Gortnahoe Glengoole rout St Patricks to claim spot in county U19B hurling decider

FBD Insurance U19B Hurling Championship Semi-Final

Gortnahoe Glengoole 4-21

St Patricks 2-12

By Ronan Loughnane

From the moment David Corbett flashed over the opening point within 15 seconds, Gortnahoe Glengoole were in complete control of this contest as they comfortably accounted for the challenge of South Champions St. Patrick’s.

A further 1-5 from play inside the opening 12 minutes had them eight clear and from there on they were never going to be caught. Corbett followed his opening point with another in the fourth minute with joint captain Liam Hayes landing another in the sixth minute.

Corner forward Lorcan Bourke carried on his excellent form from the Mid final and he grabbed the opening goal in the ninth minute followed by two points from play within a minute, as St. Patrick’s struggled to get any foothold in the game.

The lively Daithi Hogan got them off the mark in the tenth minute with an excellent point from play before Hayes grabbed his second to leave Gortnahoe 1-6 to 0-1 ahead after just 12 minutes. The second quarter saw a big improvement from St.Patrick’s and their sizeable following began to find their voice.

Three points in as many minutes from James Ryan, William Cleere, and Hogan cut the gap to five but Bourke’s second goal for Gortnahoe following some poor defending was a real hammer blow. The sides shared the next six points with Corbett (2) and Bourke on target for Gortnahoe while Cleere, Oran Gahan, and the impressive Sean Nash replied for St. Patrick’s. Another Cleere free brought the first half to a close with Gortnahoe 2-9 to 0-8 ahead.

Any hopes of a comeback from the South champions were snuffed out within four minutes of the restart. Liam Hayes opened with two excellent points from play before great work from Bourke set up the hard-working Aaron O’Dwyer for a deserved goal to leave Gortnahoe 3-11 to 0-8 ahead.

Cleere responded with two points and a good goal from James Ryan in the tenth minute gave them a flicker of hope. But with the Gortnahoe defence generally on top St. Patrick’s found scores hard to come by, with Cleere their only scorer in the second half. Further points from Corbett, Hayes, Bourke, Bobby Doheny, and Conor Gleeson left Gortnahoe well ahead before Corbett and Cleere traded late goals.

Gortnahoe will look forward to their big day out in Semple Stadium on Sunday as they take on the Eire Og/Sean Treacy combination. They will be full of confidence after Wednesday's victory and have plenty of attacking options.

Lorcan Bourke, David Corbett, Liam Hayes, Conor Gleeson, Brandon Ryan-Webster, Tomas Meaney, and Aaron O’Dwyer were all impressive and the open spaces of the hallowed turf should suit them well.

St. Patrick's will be disappointed with their slow start as they gave themselves too much of a mountain to climb. William Cleere was their standout performer while Jack Cleere, Sean Nash, James Ryan, and Daithi Hogan were always to the fore.

Gortnahoe Glengoole: Lee Norton; Paddy Norton, Brandon Ryan-Webster, Luke Kavanagh; Adam Butler, David Lanigan, Tomas Meaney; Liam Hayes (0-5), Conor Gleeson (0-1); Billy Hogan, Bobby Doheny (0-3), Aaron O’Dwyer (1-0); Kevin Laffan, David Corbett (1-7, 1-3f, 0-1 ‘65 ), Lorcan Bourke (2-5).

Subs used: Declan Teehan for Lanigan (inj); Jack Gleeson for Meaney; Jason Kelly for Kavanagh.

St. Patricks: Conor Brett; Pat Moroney, Bill Cuddihy, Evan Holohan; Brian O’Halloran, Jack Cleere, Robbie Noonan; Sean Nash (0-1), Finn Madigan; William Cleere (1-7, 0-5f), Oran Gahan (0-1), Danny Broderick; James Ryan (1-1), Charlie Noonan, Daithi Hogan (0-2).

Subs used: Sean Fitzgerald for Moroney; Cormac Duggan for Cuddihy.

Referee: Murty Ryan (Moyne Templetuohy)