Junior Hurlers beaten in Leinster Final

Last Sunday, in front of a large crowd, Edenderry and St. Sylvesters played out an entertaining Leinster Special Junior Hurling Final at Malahide. The game took place in bright winter sunshine although a strong breeze prevailed throughout. Despite recent weather the pitch was in excellent condition for the time of year, however it was soft to yielding in places.

The game started brightly with early chances for both sides and St Sylvesters playing with the aid of the breeze opened the scoring with a 65 metre free in the 4^th minute from full forward Martin Ormonde. Edenderry responded within a minute and after an excellent save from Sylvesters goalkeeper Hilary Murray-Hession to deny Jason Carey, Edenderry eventually had the ball in the net from Mattie Moore.

A period of stalemate then began which was broken in the 11^th minute by Sean Og Farrell when he scored an excellent point from play after a neat pass from Bill Glennon. St Sylvesters responded with a pointed free from Ormonde before Sean Og struck again for Edenderry, this time a sideline cut from Cillian Farrell found it way to Sean Og who tapped over from 30 metres. From the puckout Cillian Farrell won possession and struck an excellent score from near the sideline about 45 metres from goal. St Sylvesters tactic of feeding everything through their full forward Ormonde payed off in the 15^th minute when after excellent play the ball was passed to Ormonde who had space and time to pick his spot and tap over an easy point. Ormonde was again on target minutes later with a free from 40 metres.

A 21 metre free from Cillian Farrell in the 21^st minute left Edenderry in front by three points 1-04 to 0-04. In the next attack St Sylvesters scored a very fourtunate goal when a shot by Kieran Falvey was blocked by Brendan McCabe in the Edenderry goals, Falvey then pulled on the ball and sent it across the goalmouth where it was deflected to the net off the leg of an Edenderry defender. In the 22^nd minute St Sylvesters took the lead which they held until the finish. A 21 metre free was fired at the goals by Ormonde and after an excellent save from McCabe, Conor McCafferty was quickest to react and he blasted the ball home from close range. A pointed free from Ormonde completed the first half scoring and left St Sylvesters in command on a scoreline of 2-05 to 1-04.

Many Edenderry supporters felt the task was not beyond the team and with the aid of the breeze in the second half, they thought their team would be able to regain control of the game. This was not to be as St Sylvesters continued to dominate the play in the second half and hold out for victory.

Two minutes into the second half, Edenderry reduced the arrears with an excellent score from midfielder Martin Keogh from play. Sylvesters then lost Fergus Rooney with a shoulder injury following a robust challenge from Tom Fay. Cillian Farrell cut the deficit further with a pointed free in the 9^th minute, however this was followed by a point from play by Sylvesters substitute Colm O’Connor and four pointed frees by Martin Ormonde to leave Edenderry with an uphill struggle to get back into the game. James Coffey replaced Bill Glennon in the Edenderry attack and Enda Bagnall replaced Derek Egan in the half back line. Cillian Farrell pointed a 50 metre free before Jonathan Geraghty replaced Conleth Carey who picked up an arm injury. A further pointed free from Ormonde and an excellent point from play by Cillian Farrell left the final scoreline St Sylvesters 2-11 Edenderry 1-08.

St Sylvesters fully deserved this victory as overall they played the better hurling, Edenderry can have no regrets after an epic run to the final. The team can be proud to have represented Offaly in a Leinster Final and it will be of huge benefit to them in 2010 to have been hurling right up to the end of the year. The large support that travelled from Edenderry also deserve credit for braving a bitterly cold day to cheer on the team.

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