Naomh Moninne begin hurling championship with sublime victory

ANCHOR TOURS SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1

Naomh Moninne 2-18 St Fechins 1-16 

Naomh Moninne produced a performance to match the occasion with a terrific victory in the opening round of the Senior Championship over holders St Fechins in Dowdallshill last Thursday night. 

A slow start saw them falling four points behind after just six minutes of play with Paddy Lynch (2), Sean Hodgins and Seaghan Conneely accounting for the Fechins points.

Dylan Carey responded with Moninne's first point from a free before Sam Phelan netted their first goal on 10 minutes to tie up matters and Andrew Mackin fired them in front with a good point. 

The sides exchanged further points with Careys fourth point of the half keeping the black and amber outfit narrowly in front, before a point from Sean Hodgins tied up matters as the teams turned around level at 1-7 to 0-10.

The opening ten minutes of the second half saw the Fechins go in front with a brace of Paddy Lynch pointed frees. Helped by a brace of good points, one apiece from Dylan Carey and Mark Gahan, Moninne led by 1-11 to 0-13 after 46 minutes.

They led by two with 10 minutes remaining, with James Murphy and Conor Murphy among the points, before falling behind as Seaghan Conneely fired home the Fechins only goal on 51 minutes.

Moninne restored their lead again with points from Mackin and Gahan only for the Fechins to tie it up again late in the game with a Micheál Byrne point. 

John Murphy's side showed great spirit over the closing exchanges with a James Murphy point, before a brilliant Conor Murphy goal from a tight angle and an eight point of the day from Dylan Carey sealed this victory to the delight of all their supporters. 

St Fechins will return to St Brigid's Park in Dowdallshill tomorrow night (throw in 7.30PM) when they take on Knockbridge in Round 2 of the competition. 

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ST FECHINS: John Crosby; Colin Griffin, Oisin Byrne, Cormac McAuley; George Allen, Peter Fortune, Conor Mathews (0-1); David Stephenson (0-1), Donal Ryan; Sean Hodgins (0-3), Ross Berkery (0-2), Paddy Lynch (0-5, 0-4 frees); Ruairí Morrissey, Seaghan Conneely (1-1), Jack Murray. Subs: Barry Devlin for R Morrissey (HT), Ryan Walsh (0-2) for J Murray (HT), Micheál Byrne (0-1) for R Berkery (55).

NAOMH MONINNE: Donal Connolly; Donal Lee, Brian Carter, James Murphy (0-2); Oisin McCarthy, Aaron McGuinness Smith, Chris Lennon; Mattie Fee, Mark Gahan (0-4); Andrew Mackin (0-2), Dylan Carey (0-8), Kyle Rafferty; Sam Phelan (1-0), Conor Murphy (1-2), Cathal Azzorpardi. Sub: David Yore for Kyle Rafferty (50).

REFEREE: Stephen Shields.