Walsh nets second half hat-trick as Ardclough come from behind to beat Leixlip
A dull and slightly nippy Friday evening in Clane hosted a spirited affair between Leixlip and Adrclough, the latter coming out with second win in Group B of the UPMC Senior Hurling Championship thanks to a second-half comeback to savour.
Leixlip could not have had a better start, as Darragh Melville pulled on a loose sliotar to send a trickling ball past Finn Leach a minute into the match. It would then be point for point until the 14th minute, when Cillian Burke had the roof of the Leixlip net tembling. Both sides were matched at 1-7 apiece in the 24th minute when Cormac Keegan fired his shot past a helpless Finn Leach. Leixlip found themselves 2-10 to 1-8 ahead at the interval.
Leixlip were seven ahead three minutes into the second-half, only for Eoghan Walsh to take full advantage of a 1-on-1 with Keith O’Callaghan a minute later. Walsh scored his second goal in the 37th minute, while teamate Sean Whelan cut inside the end line and tied the sides with his shot after 43 minutes. A minute of normal-time remained when Eoghan Walsh availed of defensive miscommunication from Leixlip tap in his hat-trick, sealing Ardclough’s victory.
Man of the Match: Eoghan Walsh (Ardclough).
Finn Leach; Tadhg McCarthy, James Casey, Sean Buggy; Niall Devane, Aaron Casey, Drew Costello; Kieran Brady, Tim Ryan 0-3; Matthew Stapleton, Sean Whelan 1-10 (0-8f), David Collins; Gavin Stapleton, Cillian Burke 1-0, Eoghan Walsh 3-0. Substitutes: Patrick O’Malley for Matthew Stapleton (29inj.), Joshua Morgan for Gavin Stapleton (half-time), Liam Hanley for Sean Buggy (39), Jonathon Reeves for Patrick O’Malley (53), Michael Small for David Collins (57).
Keith O’Callaghan; Jack Travers, Eoghan O’Sullivan, Dylan Doherty; Conor Higgins, Ryan Doyle, Conor Burke 0-1; James Canning 0-3, Kian Myles; Ben Travers, Dara Mooney 0-1, Stephen Ryan 0-1; Darragh Melville 1-13 (0-9f), John Roche, Cormac Keegan 1-0. Substitutes: Cillian Nicholson for Ryan Doyle (48), Alan Murphy for Dara Mooney (62inj).
Owen Murphy
