Minor Hurlers get first league win

Rebel Og East
Minor A Hurling League
Carraig na bhFear 2-18 Whitechurch 1-11

Our Minor hurlers bounced back from their opening day defeat to Blackrock last week with a hard fought win over our near neighbours Whitechurch in Carraig on Thursday evening. Played before a fine attendance in perfect conditions, Carraig started brightly and had an early point from an Oisin Crowley free. The Carraig forwards were looking dangerous and after a great move down the left wing, Cormac Murphy finished to the back of the Whitechurch net after 5 minutes to give us a 4 point lead.
Whitechurch worked their way back into contention with a series of 4 points in quick succession. The sides traded scores again but some lovely scores from Oisin, Paul Sheehan, the lively Shane Farrell and the two Conors, Hayes and O’Brien had Carraig ahead 1-10 to 0-06 after 22 minutes. David Sweeney was hurling well in defence, where young Jack Ahern was also turning in a fine performance, getting in a number of important clearances. 3 Further points for Whitechurch and a late point for Carraig left the half time score Carraig 1-11 Whitechurch 0-09 and it was all to play for.

The second half saw Whitechurch get off to a great start, outscoring Carraig 1-2 to 0-01 the opening 4 minutes to make it a 4 point game. But some steady defending and hard work around the middle, in particular by Brendan Murphy, stemmed the flow. Carraig were denied a couple of goal chances, Shane Farrell and Cormac Murphy both having shots well saved. But on 41 minutes, the full forward line, as a unit, prevented the Whitechurch defence from clearing their lines and Conor O’Brien was on hand to grab a second goal for Carraig, giving us a 2-14 to 1-11 lead.
A hard working Whitechurch side didn’t give up, but they were not to score again, mainly due to the great efforts of Diarmuid Murphy and David Sweeney, who prevented any clear cut chances in the closing stages. Further points for Paul, Oisin and Shane pushed Carraig further clear in the last 10 minutes, to leave the final score Carraig 2-18 Whitechurch 1-11.

Team:
Christopher Cremin
Jack Ahern, Diarmuid Murphy, Gary Geaney
David Sweeney, Michael Ahern, Adam Gorgia
Conor Hayes, Paul Sheehan
Oisin Crowley, Brendan Murphy, Sean Fitzgerald
Conor O’Brien, Cormac Murphy, Shane Farrell

Subs:
Thomas O’Donovan
Aaron Cronin
Padraig O’Brien
Thomas O’Driscoll