Castlelyons 6-15, Shamrocks 3-6
Shamrocks were well beaten in the county quarter final of the county in Castlelyons on Monday night. Castlelyons had too much hurling skill on display for the Shamrocks lads who nevertheless battled away until the very end.
Shamrocks led by an early goal from Robert Barrett but things went badly wrong from 2 puckouts not long after – they went straight to the corner forward who buried them. Two gifts and Castlelyons were up and running. Shamrocks settled down somewhat thereafter with Adam McSweeney getting another Shamrocks goal but they were once again undone when Castlelyons scored 4 goals in 6 minutes. The game was effectively over at this point as there was no way Shamrocks were going to come back from 14 points down. At halftime, Castlelyons led 6-5 to 2-3.
Shamrocks played better in the second half and kept Castlelyons out from adding to their goal tally. The Shamrocks mentors had changed the whole team around after the goals went in and Adam McSweeney scored a lovely point to start the second half. Harry Andrews, injured since early in the game and operating at corner forward, scored a 21 yard free. Shamrocks had reduced the deficit to 3 goals but Castlelyons finished out the game with a flurry of points to move forward to the next round.
Overall, its been a good year for the team – the big problem is numbers and availability and at times it was hard, even impossible, to get momentum going through training. Hurling is a game that needs to be practised all year round, not from May to September which is what happened this year with the winter month being dormant – the players MUST practise at home from here until next seasons start. The management would like to thank the players and their parents and grandparents for their time and effort driving all over the county in 2017 in support of our hurlers. While the lads didn’t win any silverware, they have definitely improved from 2 years ago and that’s encouraging going forward.
Panel – S. Foy, A. Brady, F. Herlihy, P. Dorney, H. Andrews, M. Foy, M. Sisk, J. Coleman, D. Howard, T. Sheehan, E. O’Flynn, R. Barrett, A. McSweeney, F. Hayes, R. Bartlett, C. Coleman.
