Quarter Final v St John's
Quarter final- Roinn B- Thursday June 12th 2003 -Nowlan Park
St. John’s 3-5 St. Canice’s 0-10
We played our final match of this year’s competition against St. john’s today in Nowlan park. They had finished first in their section in the north and we had finished fourth (and joint second!) in our southern group.
The story of this game is evident in the scoreline. It was their ability to get goals at vital times that was the key to their victory. In general our hurling and commitment was at least equal to our opponents throughout the match.
Winning the toss, we elected to play with the wind in the first half. Perhaps the most crucial score of the game came in the third minute when a mid-distance shot from St. John’s found it’s way to the back of our net. They added a further point before we settled in.
For the next twenty minutes we dominated play and produced some lovely spells of hurling. Brian Donegan’s long puckouts were landing deep in John’s territory and when it got there, we were dangerous. Cillian Buckley led the threat at right corner forward and each time he got the ball he made something happen. Andrew Cantwell and Robbie McPartlan were also in sparkling form- Cantwell’s ground hurling was a joy to watch and McPartlan was posing big problems for the St. John’s full back.
In spite of our dominance during this period (we scored six unanswered points), we failed to get that vital goal ( or two) that was needed to boost our lads. H.T. 0-6 to 1-1.
The second half began (eventually) with a John’s point. But, wind or not, we played showed great determination to score the next two points. At this stage however, we were coming under increasing pressure, but strong defensive work by David McNamara and Cathal Kavanagh insured that our last line of defence was holding out. But, when Eoin Grant gained possession and soloed 25 yards to blast home a great goal to level matters, it seemed to boost his team mates. Around now, the classy defending of Colm McPartlan, the sheer power and bravery of David Glynn at centre back and the incredible energy of mid-fielder Jimmy Keohane were all in evidence. Kevin Nolan had some bright moments at mid-field also. We were battling hard for every ball and while we had some dangerous moments near our own goal-line, every time we got the ball forward we looked extremely dangerous. Darren Hogan led the attack at centre forward with his usual manly performance and was unlucky not to land three or four points. Eric Cantwell had a fine game at no. 12, particularly in the first half when he scored a fine point. Inside him, Rory McPhillips was always lively looking and unlucky not to make the score sheet.
If the first goal for John’s was crucial, the next (and last) foal with about ten minutes left was to prove decisive. This score will last a while in our memories, not least because of its dubious nature-a long ball from outfield towards the O’Loughlin’s end-the dependable Colm Manning’s eyes glued to it as it came in under the crossbar-a St. John’s player competing with him for it-ball in back of net-a look to Ben Hayes-no reaction-green flag-puck out! Another point for St. John’s followed to stretch the lead to four.
Then a Chrissy Dawson clearance found its way to Cillian Buckley who took on the John’s defence single-handedly and fired a rasper to the top corner- goal surely? - But a fantastic save from the John’s netminder deflected it over the bar and with that gone were our chances.
This was a superb match and both teams played with an excellent attitude. A notable feature was the sporting way that the St. John’s players commiserated with our lads at the final whistle.
Our team was: C. Manning, C Kavanagh, D McNamara, B Donegan, C Dawson, D Glynn, C McPartlan, K Nolan, J Keohane, A Cantwell, D Hogan, E Cantwell, C Buckley, R McPartlan, R McPhillips. Subs: C Gough, P Byrne, J Horan, R Kavanagh-Dunne, E Guilfoyle, S Johnson, D Gaule, E Walsh
St. John’s 3-5 St. Canice’s 0-10
We played our final match of this year’s competition against St. john’s today in Nowlan park. They had finished first in their section in the north and we had finished fourth (and joint second!) in our southern group.
The story of this game is evident in the scoreline. It was their ability to get goals at vital times that was the key to their victory. In general our hurling and commitment was at least equal to our opponents throughout the match.
Winning the toss, we elected to play with the wind in the first half. Perhaps the most crucial score of the game came in the third minute when a mid-distance shot from St. John’s found it’s way to the back of our net. They added a further point before we settled in.
For the next twenty minutes we dominated play and produced some lovely spells of hurling. Brian Donegan’s long puckouts were landing deep in John’s territory and when it got there, we were dangerous. Cillian Buckley led the threat at right corner forward and each time he got the ball he made something happen. Andrew Cantwell and Robbie McPartlan were also in sparkling form- Cantwell’s ground hurling was a joy to watch and McPartlan was posing big problems for the St. John’s full back.
In spite of our dominance during this period (we scored six unanswered points), we failed to get that vital goal ( or two) that was needed to boost our lads. H.T. 0-6 to 1-1.
The second half began (eventually) with a John’s point. But, wind or not, we played showed great determination to score the next two points. At this stage however, we were coming under increasing pressure, but strong defensive work by David McNamara and Cathal Kavanagh insured that our last line of defence was holding out. But, when Eoin Grant gained possession and soloed 25 yards to blast home a great goal to level matters, it seemed to boost his team mates. Around now, the classy defending of Colm McPartlan, the sheer power and bravery of David Glynn at centre back and the incredible energy of mid-fielder Jimmy Keohane were all in evidence. Kevin Nolan had some bright moments at mid-field also. We were battling hard for every ball and while we had some dangerous moments near our own goal-line, every time we got the ball forward we looked extremely dangerous. Darren Hogan led the attack at centre forward with his usual manly performance and was unlucky not to land three or four points. Eric Cantwell had a fine game at no. 12, particularly in the first half when he scored a fine point. Inside him, Rory McPhillips was always lively looking and unlucky not to make the score sheet.
If the first goal for John’s was crucial, the next (and last) foal with about ten minutes left was to prove decisive. This score will last a while in our memories, not least because of its dubious nature-a long ball from outfield towards the O’Loughlin’s end-the dependable Colm Manning’s eyes glued to it as it came in under the crossbar-a St. John’s player competing with him for it-ball in back of net-a look to Ben Hayes-no reaction-green flag-puck out! Another point for St. John’s followed to stretch the lead to four.
Then a Chrissy Dawson clearance found its way to Cillian Buckley who took on the John’s defence single-handedly and fired a rasper to the top corner- goal surely? - But a fantastic save from the John’s netminder deflected it over the bar and with that gone were our chances.
This was a superb match and both teams played with an excellent attitude. A notable feature was the sporting way that the St. John’s players commiserated with our lads at the final whistle.
Our team was: C. Manning, C Kavanagh, D McNamara, B Donegan, C Dawson, D Glynn, C McPartlan, K Nolan, J Keohane, A Cantwell, D Hogan, E Cantwell, C Buckley, R McPartlan, R McPhillips. Subs: C Gough, P Byrne, J Horan, R Kavanagh-Dunne, E Guilfoyle, S Johnson, D Gaule, E Walsh