Holycross Ballycahill retain Junior A crown with a good stroke of luck in The Ragg

Premier Credit Union Mid Junior A Hurling Championship Final

Holycross Ballycahill 1-18

Moycarkey Borris 1-15

Holycross Ballycahill managed to retain their Mid title at the Junior A grade on Saturday evening, with a big stroke of luck giving them the breathing space to defeat a strong effort from Moycarkey Borris in The Ragg.

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Trailing 1-8 to 0-6 at the break, an upset looked to be on the cards as Moycarkey Borris looked the better team in the first period, but after Holycross came out in the second half, a rejuvenated team, it was a lucky goal from Tony Leahy in the 47th minute that swung the result.

After that, the winning reflex in rich supply in the Holycross club took over with Jack Dwan leading from the front with some big scores late on to finally stave off the stubborn Moycarkey Borris resistance, who will feel like this was one final result that could have easily gone their way with a bit of luck.

They did almost everything right with their setup from the throw-in, setting up deep and conceding the puckout to Holycross, dropping their forward line and midfield deep to cut off the space in their defence.

At the other end, despite the lack of bodies up top, they raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead after 15th minutes of the game with Diarmuid Maher (2), Mar Heffernan (2), and an absolute beauty from an impossible angle from Darren Flood had the challengers in fine fettle halfway through the first period.

The game plan was working like a charm with Holycross looking like a frustrated outfit as they had to wait for 16 minutes to get a first score from play, thanks to a well-taken score from Audie Lohan, closely followed by Mickey Jo Doyle a minute later.

Far from a classic, Moycarkey weren’t fussed by the nature of the contest at that point, and a big moment in the 24th minute saw them open a gap when Diarmuid Maher’s quick thinking caught out the Holycross line, turning down a close-range free point to strike low to the net through a forest of legs. 

Mark Heffernan made that a four-point goal three minutes after the put Moycarkey well ahead, but Holycross managed to take the sting off the scoreboard going in at half-time with late points from Mickey Jo Doyle and Tony Maher; Moycarkey leading 1-8 to 0-6 at the interval.

Holycross were far from their fluid best, and after half-time, they improved significantly, which coincided with the introduction of Ben Hennessy off the bench.

Jack Dwan set the tone straight from the throw-in, winning possession in midfield before powering in on goal with his goal-bound effort, just going over the bar, and when Hennessy added to that within the minute, it was back to a three-point game almost instantly.

Stevie Flanagan was also sprung at the break, and his maiden score soon followed with Moycarkey Borris punch drunk after that flurry as Holycross quickly wiped out their half-time advantage.

Mark Heffernan was still the big scoring threat for them up top, and he managed to steady the ship with his third of the game, but it didn’t stifle the Holycross resurgence as they were level by the three-quarter mark with Tony Leahy from play and Jack Dwan 65 tying it up at 0-12 to 1-9 with 15 minutes to go.

Diarmuid Maher (free) and Ben Hennessy’s second kept the sides shoulder to shoulder in the following minute, but the big turning point came soon after.

Tony Leahy went for a point from some 60 yards out, a shot that he didn’t catch as it started to drop shy of the target and left post, and with Jack Dwan and Rory Ryan wrestling for position, the ball hit off the back of the Moycarkey full-back to deflect agonisingly past Conor Hayes into the net.

From here, Moycarkey were chasing the game but couldn’t find the joy they had in the first half, with Holycross shooting the lights out late on, mostly through the class of Jack Dwan, who scored his side's last five points (two) frees of the game to send his side to back-to-back Mid titles.

Scorers: Holycross Ballycahill: Jack Dwan (0-10, 0-5f, 0-1 65), Tony Leahy 1-1, Ben Hennessy, Mickey Jo Doyle 0-2 each, Stevie Flanagan, Audie Lohan, Tony Maher all 0-1 each.

Moycarkey Borris: Diarmuid Maher (1-6, 1-4f), Mark Heffernan 0-5, Kevin O’Regan 0-2, Kyle Ryan, Darren Flood 0-1 each.

Holycross Ballycahill: Tomas Comerford; Sean McGrath, Conor Ryan (H), Eddie O'Gorman; Daire Ryan, Eoin Morris, Jack Lahart; Shane Ryan, Mickey Jo Doyle; Jamie Lee Dwan, Tony Leahy, Tony Maher; Jamie Woods, Jack Dwan, Audie Lohan.

Subs used: Ben Hennessy for Lahart (HT); Stevie Flanagan for Jamie Lee Dwan ( HT).

Moycarkey Borris: Conor Hayes; Liam Hayes, Rory Ryan, Davy O'Donnell; Kyle Ryan, Chrissy McCullagh, Kevin Moran; Bill Maher, Kevin O'Regan; Brendan Looby, Joe Doran, Diarmuid Maher; Mark Heffernan, Darren Flood, JJ Darmody.

Subs used: John Bergin for Looby (35); James Bourke for Moran (40); Niall Heffernan for K Ryan (51); Daniel Hayes for O'Donnell (57).

Referee: Johnny Butler (Upperchurch Drombane)

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