*Breffni Horner leaves Eoghan Thynne behind. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
CRUSHEEN beat St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield by 10 points to make the last eight again in the race for Canon Hamilton.
Crusheen 3-19
St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield 0-18
Venue: Ruan
Matters elsewhere had Crusheen’s fate out of their hands at times, but they beat what was in front of them in sunny Ruan.
There was a very different huddle after this game for Crusheen as players gathered around to hear the result between Sixmilebridge and Newmarket. With four points in Group 4 secured, Crusheen’s huddle erupted when news came through of the drawn game in Cusack Park. Three points was never going to be enough to make it safely out of this group.
St. Joseph’s Doora/Barefield had their moments in this game. There were runs in the second and third quarters to give them real belief. At the same time, Crusheen were in their comfort zone throughout, despite a slow start and some uncharacteristic errors.
Neither side were at their best in a stop-start opening ten minutes. Luke Hayes was the first scorer from play, giving the Parish a 3-2 lead after nine minutes.
Crusheen responded with 2-1. Jamie Fitzgibbon pointed from play before Breffni Horner broke through on goal and gave the unselfish pass to Fergus Kennedy who converted from eight yards out.
Michael Roseingrave was making his first start of the championship in the St. Joseph’s goal and was quick off his line when he saw Jamie Fitzgibbon on the charge. Fitzgibbon still had time and a calm head to bat for goal on 13 minutes.
Credit to Doora/Barefield for the response. Donal Touhy had to pull off a reflex save with Davy Conroy and a low-evening sun bearing down on him. They picked off the next three scores from play. Eoin Lahiffe scored after a mazy run and Darragh O’Shea’s fine take in midfield. Tom Hannan backed himself with a potshot and Davy Conroy got one of his three scores from play.
That had Crusheen’s lead down to three points. With no breeze, The Parish were intent on playing the ball out of defence. Conor O’Donnell punished them on 20 minutes with a turnover score and the lead was back out to nine points by half time.
The last six frees of the half went Crusheen’s way with Ross Hayes pointing from deep and Breffni Horner taking them closer to goal. Horner was replaced by Eoghan McMahon late in the half with an injury that will be of concern to Crusheen’s management.
St. Joseph’s were a bit more direct in the second half. Cian Barron in particular was determined to take on Crusheen’s full-back line and made some headway. They looked like a team who wanted to win the second half and had a couple of chances to make a real game of it.
Eoin McMahon lost his boot but retained possession in a crowded midfield and a menacing run from Eoin Lahiffe teed up Jack Hannon to blaze over. A goal at that stage would have cut the deficit to four points with less than 20 to play.
At the other end, Francis Meaney had to pull down Ian O’Brien to prevent a clean-cut goal chance for Crusheen and was booked for his efforts.
St. Joseph’s had ‘their chance’ to make the last 10 minutes interesting with a barrelling run from Cian Barron. Gavin O’Brien came bravely out to meet him and Crusheen were awarded a free out for charging.
Crusheen played with more tempo in the second half. Donal Touhy sped up on the puckouts and it gave cleaner scoring opportunities to his forwards. Conor O’Donnell had a fine game throughout and the best of his five-point haul came after 34 minutes.
Davy Conroy’s last score of the day brought his total to 10 points including seven frees. There was still time for Crusheen to put some gloss on the scoreline on 61 minutes. Ian O’Brien’s low effort to the corner was scooped out as far as Eoghan McMahon who returned with interest.
Crusheen have lost focus at times in the closing stages of their group stage games. It’s not something they’ll get away with in the knockouts. St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield will adopt a dog-fight approach for what comes next. After some great patches of play in Round 3, a 60-minute performance is what they need the most.
Crusheen Scorers: C O’Donnell (0-5); Breffni Horner (0-5 4f); R Hayes (0-4 2f); J Fitzgibbons (1-01); F Kennedy (1-0); E McMahon (1-0) O O’Donnell (0-2 1f); C Mullins (0-1); L Ketelaar (0-1)
St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield Scorers: D Conroy (0-10 7f); P O’Donovan (0-03); C Barron © (0-2); J Hannon (0-1); T Hannon (0-1); 15: E Lahiffe (0-1).
Crusheen:
1: Donal Touhy
2: Tadhg Dean
3: Diarmuid Mullins
4: Gavin O’Brien
18: Luke Ketelaar
6: Cian Dillon ©
7: Ross Hayes
8: Cilléin Mullins
9: Eanna McMahon
10: Oisín O’Donnell
11: Conor O’Donnell
12: Jamie Fitzgibbons
13: Ian O’Brien
14: Fergus Kennedy
15: Breffni Horner
Substitutes:
19: Luke Hayes for L Ketelaar (49’)
17: Eoghan McMahon for B Horner (29’)
St. Joseph’s Doora Barefield
1: Michael Roseingrave
13: Eoghan Thynne
2: Francis Meaney
4: Adam Mungovan
5: Eoin McMahon
6: Darragh McMahon
7: Ian Williams
8: Jack Hannon
9: Darragh O’Shea
10: Tom Hannon
11: Davy Conroy
19: Padraic O’Donovan
14: Cian Barron ©
24: Ciaran O’Driscoll
15: Eoin Lahiffe
Substitutes:
18: Senan Crosbie for T Hannon (HT)
21: Eoin Burke for C O’Driscoll (HT)
20: Brian Guilfoyle for P O’Donovan (49’)
Referee: Fergal O’Brien (Broadford)
