Steep learning curve for Junior Champions
Carlow Town's John Phiri gets away from Burren Rangers' Martin Carroll Photo: Pat Ahern
This was a tough learning experience for Burren Rangers who were playing their first ever intermediate hurling championship game at Kilbride on Saturday. It was one of those games which could have gone either way but a Carlow Town team back-boned by a number of experienced hurlers found a way to win when it looked as if the home side were setting up a grandstand finish.
Playing with the aid of a strong breeze blowing towards the dressing room end of the ground, Carlow Town got lucky in the first half. Not once but twice but yet no-one could say they were not persistent and continued to hang in there when other teams could well have capitulated.
The home side opened the scoring with two points from Dylan Townsend. Carlow Town hit back and both Alex Delaney and Kyle Nolan converted frees. A Nolan long delivery fell in around the small square and when John Phiri distracted the defence and the keeper, the ball ended up in the back of the net. Delaney turned the screw for the visitors when adding a brace of points as Carlow Town went five clear.
With Townsend and Daniel Bolger pulling the strings for Rangers, they pulled the deficit back to a point by the 23rd minute. Lightning then struck for a second time. This time through the Town’s James Ingram when his high delivery took the same trajectory that Nolan’s speculative effort did. Once again Burren allowed the ball to drop over their line. At the interval, Carlow Town led 2-7 to 0-9.
A Townsend point early on the resumption would have given Burren reason to believe that they had the momentum and the aid of the wind combined to help their cause. Instead, Delaney’s point under pressure for Carlow Town was a massive injection of fresh energy. Sean Buggy, in the Carlow goal, also made a good save to deny James Nolan.
Going into the last ten minutes, Townsend’s dead ball accuracy to put his side a point up looked ominous for Carlow Town. Adam Nolan hit back to score his third point of the contest. In reply, Townsend and James Nolan were on target once again.
Not for the first time, Carlow Town took route one to goal and when the ball dropped in the small square, Burren failed to clear. It wasn’t the sweetest strike of Ruairi Dunbar’s long career as the ball found the net.
Even though Townsend converted a free, his side were reeling. When keeper, Ciaran Coffey failed to connect properly with an attempted clearance, none other than the experienced Karol English was on hand to collect. His rocket was successfully goal-bound. It was a match-winner. Burren had little left to give as Carlow Town celebrated what was a victory for resilience and never stopping to believe.
A Delaney 0-7 (65 4fs), K Nolan 1-2 (1f), R Dunbar 1-1, A Nolan 0-3, K English, J Ingram 1-0 each.
D Townsend 0-14 (65 9fs), D Bolger 0-3, M Sherratt, J Nolan 0-2 each, B Molloy, M Carroll 0-1 each.
Sean Buggy; Dylan Bourke, Conor Lawlor, Brandon Cassidy; Lazzie Meaney, Diarmuid Murphy, James Ingram; Mattie English Hayden, Kyle Nolan; Alex Delaney, Cathal Ryan, Adam Nolan; Karol English, John Phiri, Cian Campion. Subs: Ruairi Dunbar for Campion (h/t), Brandon Farrell for English Hayden (55).
Ciaran Caffrey; Seamus English Hayden, Lorcan Moore, Eoin Doyle; Cormac McElligott, Cathal Healy, Billy Molloy; Thomas Donald, Martin Carroll; Billy Nolan, Joe Waters, James Nolan; Daniel Bolger, Mark Sherratt, Dylan Townsend. Subs: Lochlann MacGagh for Waters (42), Billy Flynn for Carroll (55).
Shane Foley (St Mullins).
