 0-2 (fs), J Murphy, M Fitzgerald, B Daly, J Maher, J Connolly 0-1 each.
Thomas Dowling; Jamie Wall, Dion Wall, Sean Brennan; Craig Wall, David English, Eric English; Cormac Lomax, AJ Dooley; Adam Ryan, Ciaran Whelan, Padraig Hynes; Padraig Kearney, Thomas Sheehan, Jack Treacy. Subs: Cian Meaney for Treacy (34), Sean Cummins for Lomax (58).
Oisin McNally; Shane Kirwan, Adam Dunne, Niall Roche; Tadhg O’Neill, Fiach O’Toole, Conor DeLacey; Bobby Daly, Mikey Bambrick; Ruarc O’Neill, John Murphy, Mark Fitzgerald; Thomas O’Donovan, Aaron Amond, Conor Twomey. Subs: Jack Connolly for O’Donovan (40), Fiach O’Byrne for DeLacey (45), Jamie Doyle for Twomey (50), James Maher for Doyle (58).
Brian Deering (Rathvilly).
