Rebel óg East Minor A Hurling Championship
Quarter Final
Wed 5th August – Church Road
Carraig na bhFear 1-14 Blackrock 0-15
There was next to nothing between these two sides in the quarter final of the Rebel óg East Minor A Championship, but a crucial goal from Carraigs Cormac Murphy with 7 minutes remaining proved to be the decisive score. Carraig started brightly against a talented Rockies side and points from Aaron Cronin, Cormac Murphy and Oisin Crowley had us 0-05 to 0-01 in front after 12 minutes. Michael Ahern and Gary Geaney were playing well in the backs but a number of avoidable frees for Blackrock reduced the deficit to two points by the quarter stage. Oisin was on target from a free and Paul Sheehan also found his range as Carraig traded scores with the home side. In the closing stages of the half Blackrock began to gain a foothold and the sides were level by the 27th minute, 0-07 apiece. Another point from play nudged Carraig ahead again but they went in level at the break when a contentious point was awarded to Blackrock when most in attendance agreed a 65 was the correct decision. 0-08 each at the break and all to play for.
Carraig started the second half well, Brendan Murphy was dominating in midfield while Oisins direct running was causing problems for the Rockies defenders. Conor O’Brien was in fine form in goal, with Gary Geaney and Thomas Coleman clearing a world of ball in front of him. It was blow for blow throughout the half, Carraig 0-13 to 0-12 ahead at the three quarter stage. Blackrock levelled from a free on 50 minutes and the game was still in the balance.
But then a smart move on the right wing from Paul Sheehan and Brendan Murphy created a chance for Cormac Murphy, who saw his initial effort blocked, but he made no mistake on the rebound, pulling the ball straight into the far corner of the net to push us a goal ahead. Blackrock replied instantly with 2 points and it was back to a point game. With Gary and Mike now producing heroics almost every minute and with the clock hitting 60 minutes, the games defining moment came when Conor O’Brien produced an incredible save from point blank range to deny what seemed a certain goal. The ball was cleared and moments later, Paul Sheehan weaved his way through the Rockies rearguard to pick off the final score of the game. Blackrock had one more chance, but Gary was on hand once again to mop up and clear. The final whistle blew and Carraig had a 2 point win after a fantastic hours play. Well done lads! We now advance to play Douglas in the semi final.
Team:
Conor O’Brien
Thomas Coleman, Gary Geaney, Jack Ahern;
Conor Hayes, Michael Ahern, David Sweeney;
Paul Sheehan, Brendan Murphy;
Thomas O’Driscoll, Oisin Crowley, Sean Fitzgerald;
Aaron Cronin, Cormac Murphy, Shane Farrell;