Junior A Hurlers overcome Russell Rovers

East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Round 2 – Sat 4th July
Carraig na bhFear 1-20 Russell Rovers 1-09

After a sluggish first half where they trailed by two points at the break, having played with the wind, Carraigs Junior A Hurlers produced a stirring second half display to overcome the strong challenge of Russell Rovers in Lisgoold on Saturday last. A goal in the first minute for Rovers gave them a great boost, but Carraig replied through an early John Forde free. The Shanagarry men were crowding their defence, making space and time difficult to find for our forwards. At the other end, they added two points from frees to extend their lead. Carraig began to settle to the task at hand, with points from Aaron Dorgan and A grade debutaunt Paul Sheehan along with further frees from John. Carraig tightened up in defence, with Timmy Geaney outstanding in the air, while the other 17 year old making his Junior a bow, David Sweeney, settled into the spare man role and cleared a world of ball. The sides exchanged points up to the break, with the half time score Russell Rovers 1-05 Carraig 0-07.
We were dealt a blow at the break when goalkeeper Brian Sheehan was forced to retire with an ankle injury. Conor Hegarty stepped in between the sticks in his place. The second half saw Carraig get off to a great start. A point almost directly from the restart, quickly followed by a smart goal from Aaron Dorgan, batting to the net after Ronan Spillanes powerful run down the throat of the defence. Another point shortly afterwards and the 1 point deficit was now a 4 point lead. Russell Rovers replied with two points through the lively Josh Beausang. Another purple patch of 3 points for Carraig between the 42nd and 46th minutes extended the lead, but Rovers replied with another point from a free to keep just four between the sides. The hardworking James Meehan and Martin Hickey were on top at midfield, while John Forde at wing forward was hurling out of his skin. The defence remained steady and broke down any Rovers attacks well away from goal. In the closing 10 minutes, Carraig outscored Russell Rovers 0-08 to 0-01, points coming from Con Burns, substitute Paul O’Keeffe and wing back Brian Hegarty as the lads finished out the game with some super hurling and intensity. Final score Carraig 1-20 Russell Rovers 1-09.

We now advance to meet Lisgoold on Sunday 19th July at 3pm, with the venue to be comfirmed.

Team:
Brian Sheehan;David Sweeney, Stephen Casey, Tomás Sheehan;
Paul Geaney, Timmy Geaney, Brian Hegarty;
Martin Hickey, James Meehan;
Aidan Hegarty, Con Burns, John Forde;
Ronan Spillane, Aaron Dorgan, Paul Sheehan;

Subs:
Conor Hegarty for Brian Sheehan, Paul O’Keeffe for James Meehan