Éire Óg/Corrachoill shake off spirited Clane challenge to seal second championship win
Éire Óg/Corrachoill 1-19
Clane 1-14
Haven Hire SHC Group B round two
Éire Óg/Corrachoill made it two wins from two in the group stage of the Kildare Senior Hurling Championship as they came through an entertaining clash with Clane with five points to spare. The victors led from pretty much the start in the final game of the weekend, and despite Clane putting in a spirited and committed display, they were unable to ever edge their noses in front.
It puts Éire Óg/Corrachoill in a strong position at the top of Group B, with a final round meeting against Coill Dubh to come next month, while Clane now have two losses from their opening couple of games.
An entertaining first half was barely a minute old before Garry Johnson popped over the opening point for Éire Óg/Corrachoill, continuing his run of form after starring in the win over Celbridge a week earlier. Paul Kennedy doubled their tally 30 seconds later, before David Gibbons smacked over Clane’s first score from a free.
Johnson responded, but Gibbons was on target again before Bernard Deay went on a fine run down the right and angled over a superb score. Éire Óg/Corrachoill were starting to dominate around the middle, with Kevin Connor winning plenty of poc outs and causing trouble with his physicality, and a couple of scores through Kennedy and Tim Hennessy gave them a three-point lead midway through the half.
Lorcan Harney provided a much-needed score for the Lilywhites, but Éire Óg/Corrachoill took over after that for a spell as they reeled off five points in quick succession. Barry Cormack hooked over a beauty from distance, before Johnson added another free, and Connor soon had his name on the scoresheet as he slotted over having missed a couple of earlier chances. Cillian Manders almost plundered a goal that really would have put Clane in trouble, but the Éire Óg/Corrachoill corner-forward blazed his effort over from close range. Johnson stretched the gap to six points with another pointed free, but, having been let off the hook, Clane rounded off the half exceptionally well as they went on to score four points in a row to get back into the game.
Some good work by Deay provided the space for Peter Ahern to boom over a great score that gave Clane a lift, and the industrious Caolan Smith added another soon after from close range. David Gibbons went for goal from a 20-metre free, and though his shot was blocked, Harney followed up to tap over the rebound. Gibbons had the final say in the half when he landed a free from 65 metres out, leaving the scores at 0-10 to 0-8 in favour of Éire Óg/Corrachoill.
The second half was every bit as entertaining as the first, with Éire Óg/Corrachoill threatening to pull away on occasion before the inevitable Clane fightback. Johnson landed a free before Smith responded at the other end by executing a superb catch and smacking it over from 60 metres out.
Éire Óg/Corrachoill managed to find the breakthrough goal after 33 minutes when Kennedy shipped a couple of challenges en route to goal before driving a low shot past Paddy McKenna and into the corner of the net. An excellent point from Connor followed as Éire Óg/Corrachoillraced into a six-point lead.
Gibbons hit back with a couple of points from frees as Clane looked to claw their way back in, but Johnson remained accurate from his own placed balls at the other end as he landed another point to keep his side ticking over. Clane needed a goal, and they got just the tonic in the 40th minute when a long ball from Smith broke to the edge of the large rectangle, and Simon Healy was on hand to pull on the sliotar and find the far corner of the net.
Connor provided a good response with a lovely score, but Clane rallied again as they drew to with one point of their opponents midway through the half. Ahern stroked over an excellent score before Gibbons landed a free, and Deay showed his class with a driving run and powerful finish over the bar.
That was as close as they would come however, as Éire Óg/Corrachoill entered the final 10 minutes with more composure as they steamed towards victory. Hennessy, Conor Kielty and Connor all clipped over points from play, while Johnson registered another couple from frees as they sealed a second successive win in the group stage.
Scorers for Éire Óg/Corrachoill: G Johnson 0-9(7f), P Kennedy 1-2, K Connor 0-4, T Hennessy 0-2, C Manders and C Kielty 0-1 each.
Scorers for Clane: D Gibbons 0-6(4f, 1’65), S Healy 1-0, P Ahern, B Deay, L Harney and C Smith 0-2 each.
Éire Óg/Corrachoill
Paul Dermody; Paddy Burns, Brian Fitzpatrick, Kieran Moran; Rory O’Neill, Danny Boyle, James Dolan; Garry Johnson, Barry Cormack; Paul Kennedy, Owen Houlihan, Kevin Connor; Joe Dempsey, Tim Hennessy, Cillian Manders.
Subs used: Conor Kielty for Manders 39mins.
Clane
Paddy McKenna; Conor Graham, Cillian Ryan, James Coonan; Brian Giffney, Sean Christiansen, Christian Smith; Chris Bonus, Bernard Deay; Evan Gillman, Caolan Smith, Paddy Jordan; Simon Healy, Lorcan Harney, David Gibbons.
Subs used: Conor McHugh for Graham 48mins, Robbie Hyland for Jordan 57mins.