JH Championship Shamrocks 5-17 (32) Carrigaline 2-14 (20).
On a balmy sunny Sunday afternoon in Camden the Shamrockmen efficiently disposed of Carrigaline in the first of our Round Robin Championship games. Carrigaline got the start we were hoping for with a goal and a point within a couple of minutes. This was to be the one and only period in a very competitive game that Carrigaline held the lead. Quickly thereafter the Team settled into the game with some excellent free pointing from corner forward Harry Andrews. The pin point accuracy of the long puck out strategy from goalie Roy Twomey gave the forward line a plentyfull supply of ball to work with. Corner forward Cillian Hayes and John Boylan operating at full forward duly obliged and both had the Crosshaven umpires waving the Green flag in the slight cross-field breeze. A magnificent save by Roy kept the Carrigaline scoring efforts to a minimum but they did manage a goal before half time. The 4 point lead at the short whistle, 2-08 to 1-07 did not accurately portray the Shamrock dominance and superiority during the period, especially the trojan man marking and ball winning clearences by Gary Ronayne and Dave Barry in both corners. The ever reliable Mark Hitchmough at centre back performed to his regular high standard and kept the ball moving forward.
An enforced substitution at the start of the second half, Barry Mulqueen ankle injury, gave Dave Andrews an opportunity to impact the game. Operating at centre forward he quickly made his presence felt with attacking runs resulting in adding two points to the scoreboard. He also shortly followed up with a well taken goal. Boylan (3-01) made life very difficult for the Carrigaline full back and added two excellently taken goals in the second half. Harry maintained his 100% free taking success bringing his total to 10 for the hour. Further points by Fergus O’Neill and Sean Andrews put the result well and truly beyond the Carrigaline reach even though they did manufacture a second goal. With the match points secured Boylan and Tom Murphy made way for Shane Kelleher and Mark Jordan respectively.
Without doubt this was Shamrocks best performance to date and a top of the table clash with Ballygarvan in three weeks time will decide who advances in the number 1 and 2 spots going into the final rounds.
Team : Roy Twomey, Gary Ronayne, Cathal Kidney, Dave Barry, Jason Browne, Mark Hitchmough, Sean Kidney, Tom Murphy, Sean Andrews (0-01), Dylan Flaherty, Barry Mulqueen (0-01), Fergus O’Neill (0-01), Harry Andrews (0-10), John Boylan (3-01) and Cillian Hayes(1-01).
Subs : Mark Jordan, Dave Andrews (1-02), Shane Kelleher, James Lynam, Coby O’Grady and Shane Downey.
