RESULT: Junior Hurling Championship
O'Loughlin Gaels 1-19 to 4-13 James Stephens
At Palmertown, SUNDAY Sept 25th - Referee : John Bennett
With less than ten minutes to go O'Loughlin Gaels looked to be in the driving seat after going on a 1-8 unanswered scoring spree in the second half to turn a 6 point deficit into a healthy 5 point lead. Even though James Stephens did get back a goal and a point, 2 points from Cian Loy and Brian Dowling in the same period should have been enough to finish off the game. The Village were awarded a 21 in the dying moments and Mikey Drennan drilled for goal...a little goalmouth confusion ensued and after some healthy debate the leather was deemed to have crossed the line and the game headed into extra time.
Brian Dowling started extra time proceedings off with a pointed free which was added to with two gems..one from Sean Bolger and another from Thomas Gleeson who had a fine game throughout. The Village returned two in the same period and the Gaels went into the second period of extra time one point to the good. The Village got the perfect start however in the Final Act of this drama..a goal by substitute Andrew Parsons was added to with three more points putting the opposition five points ahead with only 4minutes remaining. Even with tired legs the Gaels cut it back to three as they went looking for goals. It was a fair effort..but time ran out and the Village now advance to the Northern Final.
Fair play to both teams..only a puck of a ball separated these sides after over 130mins of hurling..good value for supporters but disappointed for our players who put in a huge effort this year. Well done to all involved
B. Leydon, B. Murphy, G. Bryan, T. Gleeson, R. Butler, A. O'Brien, N. Bergin, K. O'Brien, P. Cantwell, S. Bolger, A. Geoghegan, B. Dowling, C. Loy, D. Lenihan, J. Doyle,