Mountrath CS Senior hurlers fall short in bid to reach Leinster schools final

Mountrath Community School’s hopes of reaching the Leinster Colleges SHC ‘B’ final fell short in the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Thursday afternoon. The home team were level with their opponents, St Brendan’s CS Birr of Offaly at half-time in a pulsating contest.

However, Mountrath CS lacked that clinical edge in front of the posts in the second half that could have seen them advance. Mountrath will perhaps look back at this one as a missed opportunity, but credit to the Offaly outfit who were more than deserving winners in the end.

St Brendan's CS Birr 2-13

Mountrath CS 0-15

St Brendan’s opened the scoring through Adam Landy, as he received a pass from Andrew Coakley and fired over from close range. Mountrath responded with two points of their own, the first from Josh O’Brien and the second from Ben Deegan (free).

St Brendan’s made it two apiece through Luke Carey, who converted a free. Mountrath hit two more between the posts down the other end to go back in front though, as they looked to take advantage of the wind in the first half. Ben Deegan landed a free over the bar before Michael O’Brien brilliantly send one over on the half-turn.

St Brendan’s midfielder, Ailbe Watkins, left one in it after a nice score, and then the away side struck for the first of their two goals. Eoin Burke first tried to bundle it in himself but was met with a barrage of Mountrath defenders and couldn’t get a shot off. However, the sliotar was eventually picked up by Andrew Coakley, who struck low and hard into the Mountrath net.

Wing-back Ciaran McKelvey from Castletown, who was one of Mountrath’s top performers on the day, replied immediately with a stunning individual score. McKelvey skilfully flicked it over a St Brendan’s player before curling one between the posts from out near the sideline.

St Brendan’s full-forward, Darragh Tierney, pointed from close range, but Mountrath finished the first half strongly. Jer Quinlan gave an exhibition in scoring towards the end of the half, as he placed over three fine points from play.

Ben Deegan also notched a free to Mountrath’s tally in between those scores, and Mountrath went in level, 1-6 to 0-9, at the half-time interval. They would have to play against the wind in the second half though, so there was plenty of work ahead for the Laois school.

The sides exchanged scores at the beginning of the second half. Mountrath full-forward, Ciaran Culleton, got himself on the scoresheet for the day with two points from play, while Deegan added another free to his name. Luke Carey pointed a couple for St Brendan’s, as the teams remained in a deadlock at nearly the halfway stage of the second half.

However, St Brendan’s struck for a second goal that would see them on their way to victory. Substitute Shane Connolly spotted Luke Carey free near the Mountrath square and played it across to him. Carey’s shot was low and hard, giving Brochan O’Reilly no chance in the Mountrath goal.

Deegan replied for Mountrath to cut the deficit, but St Brendan’s tails were up now, and they added two more points to stretch their lead out to four. The Offaly men also had a chance to put the nail in the coffin with around five minutes to play, as they were awarded a penalty. Luke Carey’s miss meant Mountrath were still in with a fighting chance.

Mountrath desperately needed a goal though, but St Brendan’s made sure they weren’t getting anywhere near their square. Conor Doran scored Mountrath’s last point of the match, but Luke Carey fired over the insurance score for St Brendan’s and Mountrath were defeated.

ST BRENDAN'S CS BIRR

Scorers: Luke Carey 1-5 (0-2 frees), Darragh Tierney 0-4, Andrew Coakley 1-0, Cian Nolan 0-2, Adam Landy and Ailbe Watkins 0-1

Team: Liam Moore; Sam Smith, Paddy Bergin, Stephen Gilligan; Ben Miller, Cathal King, Darragh Landy; Ailbe Watkins, Liam Brophy; Cian Nolan, Luke Carey, Adam Landy; Andrew Coakley, Darragh Tierney, Eoin Burke. Subs: Cathal Robinson for Brophy (25 mins), Lochlann Quinn for Burke (35 mins), Shane Connolly for Landy (44 mins), Damien Fletcher for Coakley (47 mins)

MOUNTRATH CS

Scorers: Ben Deegan 0-6 frees, Jer Quinlan 0-3, Ciaran Culleton 0-2, Ciaran McKelvey, Josh O'Brien, Conor Doran and Michael O'Brien 0-1 each

Team: Brochan O’Reilly (Portlaoise); Joe Pearson (Clough-Ballacolla), Cathal Cuddy (Camross), Rory Kelly (Castletown); Jack Fitzpatrick (Borris-Kilcotton), Tom Cuddy (Camross), Ciaran McKelvey (Castletown); Eoghan Cuddy (Camross), Josh O’Brien (Mountrath); James Cuddy (Camross), Conor Doran (Castletown), Ben Deegan (Camross); Jer Quinlan (Borris-Kilcotton), Ciaran Culleton (Ballyfin), Michael O’Brien (Mountrath). Subs: Jack Breen (Castletown) for Cuddy (33 mins), Ruaidhri Kavanagh (Mountrath) for Deegan (47 mins)