Cathal Dillon intervenes to give Lattin/Cullen the edge in close contest
Teams were level nine times over the hour
Lattin/Cullen 2-17 St Patrick’s 2-15
Two second half goals from Cathal Dillon proved the difference as Lattin/Cullen beat St Patrick’s in a clash of the west and south divisional champions in the FBD Insurance County Junior A Hurling Championship semi-final at Leahy Park, Cashel on Sunday.
The sides were level on nine occasions and something special was needed to separate them. And that spark was provided by dual star Dillon to put Lattin/Cullen through to the county decider, where they will take on Fethard.
Playing with the aid of a strong breeze, St Patrick’s were only level at the interval, 1-7 to 0-10 – their goal coming from Daithí Hogan in the third minute – and they really should have taken more advantage of the elements.
The sides were level again at 1-13 to 0-16 in the 48th minute when Cathal Dillon chased down what appeared to be a lost cause in the corner. However, he won possession and with the St Patrick’s defenders standing off, he hit a screamer to the net past John Moroney.
They stretched the lead to four points, the biggest gap between the sides until then, when Sean Bourke set up another Lattin/Cullen-Aherlow dual star, Mark Russell, for a superb point from the standside touchline.
Points from Daithí Hogan, on an advantage, and Willie Cleere from a free, brought the margin back to two points, before Lattin/Cullen struck for their second goal in the 60th minute, when a beautifully- struck sideline cut from Russell was finished to the net by Dillon for a five points lead.
The Drangan/Cloneen side responded well and when they won a late free, Willie Cleere struck it decisively to the net, but time ran out before they could stage another attack.
St Patrick’s might not have found themselves in that position if they had taken all their first half chances, but with the breeze at their backs, wayward shooting proved costly. They also had an over-reliance on the free-taking of Willie Cleere, whose tally of 1-11 – 1-8 from frees, two 65s and one point from play – accounted for all but 1-4 of the team’s total.
Lattin/Cullen, meanwhile, had a better spread of scorers.
O’Shea from play and a free had given the west champions a two-point lead in the first two minutes before St Patrick’s struck for their first goal, a brilliant intercept from Aidan Fitzgerald putting Hogan through to shoot past Jack Whelton. Sean Bourke levelled for Lattin/Cullen and there was never more than two points between the sides for the remainder of the half.
By the end of the first quarter it was 1-4 to 0-6, with Cleere pointing four for the south champions, from two frees, a 65 and one from play, and Lattin/Cullen replying through Tadhg Carew, and frees from O’Shea and Dillon.
Mark Russell struck a super leveller and they went ahead through Cathal Dillon. St Patrick’s hit back with three in a row, from Tony O’Brien, and a free and a 65 from Cleere. However, Lattin/Cullen hit two injury time points to draw level, Sean Bourke setting up Daire O’Brien, and O’Shea pointing a free.
Nothing could separate the sides in the third quarter when they were level on another six occasions. After Cleere and O’Shea swapped early frees, St Patrick’s went two ahead through Cleere again from a free, and Daithí Hogan on an advantage, with the west side hitting back with frees from O’Shea and Ben Carey.
Another Cleere free was cancelled out by Micheál Elligott skilfully striking over one-handed; Cathal Foley put St Pat’s ahead again, with O’Shea replying from a free, and the same outcome when O’Shea edged it for Lattin/Cullen from a free and Cleere hit back for St Pat’s.
It was at that stage, 1-13 to 0-16, that the game took a decisive turn with the first of Cathal Dillon’s goals, and Russell’s point to stretch the lead to four. St Patrick’s got it back to two again, but Dillon’s second goal proved to be the crucial score.
Cathal Dillon was the match-winner for Lattin/Cullen but they also had big displays from Ray Hennessy, Daire O’Brien and Ben Carey in defence. Tadhg and Eoin O’Connell were busy in the middle third, with Mark Russell, Micheál Eliggott and Tomás O’Shea impressing upfront.
Willie Cleere’s performance was immense for St Patrick’s, both in open play and free-taking, with Daithí Hogan and Cathal Foley also chipping in with vital scores. Aidan Fitzgerald had a huge game at the heart of the defence, with Sean Nash and Cathal Mahoney also impressing.
Lattin/Cullen: Jack Whelton; Daire O’Brien 0-1, Ray Hennessy, Paddy Chapman; Diarmuid Looby, Stevie Carey, Ben Carey 0-1f; Tadhg Carew 0-1, Eoin O’Connell; Jack O’Halloran, Gary Quirke, Mark Russell 0-2; Tomás O’Shea 0-8 (1f), Cathal Dillon 2-2 (1f), Sean Bourke 0-1. Subs: Micheál Elligott 0-1 for O’Brien (40), William Perry for Quirke (42), Liam Carew for O’Connell (48).
St Patrick’s: John Moroney; Eoin Ryan, Sean Nash, Conor Duggan; Cathal Mahoney, Aidan Fitzgerald, Ryan Cranitch; Willie Cleere 1-11 (1-8f, 2x65), Cian Cranitch; Aidan Buckley, Cathal Foley 0-1, Oran Gahan; Daithí Hogan 1-2, Jamie Broderick, Tony O’Brien 0-1. Subs: Ciaran Mockler for Broderick (HT), Finn Madigan for O’Brien (42), Charlie Noonan for Cian Cranitch (50).
Referee: Sean Lonergan (Moyle Rovers).