Junior Hurling Championship 2015
May 2: Horeswood 1-11, Ferns St Aidans 0-6
Horeswood proved far too good for the Ferns St. Aidanss second string in this EEW Junior Hurling Championship tie at rain-soaked Oylegate on Saturday, leading from pillar to post and never looking in any trouble whatsoever.
Playing with the wind in the first half, they had six points on the board in the opening quarter before Ferns opened their account at all, with two from Craig Murphy (both frees), two from Darren Shannon, and one each from Declan Murphy and Michael O’Hanlon (‘65’) accounting for that tally.
The Ferns score came from a Peter O’Toole free, but Horeswood replied with two more before the break, to lead by 0-8 to 0-1 at half-time.
A Ferns comeback was never really going to materialise in the second half, and any hope of the game even coming to resemble a contest was killed off after 42 minutes when Craig Murphy lashed a ground ball to the Ferns net to put Horeswood 1-9 to 0-2 ahead.
There was further woe for Ferns within minutes as they lost wing-back John O’Leary to a straight red card that was issued for a loose pull amongst a bunch of players, and after that, it really was only a matter of seeing out time.
Strangely enough, it was 14-man Ferns who had the better of it from a scoring point of view in those closing stages as they added four points to Horeswood’s two, but realistically that was of little consequence, as the game had already been well and truly decided.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Ger Turner, Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Tomás Hawkins (0-2), John O’Leary; Pádraig Walsh, Patrick Breen; Peter O’Toole (0-1 free), Pádraig Bolger (0-2), Andy Cash; Ben Cowman, Murt Kehoe, Gavin Collier. Subs: Peter Codd (0-1) for Cash, inj.; Patrick Codd for Walsh; Jason Collier for Kehoe; Jack O’Hagan for PJ O’Neill.
Horeswood: Kevin Rowe; Ivan Kehoe, Eoin Mythen, James Kent; Tomás Kent, Michael O’Hanlon (0-2, 0-1 ‘65’), Lorcan O’Brien; Declan Murphy (0-3), Shane O’Hanlon; Eoin Murphy, Barry Hearn, Darren Shannon (0-2); Jake Shannon, John Bradley, Craig Murphy (1-3, 0-3 frees). Sub: Conor Breen (0-1) for Eoin Murphy.
Referee: Noel O’Connor.
May 8: Tara Rocks 0-13, Ferns St Aidans 0-8
Tara Rocks led Ferns St. Aidans all the way and rubber-stamped their victory in the closing quarter of this EEW Junior Hurling Championship tie at rainy St Patrick’s Park on Friday evening, by shooting the last four points just when it looked like Ferns might haul them back.
In a game that was switched from Camolin at short notice due to a waterlogged pitch at the original intended venue, the Rocks had the first three points through Cormac Whitmore, Rhys Owley, and Joe Bolger. Matters even out a bit after that but they still led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, with the two best scores of the half having come from their midfielder Niall Breen.
On the resumption of play, Ryan Nolan sent in a shot for Ferns that whizzed just over the bar when whizzing under it would really have set things up nicely, and his side followed up with a pointed free from Peter O’Toole. Declan Breen replied by converting one for Tara Rocks, but back came Ferns and they were close to goal again when Peter Codd was put through, only to see his effort excellently saved by goalman Lee Owley.
PJ O’Neill pointed for Ferns on 44 minutes to leave just the minimum in it again (0-9 to 0-8), but that was to be his side’s last score, as Rocks finished much the stronger. A good Martin Sheehan point from midfield on 48 minutes was followed up a minute later by another score from Joe Bolger, while Niall Breen added the last two of the game (one from a free) to make him top scorer on the night with four points.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Aaron Collier, Peter Nolan; Jack O’Hagan, Patrick Codd, Patrick Breen; Tomás Hawkins (0-1), Pádraig Bolger; Peter O’Toole (0-2, 0-1 free), Peter Codd (0-1), PJ O’Neill (0-1); Ryan Nolan (0-2), Pádraig Walsh (0-1), Jason Collier. Sub: Murt Kehoe for Walsh.
Tara Rocks: Lee Owley; Damien Tobin, Gary Owley, Sean Owley; Liam Fitzpatrick (0-1), Brendan Hobbs, Rhys Owley (0-1); Niall Breen (0-4, 0-1 free), Martin Sheehan (0-1); Paddy Phelan, Declan Breen (0-3 frees), Aaron Murphy; Cormac Whitmore (0-1), Joe Bolger (0-2), Patrick Fortune. Subs: Richie McDonald for Fortune; Craig Kenny for Murphy; Shane Tobin for Whitmore.
Referee: Shane Quinn (Ballygarrett)
May 22: Gusserane 0-14, Ferns St Aidans 0-10
A scoring string of five points in a row for Gusserane during 15 second half minutes proved the decisive factor in this Enniscorty Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship tie at St Patrick’s Park on Friday evening, condemning Ferns St Aidans to their third defeat of three matches played.
Matters were level at 0-8 apiece in the 41st minute of a match that could best be described as mediocre. While it wasn’t particularly exciting, it still seemed anybody’s for the taking, but then Gusserane began to pull away.
A long free from Fintan Ryan was the first of the five key scores, and it was followed by others from Sean Ryan, Martin O’Neill, Pauric Conway, and Adrian Redmond, to stretch the south county side’s lead to 0-13 to 0-8 with just four minutes to go.
Ferns pulled one back through a free from substitute Gavin Collier (who had replaced earlier free-taker, Peter O’Toole), but Sean Ryan replied at the other end as the game moved into injury time. One late last point for Ferns – that seemed to come from the stick of Pádraig Bolger, as about half a dozen players pulled at the same time on a dropping ball – completed the scoring, with Gusserane emerging victorious from what was really a disappointing tie.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Aaron Collier, Peter Nolan; Jack O’Hagan, Ger Turner, John O’Leary; PJ O’Neill, Pádraig Bolger (0-3); Peter O’Toole (0-3 frees), Peter Codd, Pádraig Walsh; Paddy O’Leary, Andy Cash, Ben Cowman (0-1). Subs: Gavin Collier (0-3, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65’) for O’Toole; Patrick Breen for PJ O’Neill; Conor Nolan for Cash; Patrick Codd for O’Hagan; Jason Collier for O’Leary.
Gusserane: David Kehoe; Paul Wall, Liam Dillon, Jack OConnor; Mark Rossitter, Fintan Ryan (0-1 free), Robert Browne; Adrian Redmond (0-3, 0-1 sideline), Darragh Doyle; Nicky Cahill (0-1), Martin O’Neill (0-1), Adrian Flynn; Sean Ryan (0-6, 0-5 frees), Cillian Kehoe (0-1), Pauric Conway (0-1). Subs: Shane Cullen for Cahill; Gary O’Grady for Flynn; Martin Fitzharris for Kehoe; Jack Burford for O’Connor (inj.); John Roche for Conway.
Referee: Mick Lanigan.
August 12: Ferns St Aidans 2-14, St Mary’s (Rosslare) 1-15
A farcical ending to the game overshadowed Ferns St Aidans’ maiden victory in this season’s Enniscorthy Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship Group B in St Patrick’s Park on Wednesday.
Ferns had taken the lead courtesy of a superbly-taken overhead pull goal by Peter Codd just as the third quarter gave way to the fourth (2-10 to 1-12).
From that point on, St. Mary’s chipped away, but were countered by a Ferns score every time they got within one.
The Wexford District club still trailed by two in added time – a scoreline that eventually turned out to be the final result – when they awarded a free 20 metres from goal.
Lee Devereux arrowed the dead ball towards the top corner of the net, only for it to be tipped away for a 65 – although there was some suggestion that it flopped over the bar for what would have been a point.
As it was, a 65 was awarded, and was about to be taken. However, in the meantime, the scoreboard had gone awry (it showed 2-14 to 1-16) and, while trying to ascertain the correct score from flustered referee Jack Stafford, Rosslare were penalised for wasting their own time.
Stafford proceeded to throw the ball in, and he immediately blew the full-time whistle. What had just transpired enraged St Mary’s to such an extent that David Murphy was shown a straight red card, after full time, for foul and abusive language towards the match official.
It wasn’t the first moment of controversy in the game for the former Wexford footballers, having seen a point signalled that looked to have gone wide (and was indeed signalled wide by the umpire, before the score was given by Stafford).
It meant that Rosslare took a 1-9 to 1-7 lead in at the break, after Lee Devereux’s well-taken early goal was countered by a pulled major from a tight angle by in-form Ferns attacker, Paddy O’Leary.
With Murphy and Devereux hitting the target in the second half, St Mary’s stayed ahead until Codd struck, and they could never quite recover.
Ferns keep their hopes alive of reaching the last eight, while Rosslare are still in the mix too.
Ferns St Aidans: Edward Cullen; Brian O’Neill, Patrick Codd (0-2), Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Seán Walsh, John O’Leary; Anthony Dwyer (capt., 0-6, 4 frees), Keith Breen; Peter Codd (1-0), Jamie Whelan, Peter O’Toole (0-2); Andy Cash, Paddy O’Leary (1-4), Ben Cowman. Sub: Jonny Kearns for Cowman (inj., 25).
St Mary’s (Rosslare): Kevin Driver; Niall Walsh, Conor Cafferkey, Aaron Kavanagh; Eamonn Power, Seán Finan, Gearóid Byrne; James Sheil (capt.), Larry Morrissey; Paul Kinsella (0-1), David Murphy (0-4), Robert Butler; Lee Devereux (1-9, 6 frees), Andrew Murphy, Barry Quirke (0-1). Subs: Shane Sinnott for Butler (inj., 25), Andy Cummins for Kinsella (inj., 37).
Referee: Jack Stafford (Clongeen)
August 28: Ferns St Aidans 2-5, Bannow/Ballymitty 1-6 (match abandoned on 33 minutes)
Group B of the Enniscorty Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship remains unresolved after this tie between Ferns St Aidans and Bannow/Ballymitty in Oylegate on Friday evening was called off after 33 minutes.
A nasty-lucky injury to the ear and general head area of Bannow/Ballymitty Gary Morton was the reason for the abandonment. He suffered it while diving in to try block a clearance from John O’Leary of Ferns St Aidans. He missed the block, and in what was a complete accident, O’Leary’s hurl caught him around the ear on the follow through.
Morton went down roaring in pain and it was immediately obvious there was significant blood loss. He was attended to while lying on the sideline by representatives of both clubs, and an ambulance was called. Play was at first suspended while he waited, and some 15 minutes later was called off altogether, as light began to fade and the stricken player remained prone on the sideline.
It is unclear when the game will be refixed for, but it will have to be played, as a win for Bannow/Ballymitty would send them through to the quarter-finals. For Ferns, the play-offs are out of reach, but a win would see them secure their status for next year and condemn Bannow/Ballymitty to the relegation final instead.
They seemed on their way to getting that win on Friday evening as they led by 2-5 to 1-6 at the break despite having played into the wind. Paddy O’Leary was scorer in chief as the struck 1-2 in the first five minutes and added another point with 23 minutes gone, while the other goal came from a bullet of a free by ‘Scoby’ Dwyer that rocketed past seven Bannow/Ballymitty men on the line.
The Bannow/Ballymitty goal, meanwhile, had come when Pat Fitzharris converted a penalty on 14 minutes, while two good points by midfielder Art Sweetman as half-time approached had given them hope for the second half.
As things turned out though, there would be only three minutes of play after the break before Morton suffered his injury and things were called to a halt.
Ferns St Aidans: Edward Cullen; Brian O’Neill, Sean Walsh, Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Patrick Codd, John O’Leary; Anthony Dywer (1-1, 1-0 free), Keith Breen; Jonathan Kearns, Peter Codd, Peter O’Toole; Andy Cash (0-1), Pádraig Walsh, Paddy O’Leary (1-3).
Bannow/Ballymitty: John Sinnott; David White, Padge Barden, Aaron Diskin; Mark Wallace, Niall Murphy, Conor Furlong; Art Sweetman (0-2), John Mernagh; Nicky Doyle (0-1), Kevin Doyle (0-1), Pat Fitzharris (1-2, 1-0 pen, 0-2f); Michéal Murphy, Gary Morton, Darragh Murphy. Subs: Fintan White for D. Murphy (inj., 8); Michael Barry for D. White (14).
Referee: Lar Doyle (Taghmon/Camross)
September 13: Bannow/Ballymitty 3-12, Ferns St Aidans 2-4
Eight days after dismissing the Intermediate footballers of Ferns, the hurlers of Bannow-Ballymitty dished out further misery to the St Aidans club, this time at Junior level.
Sunday's match at Pairc Charman was a leftover from the preliminary stages of the championship following the abandonment of the meeting of the two sides in Oylegate because a couple of injuries halted play.
The original game was close run affair until the gathering gloom brought down the curtain but the renewed contest was certainly not close and it was marked more by bad temper than bad light.
Ferns picked up more as many cards from over-worked referee Jack French as they did scores, this sorry defeat casting them down into the relegation play-off, while Bannow progressed from the dogfight into quarter finals.
With a brisk breeze racing in from the town end of the Faythe Harriers pitch at their backs, the eventual winners should have lost no time in stamping their authority on proceedings.
Instead, it was lads in the red and white stripes who were swifter out of the traps, with Padraig Walsh batting a couple of frees over the bar and then setting up a goal.
His long range delivery into the area prompted a wonderful catch from Peter Codd, who followed up his athletic fetch with a fine shot whizzing the back of John Sinnott's net.
However, the ease with which Pat Fitzharris converted a '65' was a signal of better things to come from Bannow who vaulted into the lead with a brace of goals, from Fitzharris's free and then from Gary Morton's reaction to breaking ball.
The Ferns scores dried up entirely after that and a third Bannow goal - this one from the boot of Micheál Murphy - helped his team to a 3-5 to 1-4 advantage at the break.
With no sign of the wind dying down, the margin of nine points looked eminently bridgeable but instead the second half degenerated into a dour, sour contest during which settling scores took second place to hitting scores.
Granted, just as in the first, Ferns started the half with a goal, tapped over from the closest of close range from the veteran Edward Cullen.
However, rather than building on this breakthrough, they lost their way badly and went scoreless for almost 20 minutes after Walsh's pointed free on 35 minutes.
The ugly undercurrent of nastiness, on and off the ball, led to a stream of cards, the six issued to Ferns including a second yellow for Peter Codd who was obliged to sit out the end of the game.
There were four yellows for Bannow but at least they also threw in a few points, the best of them from lively wing forward Nicky Doyle.
The collapse of Ferns as an attacking force was a mystery, their first wide of the afternoon not coming from Keith Breen until three minutes into added time at the end of an encounter he and all of his comrades will prefer to forget.
Ferns St Aidans: Ger Turner; Brian O'Neill, Sean Walsh, Peter Nolan; PJ O'Neill, Patrick Codd, Andy Cash; Padraig Walsh (0-4 all frees), Anthony Dwyer; Peter Codd (1-0), Jamie Whelan, Peter O'Toole; Keith Breen, Padraig Dunbar, Edward Cullen. Subs: Jonny Kearns 33 minutes; Patrick O'Hagan 48 minutes.
Bannow-Ballymitty: John Sinnott; John Mernagh, Padge Barden, Conor Furlong; Michael Barry, Niall Murphy, Mark Wallace; Pat Fitzharris (1-5, 1-4 from frees, a '65'), Arthur Sweetman (0-1); Nicky Doyle (0-2), Robert Mageen, Gary Morton (1-3); Micheál Murphy (1-1), Tom Fitzharris, Sean Sinnott (1-0). Subs: Darragh Murphy for S Sinnott 12 minutes; Alan Barron for Morton 52 minutes; Kevin Doyle for Murphy 56 minutes; Adam Diskin (0-1, a free) for T Fitzharris 60 minutes.
Referee: Jack French.
September 26, Relegation Final: Ferns St Aidans 3-9, Monageer/Boolavogue 1-12
Ferns St. Aidans escaped from Farmleigh with their Enniscorthy Electrical Wholesale Junior hurling championship lives intact despite playing 38 minutes with 14 men on Saturday.
It's Monageer-Boolavogue who see their second strong drop down to Junior 'A'. The condemned side have pulled off the odd Houdini act over the past several years to maintain their status but their resistance finally came to an end, despite a rousing recovery from an horrific start.
Much of the first quarter was spent by umpires at both ends stretching their arms to signal a wide but when Ferns went low they had some joy. Pádraig Walsh flew away on the left to open the scoring with a well-taken goal and a second quickly followed.
It was Patrick Breen's ball into the danger area that produced the second but it needed a superb finish by Peter Codd to beat Morgan Gahan.
Monageer-Boolavogue's only score of the first quarter came from an Ed Rowsome free, but the experienced attacker could only watch on as Jamie Whelan lapped up Andy Cash's break from Patrick Codd's long ball to make it 3-3 to 0-1.
Peter Codd got his marching orders at this point for kicking out at an opponent and it was just the break Monageer-Boolavogue needed to kick-start their challenge as John O'Loughlin found Cathal Walsh for the major that their side was desperate to get.
Leading by 3-4 to 1-4 at the break, Ferns suddenly looked vulnerable. Amongst others, a brace from O'Loughlin helped his side within two just five minutes into the second-half.
While Ferns just kept their noses in front, Seán McCabe's shot, that was deflected over his own bar by Seán Walsh, left one between the sides with 18 minutes left (3-6 to 1-11).
Yet, Monageer-Boolavogue would manage just one further 51st-minute Robbie Donnelly point as Ferns used scores from Pádraig Walsh (two) and Anthony Dwyer to secure their Junior status for another year, after a nervy final quarter.
Ferns St. Aidans: Pádraig Dunbar; Brian O'Neill, Seán Walsh, Peter Nolan; P.J. O'Neill, Patrick Codd, Patrick Breen; Anthony Dwyer (capt., 0-4, 2 frees, 1 '65), Keith Breen; Peter O'Toole (0-1), Peter Codd (1-0), Pádraig Walsh (1-2); Andy Cash, Jamie Whelan (1-1), Jack O'Hagan (0-1). Subs. - Johnny Kearns for Cash (31), Ciarán Doran for Whelan (58).
Monageer-Boolavogue: Morgan Gahan (capt.); Seán Doran, Liam Gahan, Ray O'Brien; Shane Gahan, Paul Gahan, James Walsh; Seán McCabe (0-2), Diarmuid Breen; Patrick Walsh, Brian O'Loughlin, Ian Hawkins; Ed Rowsome (0-4 frees), John O'Loughlin (0-2), Cathal Walsh (1-2). Subs. - Diarmuid Fenlon (0-1) for Hawkins (31), Robbie Donnelly (0-1) for Rowsome (40), Denis Walsh for Doran (48).
Referee: David O'Leary (Rathnure).
Horeswood proved far too good for the Ferns St. Aidanss second string in this EEW Junior Hurling Championship tie at rain-soaked Oylegate on Saturday, leading from pillar to post and never looking in any trouble whatsoever.
Playing with the wind in the first half, they had six points on the board in the opening quarter before Ferns opened their account at all, with two from Craig Murphy (both frees), two from Darren Shannon, and one each from Declan Murphy and Michael O’Hanlon (‘65’) accounting for that tally.
The Ferns score came from a Peter O’Toole free, but Horeswood replied with two more before the break, to lead by 0-8 to 0-1 at half-time.
A Ferns comeback was never really going to materialise in the second half, and any hope of the game even coming to resemble a contest was killed off after 42 minutes when Craig Murphy lashed a ground ball to the Ferns net to put Horeswood 1-9 to 0-2 ahead.
There was further woe for Ferns within minutes as they lost wing-back John O’Leary to a straight red card that was issued for a loose pull amongst a bunch of players, and after that, it really was only a matter of seeing out time.
Strangely enough, it was 14-man Ferns who had the better of it from a scoring point of view in those closing stages as they added four points to Horeswood’s two, but realistically that was of little consequence, as the game had already been well and truly decided.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Ger Turner, Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Tomás Hawkins (0-2), John O’Leary; Pádraig Walsh, Patrick Breen; Peter O’Toole (0-1 free), Pádraig Bolger (0-2), Andy Cash; Ben Cowman, Murt Kehoe, Gavin Collier. Subs: Peter Codd (0-1) for Cash, inj.; Patrick Codd for Walsh; Jason Collier for Kehoe; Jack O’Hagan for PJ O’Neill.
Horeswood: Kevin Rowe; Ivan Kehoe, Eoin Mythen, James Kent; Tomás Kent, Michael O’Hanlon (0-2, 0-1 ‘65’), Lorcan O’Brien; Declan Murphy (0-3), Shane O’Hanlon; Eoin Murphy, Barry Hearn, Darren Shannon (0-2); Jake Shannon, John Bradley, Craig Murphy (1-3, 0-3 frees). Sub: Conor Breen (0-1) for Eoin Murphy.
Referee: Noel O’Connor.
May 8: Tara Rocks 0-13, Ferns St Aidans 0-8
Tara Rocks led Ferns St. Aidans all the way and rubber-stamped their victory in the closing quarter of this EEW Junior Hurling Championship tie at rainy St Patrick’s Park on Friday evening, by shooting the last four points just when it looked like Ferns might haul them back.
In a game that was switched from Camolin at short notice due to a waterlogged pitch at the original intended venue, the Rocks had the first three points through Cormac Whitmore, Rhys Owley, and Joe Bolger. Matters even out a bit after that but they still led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, with the two best scores of the half having come from their midfielder Niall Breen.
On the resumption of play, Ryan Nolan sent in a shot for Ferns that whizzed just over the bar when whizzing under it would really have set things up nicely, and his side followed up with a pointed free from Peter O’Toole. Declan Breen replied by converting one for Tara Rocks, but back came Ferns and they were close to goal again when Peter Codd was put through, only to see his effort excellently saved by goalman Lee Owley.
PJ O’Neill pointed for Ferns on 44 minutes to leave just the minimum in it again (0-9 to 0-8), but that was to be his side’s last score, as Rocks finished much the stronger. A good Martin Sheehan point from midfield on 48 minutes was followed up a minute later by another score from Joe Bolger, while Niall Breen added the last two of the game (one from a free) to make him top scorer on the night with four points.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Aaron Collier, Peter Nolan; Jack O’Hagan, Patrick Codd, Patrick Breen; Tomás Hawkins (0-1), Pádraig Bolger; Peter O’Toole (0-2, 0-1 free), Peter Codd (0-1), PJ O’Neill (0-1); Ryan Nolan (0-2), Pádraig Walsh (0-1), Jason Collier. Sub: Murt Kehoe for Walsh.
Tara Rocks: Lee Owley; Damien Tobin, Gary Owley, Sean Owley; Liam Fitzpatrick (0-1), Brendan Hobbs, Rhys Owley (0-1); Niall Breen (0-4, 0-1 free), Martin Sheehan (0-1); Paddy Phelan, Declan Breen (0-3 frees), Aaron Murphy; Cormac Whitmore (0-1), Joe Bolger (0-2), Patrick Fortune. Subs: Richie McDonald for Fortune; Craig Kenny for Murphy; Shane Tobin for Whitmore.
Referee: Shane Quinn (Ballygarrett)
May 22: Gusserane 0-14, Ferns St Aidans 0-10
A scoring string of five points in a row for Gusserane during 15 second half minutes proved the decisive factor in this Enniscorty Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship tie at St Patrick’s Park on Friday evening, condemning Ferns St Aidans to their third defeat of three matches played.
Matters were level at 0-8 apiece in the 41st minute of a match that could best be described as mediocre. While it wasn’t particularly exciting, it still seemed anybody’s for the taking, but then Gusserane began to pull away.
A long free from Fintan Ryan was the first of the five key scores, and it was followed by others from Sean Ryan, Martin O’Neill, Pauric Conway, and Adrian Redmond, to stretch the south county side’s lead to 0-13 to 0-8 with just four minutes to go.
Ferns pulled one back through a free from substitute Gavin Collier (who had replaced earlier free-taker, Peter O’Toole), but Sean Ryan replied at the other end as the game moved into injury time. One late last point for Ferns – that seemed to come from the stick of Pádraig Bolger, as about half a dozen players pulled at the same time on a dropping ball – completed the scoring, with Gusserane emerging victorious from what was really a disappointing tie.
Ferns St. Aidans: Anthony Dwyer; Brian O’Neill, Aaron Collier, Peter Nolan; Jack O’Hagan, Ger Turner, John O’Leary; PJ O’Neill, Pádraig Bolger (0-3); Peter O’Toole (0-3 frees), Peter Codd, Pádraig Walsh; Paddy O’Leary, Andy Cash, Ben Cowman (0-1). Subs: Gavin Collier (0-3, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65’) for O’Toole; Patrick Breen for PJ O’Neill; Conor Nolan for Cash; Patrick Codd for O’Hagan; Jason Collier for O’Leary.
Gusserane: David Kehoe; Paul Wall, Liam Dillon, Jack OConnor; Mark Rossitter, Fintan Ryan (0-1 free), Robert Browne; Adrian Redmond (0-3, 0-1 sideline), Darragh Doyle; Nicky Cahill (0-1), Martin O’Neill (0-1), Adrian Flynn; Sean Ryan (0-6, 0-5 frees), Cillian Kehoe (0-1), Pauric Conway (0-1). Subs: Shane Cullen for Cahill; Gary O’Grady for Flynn; Martin Fitzharris for Kehoe; Jack Burford for O’Connor (inj.); John Roche for Conway.
Referee: Mick Lanigan.
August 12: Ferns St Aidans 2-14, St Mary’s (Rosslare) 1-15
A farcical ending to the game overshadowed Ferns St Aidans’ maiden victory in this season’s Enniscorthy Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship Group B in St Patrick’s Park on Wednesday.
Ferns had taken the lead courtesy of a superbly-taken overhead pull goal by Peter Codd just as the third quarter gave way to the fourth (2-10 to 1-12).
From that point on, St. Mary’s chipped away, but were countered by a Ferns score every time they got within one.
The Wexford District club still trailed by two in added time – a scoreline that eventually turned out to be the final result – when they awarded a free 20 metres from goal.
Lee Devereux arrowed the dead ball towards the top corner of the net, only for it to be tipped away for a 65 – although there was some suggestion that it flopped over the bar for what would have been a point.
As it was, a 65 was awarded, and was about to be taken. However, in the meantime, the scoreboard had gone awry (it showed 2-14 to 1-16) and, while trying to ascertain the correct score from flustered referee Jack Stafford, Rosslare were penalised for wasting their own time.
Stafford proceeded to throw the ball in, and he immediately blew the full-time whistle. What had just transpired enraged St Mary’s to such an extent that David Murphy was shown a straight red card, after full time, for foul and abusive language towards the match official.
It wasn’t the first moment of controversy in the game for the former Wexford footballers, having seen a point signalled that looked to have gone wide (and was indeed signalled wide by the umpire, before the score was given by Stafford).
It meant that Rosslare took a 1-9 to 1-7 lead in at the break, after Lee Devereux’s well-taken early goal was countered by a pulled major from a tight angle by in-form Ferns attacker, Paddy O’Leary.
With Murphy and Devereux hitting the target in the second half, St Mary’s stayed ahead until Codd struck, and they could never quite recover.
Ferns keep their hopes alive of reaching the last eight, while Rosslare are still in the mix too.
Ferns St Aidans: Edward Cullen; Brian O’Neill, Patrick Codd (0-2), Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Seán Walsh, John O’Leary; Anthony Dwyer (capt., 0-6, 4 frees), Keith Breen; Peter Codd (1-0), Jamie Whelan, Peter O’Toole (0-2); Andy Cash, Paddy O’Leary (1-4), Ben Cowman. Sub: Jonny Kearns for Cowman (inj., 25).
St Mary’s (Rosslare): Kevin Driver; Niall Walsh, Conor Cafferkey, Aaron Kavanagh; Eamonn Power, Seán Finan, Gearóid Byrne; James Sheil (capt.), Larry Morrissey; Paul Kinsella (0-1), David Murphy (0-4), Robert Butler; Lee Devereux (1-9, 6 frees), Andrew Murphy, Barry Quirke (0-1). Subs: Shane Sinnott for Butler (inj., 25), Andy Cummins for Kinsella (inj., 37).
Referee: Jack Stafford (Clongeen)
August 28: Ferns St Aidans 2-5, Bannow/Ballymitty 1-6 (match abandoned on 33 minutes)
Group B of the Enniscorty Electrical Wholesale Junior Hurling Championship remains unresolved after this tie between Ferns St Aidans and Bannow/Ballymitty in Oylegate on Friday evening was called off after 33 minutes.
A nasty-lucky injury to the ear and general head area of Bannow/Ballymitty Gary Morton was the reason for the abandonment. He suffered it while diving in to try block a clearance from John O’Leary of Ferns St Aidans. He missed the block, and in what was a complete accident, O’Leary’s hurl caught him around the ear on the follow through.
Morton went down roaring in pain and it was immediately obvious there was significant blood loss. He was attended to while lying on the sideline by representatives of both clubs, and an ambulance was called. Play was at first suspended while he waited, and some 15 minutes later was called off altogether, as light began to fade and the stricken player remained prone on the sideline.
It is unclear when the game will be refixed for, but it will have to be played, as a win for Bannow/Ballymitty would send them through to the quarter-finals. For Ferns, the play-offs are out of reach, but a win would see them secure their status for next year and condemn Bannow/Ballymitty to the relegation final instead.
They seemed on their way to getting that win on Friday evening as they led by 2-5 to 1-6 at the break despite having played into the wind. Paddy O’Leary was scorer in chief as the struck 1-2 in the first five minutes and added another point with 23 minutes gone, while the other goal came from a bullet of a free by ‘Scoby’ Dwyer that rocketed past seven Bannow/Ballymitty men on the line.
The Bannow/Ballymitty goal, meanwhile, had come when Pat Fitzharris converted a penalty on 14 minutes, while two good points by midfielder Art Sweetman as half-time approached had given them hope for the second half.
As things turned out though, there would be only three minutes of play after the break before Morton suffered his injury and things were called to a halt.
Ferns St Aidans: Edward Cullen; Brian O’Neill, Sean Walsh, Peter Nolan; PJ O’Neill, Patrick Codd, John O’Leary; Anthony Dywer (1-1, 1-0 free), Keith Breen; Jonathan Kearns, Peter Codd, Peter O’Toole; Andy Cash (0-1), Pádraig Walsh, Paddy O’Leary (1-3).
Bannow/Ballymitty: John Sinnott; David White, Padge Barden, Aaron Diskin; Mark Wallace, Niall Murphy, Conor Furlong; Art Sweetman (0-2), John Mernagh; Nicky Doyle (0-1), Kevin Doyle (0-1), Pat Fitzharris (1-2, 1-0 pen, 0-2f); Michéal Murphy, Gary Morton, Darragh Murphy. Subs: Fintan White for D. Murphy (inj., 8); Michael Barry for D. White (14).
Referee: Lar Doyle (Taghmon/Camross)
September 13: Bannow/Ballymitty 3-12, Ferns St Aidans 2-4
Eight days after dismissing the Intermediate footballers of Ferns, the hurlers of Bannow-Ballymitty dished out further misery to the St Aidans club, this time at Junior level.
Sunday's match at Pairc Charman was a leftover from the preliminary stages of the championship following the abandonment of the meeting of the two sides in Oylegate because a couple of injuries halted play.
The original game was close run affair until the gathering gloom brought down the curtain but the renewed contest was certainly not close and it was marked more by bad temper than bad light.
Ferns picked up more as many cards from over-worked referee Jack French as they did scores, this sorry defeat casting them down into the relegation play-off, while Bannow progressed from the dogfight into quarter finals.
With a brisk breeze racing in from the town end of the Faythe Harriers pitch at their backs, the eventual winners should have lost no time in stamping their authority on proceedings.
Instead, it was lads in the red and white stripes who were swifter out of the traps, with Padraig Walsh batting a couple of frees over the bar and then setting up a goal.
His long range delivery into the area prompted a wonderful catch from Peter Codd, who followed up his athletic fetch with a fine shot whizzing the back of John Sinnott's net.
However, the ease with which Pat Fitzharris converted a '65' was a signal of better things to come from Bannow who vaulted into the lead with a brace of goals, from Fitzharris's free and then from Gary Morton's reaction to breaking ball.
The Ferns scores dried up entirely after that and a third Bannow goal - this one from the boot of Micheál Murphy - helped his team to a 3-5 to 1-4 advantage at the break.
With no sign of the wind dying down, the margin of nine points looked eminently bridgeable but instead the second half degenerated into a dour, sour contest during which settling scores took second place to hitting scores.
Granted, just as in the first, Ferns started the half with a goal, tapped over from the closest of close range from the veteran Edward Cullen.
However, rather than building on this breakthrough, they lost their way badly and went scoreless for almost 20 minutes after Walsh's pointed free on 35 minutes.
The ugly undercurrent of nastiness, on and off the ball, led to a stream of cards, the six issued to Ferns including a second yellow for Peter Codd who was obliged to sit out the end of the game.
There were four yellows for Bannow but at least they also threw in a few points, the best of them from lively wing forward Nicky Doyle.
The collapse of Ferns as an attacking force was a mystery, their first wide of the afternoon not coming from Keith Breen until three minutes into added time at the end of an encounter he and all of his comrades will prefer to forget.
Ferns St Aidans: Ger Turner; Brian O'Neill, Sean Walsh, Peter Nolan; PJ O'Neill, Patrick Codd, Andy Cash; Padraig Walsh (0-4 all frees), Anthony Dwyer; Peter Codd (1-0), Jamie Whelan, Peter O'Toole; Keith Breen, Padraig Dunbar, Edward Cullen. Subs: Jonny Kearns 33 minutes; Patrick O'Hagan 48 minutes.
Bannow-Ballymitty: John Sinnott; John Mernagh, Padge Barden, Conor Furlong; Michael Barry, Niall Murphy, Mark Wallace; Pat Fitzharris (1-5, 1-4 from frees, a '65'), Arthur Sweetman (0-1); Nicky Doyle (0-2), Robert Mageen, Gary Morton (1-3); Micheál Murphy (1-1), Tom Fitzharris, Sean Sinnott (1-0). Subs: Darragh Murphy for S Sinnott 12 minutes; Alan Barron for Morton 52 minutes; Kevin Doyle for Murphy 56 minutes; Adam Diskin (0-1, a free) for T Fitzharris 60 minutes.
Referee: Jack French.
September 26, Relegation Final: Ferns St Aidans 3-9, Monageer/Boolavogue 1-12
Ferns St. Aidans escaped from Farmleigh with their Enniscorthy Electrical Wholesale Junior hurling championship lives intact despite playing 38 minutes with 14 men on Saturday.
It's Monageer-Boolavogue who see their second strong drop down to Junior 'A'. The condemned side have pulled off the odd Houdini act over the past several years to maintain their status but their resistance finally came to an end, despite a rousing recovery from an horrific start.
Much of the first quarter was spent by umpires at both ends stretching their arms to signal a wide but when Ferns went low they had some joy. Pádraig Walsh flew away on the left to open the scoring with a well-taken goal and a second quickly followed.
It was Patrick Breen's ball into the danger area that produced the second but it needed a superb finish by Peter Codd to beat Morgan Gahan.
Monageer-Boolavogue's only score of the first quarter came from an Ed Rowsome free, but the experienced attacker could only watch on as Jamie Whelan lapped up Andy Cash's break from Patrick Codd's long ball to make it 3-3 to 0-1.
Peter Codd got his marching orders at this point for kicking out at an opponent and it was just the break Monageer-Boolavogue needed to kick-start their challenge as John O'Loughlin found Cathal Walsh for the major that their side was desperate to get.
Leading by 3-4 to 1-4 at the break, Ferns suddenly looked vulnerable. Amongst others, a brace from O'Loughlin helped his side within two just five minutes into the second-half.
While Ferns just kept their noses in front, Seán McCabe's shot, that was deflected over his own bar by Seán Walsh, left one between the sides with 18 minutes left (3-6 to 1-11).
Yet, Monageer-Boolavogue would manage just one further 51st-minute Robbie Donnelly point as Ferns used scores from Pádraig Walsh (two) and Anthony Dwyer to secure their Junior status for another year, after a nervy final quarter.
Ferns St. Aidans: Pádraig Dunbar; Brian O'Neill, Seán Walsh, Peter Nolan; P.J. O'Neill, Patrick Codd, Patrick Breen; Anthony Dwyer (capt., 0-4, 2 frees, 1 '65), Keith Breen; Peter O'Toole (0-1), Peter Codd (1-0), Pádraig Walsh (1-2); Andy Cash, Jamie Whelan (1-1), Jack O'Hagan (0-1). Subs. - Johnny Kearns for Cash (31), Ciarán Doran for Whelan (58).
Monageer-Boolavogue: Morgan Gahan (capt.); Seán Doran, Liam Gahan, Ray O'Brien; Shane Gahan, Paul Gahan, James Walsh; Seán McCabe (0-2), Diarmuid Breen; Patrick Walsh, Brian O'Loughlin, Ian Hawkins; Ed Rowsome (0-4 frees), John O'Loughlin (0-2), Cathal Walsh (1-2). Subs. - Diarmuid Fenlon (0-1) for Hawkins (31), Robbie Donnelly (0-1) for Rowsome (40), Denis Walsh for Doran (48).
Referee: David O'Leary (Rathnure).
