Keyes and Delaney second half goals help Camross book place in U-20 'A' hurling championship final

This weekend was full of U-20 action in both grades, but the headline act was most certainly the U-20 ‘A’ hurling semi-final meeting between Abbeyleix and Camross. Abbeyleix had won this competition last season and most of their squad was still underage this season. Camross had won the Minor grade last season and were full of talent themselves, so this promised to be a cracker in Abbeyleix on Saturday afternoon.

The reigning champions were ahead at half-time, with their main man Aaron Brennan to the fore for them. However, Camross hit back with a couple of goals in the second half to overturn that deficit and book their spot in this year’s U-20 ‘A’ final. Abbeyleix began on the front foot in their home patch, with Aaron Brennan bagging the first couple of points. Brennan scored one from play and one from a free to get Abbeyleix off to a strong start, but Camross hit back with the opening goal of the game.

Camross 3-10

Abbeyleix 1-13

Ryan Cuddy, who came off the bench on the last day against Clough-Ballacolla but started for Camross today, cut in from the wing. He played it across the square to full-forward James Cuddy. While James Cuddy lost possession for a split-second, he managed to volley the sliotar soccer-style past David Sheeran and into the net. Delaney then landed a free shortly after that goal went in, as Camross went two clear.

Abbeyleix responded strongly to that early setback though. Their defence, led by full-back Lawson Obular was rock solid for the remainder of the first half. That allowed them to build up a half-time lead. Killian Byrne left one between the teams with a nice point from play. Then Brennan converted two more frees to put Abbeyleix back ahead. While Delaney levelled for Camross with a converted placed ball of his own, Abbeyleix hit the next four points on the spin.

Brennan received a nice ball from Killian Byrne before turning swiftly and firing over. Brennan then caught a puck-out minutes later brilliantly from his goalkeeper, David Sheeran, to draw a free and point another between the posts. Abbeyleix midfielder Shaun Fitzpatrick’s workrate throughout was impressive and he got his reward with a first-half point. Good work from center-back Fionan Mahony set up Colin Byrne for his first score of the day, as Abbeyleix enjoyed a four-point cushion.

Daniel Delaney landed the final point of the first half for Camross, but they trailed 1-3 to 0-9 at this stage. They would have a decent breeze behind them for the second half though, so this semi-final match was still all to play for. Camross went about utilising the elements of the wind at the start of the second half as well. Delaney added two more points to his name from frees to cut the deficit to the minimum in Abbeyleix.

Davin McEvoy delivered Abbeyleix’s opening score of the second half, as he punished Camross defenders for failing to clear their lines. Camross responded with two points though to level matters. First-half substitute, Greg Cuddy, grabbed a point from play before Delaney converted another free. Then Camross struck for goal number two to take the lead for the first time since the opening quarter.

Delaney punished Abbeyleix’s slack marking and worked a short free to Tomas Keyes. ‘Mossy’ wasted no time in cracking an effort into the back of the net to give Camross the lead. Abbeyleix showed the stuff of champions with their response though. Davin McEvoy squeezed over his second point from a tight angle, before Brennan landed another from a placed ball.

The teams were level once more when Abbeyleix centre-back, Fionan Mahony, marched forward to fire over another point. With just over ten minutes of normal time remaining, this semi-final was in the melting pot.

Camross seemed to have the superior fitness at this stage though. Ben Deegan edged them back ahead before Delaney and Keyes added further points to put Camross three ahead once more. Abbeyleix then conceded a penalty in the fifty-fifth minute of the match. Lawson Obular dragged down Ben Deegan in the square, and Delaney stepped up to convert the Camross penalty. While Abbeyleix managed to grab a goal back late on through Liam Doyle, they could not find an equalizing goal to force extra-time and Camross advanced to the final.