Louth Hurling: St Fechins have comfortable victory over Clonguish Gaels

AIB Leinster Club Junior Hurling Championship

St Fechins 2-14
Clonguish Gaels 0-6

St Fechins safely assured their passage through to the next round of the Leinster Junior Hurling Championship, with this comfortable victory over Longford champions Clonguish Gaels in Darver on Saturday afternoon.

Despite missing several injured first team starters, including dual star Sean Kerrisk, alongside Micheál and Oisin Byrne, St Fechins led from start to finish in this game, bagging a goal in the opening quarter of each half, with both majors emanating from Seaghan Conneely, which paved the way for this facile victory.

A dominant opening quarter from the Hoops, saw dual star Paul Mathews set up Conneely for his first goal just past the 12th minute, which gave the Fechins a 1-3 to no score advantage, with a fine opening score from near the sideline by Sean Hodgins, preceding two Paddy Lynch frees, giving Niall McEneaney’s charges that bright start.

Despite dominating and winning 14 out of 21 puckouts in that half, St Fechins’ profligacy allowed their opponents a temporary reprieve, with a fine score from Mathew Flynn getting Clonguish off the mark on 13 minutes.

However, St Fechins just had that bit more guile up front, despite only scoring 1-4 from 15 shots in open play in that first half.
Some closing down and pressure from Paul Mathews, led to David Stephenson setting up Ross Berkery for a fine score from play, which was met with that vociferous roar from the Fechins dugout.

That dugout were up in arms again, following a wonderful strike from distance by Donal Ryan, which stretched the side’s lead to seven, at 1-6 to 0-2 approaching half time, with a Joe O’Brien free responding for Clonguish.

The Fechins were also dealt a blow at the end of that opening quarter when Ryan Walsh was dismissed in an incident which also led to Clonguish’s Shane O’Brien red carded by referee Ciaran Flynn, who was happy to let the game flow, which did lead to a number of tussles and rucks, as both teams fought hard for possession.

Such rucks saw the hardworking Clonguish midfielder Gerard Moore emerging with possession, before striking the ball over the bar from the right, to leave the Fechins ahead by six at the break.

Second Half:

Six points can be a dangerous lead in hurling. Knowing this, St Fechins started the second half, the same way they began the first, with Seaghan Conneely bagging his second goal of the afternoon when his strike bobbled along the ground and into the net, which was once again following by two further Paddy Lynch strikes, as the three in a row Louth senior champions made light work of putting this game to bed, scoring 1-8 from 12 shots in open play in this period.

Lynch’s second strike after the restart came in the same move which involved team captain Peter Fortune, who formed part of an impressive Fechins spine, which also included goalkeeper Dan O’Neill, full back Danny Morgan, while Donal Ryan and Sean Hodgins grafted hard in the middle sector.

11 of O’Neill’s 14 puckouts found a Fechins player over the hour, while Donal Ryan finished with 20 possessions for the afternoon, with Morgan once again showing his versatility in both codes, having played a key role in the O’Raghallaighs run to the Louth Intermediate Football Final this season. Sean Hodgins who had 15 possessions, can also be happy with his days work.

The second half saw Paddy Lynch, and Seaghan Conneely adding to their personal tallies, with the pair accounting for 2-7 of the Fechins 2-14 overall, while David Stephenson also got his name on the scoresheet, with two fine strikes, both of which were set up by Lynch, who finished with 21 possessions himself.

It was Louth footballer Paul Mathews who produced arguably the score of the match, when he held off his mark on the right hand sideline facing into the clubhouse goals of Darver, before his fizzing strike split the posts, which capped off a satisfactory afternoon for the Fechins.

Despite some incisive shooting from Joe O’Brien, and Stephen Gregg for Clonguish in that second half, the outcome of this tie was never in doubt, as St Fechins can look forward to Leinster quarter final date with Kildare side Leixlip in a fortnight’s time.

St Fechins: Dan O’Neill; Cormac McAuley, Danny Morgan, Conor Higgins; Cathal Ryan, Peter Fortune, Conor Mathews; Donal Ryan (0-1), Seán Hodgins (0-1); Ryan Walsh, Ross Berkery (0-2), Seaghan Conneely (2-1); Paddy Lynch (0-6) (2f), Paul Mathews (0-1), David Stephenson (0-2).

Subs: Barry Devlin for Hodgins (blood sub) (43), Barry Devlin for Paul Mathews (52), Danny Fallon for Conor Mathews (52), Colin Griffin for Donal Ryan (56).

Clonguish Gaels: Eanna Daly; Michael Devlin, Oisín Gately, Padraig McGuinness; David Gregg, Joe O’Brien (0-3) (3f), Eoin Halpin; Gerard Moore (0-1), Declan Lee; Dan Crossan, Stephen Gregg (0-1), Conor Carroll; Matthew Flynn (0-1), Shane O’Brien, Ciaran Corcoran.

Subs: Patrick Crossan for Corcoran (35), Cathal McGlynn for David Gregg (42).

Referee: Ciarán Flynn (Co Meath).