Kildare rally after the break but Galway show their quality
Kildare full back Darragh Devine had a fine game Photo: Sean Brilly
Galway proved too strong for Kildare in this second round-robin game in Group 1 of the Fulfil Leinster Under-20 Hurling Championship on yet another wild and windy day in Manguard Park.
After giving Kilkenny a searching examination in similar conditions a week before at the same venue, Adrian Kinsella’s men weren’t quite on their game this time around and Galway always looked like comfortable winners having taken a firm grip on things from the throw-in.
Kildare’s handling and touch just wasn’t at the right level in the opening half in particular and despite Galway resting senior stars such as Aaron Niland, scorer of 3-8 the week before against Wexford, the Tribesmen proved too strong, particularly around the middle third.
Galway’s inside line, despite Niland’s absence, was on top form in the opening half, too, despite the best efforts of the Kildare full-back line of Paddy Connolly, Darragh Devine and Dylan Doherty, and it was Brian Callanan who took on the mantle of danger-in-chief, though he was well-supported in the inside line by Vince Morgan and Ciaran Leen.
It took a brilliant save from Kildare goalkeeper Cormac Doolan to deny Callanan an eighth minute goal. The Ardrahan man then set up Morgan for another goal chance, but the big full forward couldn’t get his shot away under pressure from St Laurence’s net-minder Doolan, who had an outstanding game.
Galway did finally find the net on nineteen minutes, however, and that put them 1-8 to 0-2 ahead. This time Leen’s clever low ball across 20 metre line set up Morgan for a drilled finish.
Morgan drew another fine save from Doolan in the run up to half-time, with the visitors going in 1-11 to 0-5 ahead, all bar one Alex Bell point coming from free-taker Tom Power for the Lilywhites.
Opinions differed as to who had the advantage of the wind at any given time. In reality it seemed to swirl diagonally, making shooting tricky at either end.
Whoever it was aiding, it was Kildare who made the stronger start to the second half and they narrowed the gap down to six points with three unanswered white flags raised by Power (two frees) and the lively Oisín O’Neill from a brilliant darting run.
Galway stirred themselves however, although they never quite reached their standards from the opening half. Five points in a row between the 39th and 49th minutes sealed the deal with Callanan bringing his tally to three from play with Leen, Jack Shaughnessy, Seán Moran and Ronan Cahalan making it 1-16 to 0-8.
Power ended that sequence with a close-range free and Tim Ryan hit a rasper that Galway goalkeeper Chris Callanan did well to divert out for an unconverted ’65 on 51 minutes, while at the other end man-of-the-match Devine hooked Shaughnessy superbly when bearing down on goal.
Galway finished the stronger, though, with further points from Cahalan, Darragh Counihan and wing-back Jonah Donnellan seeing them home for their second win of the campaign with a comfortable thirteen-point margin.
With Wexford holding Kilkenny to a draw in the other group game, Kildare are bottom of the group with no points heading to Wexford Park for their final game on Wednesday week but know that a win in the sunny south-east would propel them into a provincial quarter-final against the runners-up in Group 2.
Chris Callanan; Thomas Blake, Michael Fallon, Ed O’Reilly; Jonah Donnellan 0-1, Donnacha Campbell, Gavin Maher; Michael Burke 0-1, Seán Moran 0-2; Luke Kennedy 0-2, Darragh Counihan 0-2, Tiarnan Lohan 0-1; Brian Callanan 0-3, Vince Morgan 1-0, Ciaran Leen 0-4 (2fs). Subs: Jack Shaughnessy 0-1 for Lohan 40, Harry Holmes for Leen 40, Ronan Cahalan 0-2 for Kennedy 47, Gearóid King for Moran 51, Eoghan Mulleady for Morgan 56.
Cormac Doolan (St Laurence’s); Paddy Connolly (Clane), Darragh Devine (Cappagh), Dylan Doherty (Leixlip); Cillian Power (Sallins), Cian Brody (Maynooth), Odhran Conaty (Celbridge); Michael Owens (Celbridge), Tim Ryan (Ardclough); Oisín O’Neill (Naas) 0-1, Alex Bell (Moorefield) 0-1, Oran Byrne (Maynooth); Ronan O’Malley (Ardclough), Tom Power (Maynooth) 0-7 (6fs), Tom Boran (Naas). Subs: James Bedford (Naas) for Doherty 46, Charlie Carroll (Naas) for O’Malley 46, Seán Quigley (Confey) for Owens 52, Mark Kiernan (Sallins) for Bell 52, Luke Kelly (Leixlip) for C Power 59.
Kevin McDonnell (Dublin).
