Harriers have edge
Rapps fuming after Pepper incident
THE ONLY big surprise to emerge from this drab and disappointing Pettitt’s Senior hurling championship Group B game in Chadwicks Wexford Park on Friday was that Rapparees were just one puck of the ball away from a potential draw with a generally dominant Faythe Harriers.
In reality, that wasn’t a true reflection of the overall trend, with the victors ahead by 0-17 to 0-9 after 53 minutes, and by 18-11 three minutes later.
However, they weren’t effective in closing the game out, and four points on the trot – frees from Kevin Foley, Tomás Mahon and netminder Anthony Larkin followed by an Oisín Pepper strike from play – meant the Rapps had one last chance to secure a share of the spoils that would have been a real smash-and-grab job.
Larkin stood over another free just over two minutes into additional time and lobbed it towards the town-end goalmouth, but the Harriers emerged with possession and the final whistle followed immediately to confirm their second victory of the campaign.
Captain Lee Chin’s contribution of 0-13, ten from placed balls, was immense on a night when the losers were so poor in attack that Harriers goalkeeper James Henebery didn’t have a save of note to make.
Having said that, Anthony Larkin was equally under-employed at the other end from open play, and it certainly wasn’t a game that will live long in the memory.
Rapparees are the first team to benefit from the new system because, under the old one, after this fourth straight loss they would already be out of contention and heading for a relegation final.
Now they have a match against St. Martin’s next Sunday that means nothing to them, before facing Oulart-The Ballagh in a preliminary quarter-final that will double up as a relegation semi-final.
Captain Jack Kelly, Ryan Mahon, Lenny Connolly, Anthony Murphy and Ricky Fox were all notable absentees here, and they tried to bolster their attack by starting Liam Ryan on the ’ 40, after his return to the fray last time out as a substitute in the loss to Shelmaliers.
However, it didn’t bear any fruit and, fortunately for the Harriers, they weren’t subjected to any of his trademark powerful runs with ball in hand.
Ryan ended up in his more customary full-back slot, although we weren’t treated to any one-on-one duels with Lee Chin as his county colleague had moved out to the ’40 by that stage.
Rapparees were heavily reliant on the non-stop efforts of Kevin Foley, with their captain for the night lining up for the throw-in at midfield but dropping into a deep-lying defensive role to collect short puck-outs and try to initiate attacks.
With Dylan McVeigh drifting out to the middle third berth he vacated, this left veteran Richie Kehoe free at the back for the Harriers, and far too often he gratefully mopped up stray deliveries from the struggling Enniscorthy side.
In a game of few talking points, Kehoe was involved in one that left Rapparees supporters incensed on the stroke of half-time.
An incident in the right corner at the Clonard end left him clutching his arm in pain, while Darragh Pepper lay prone on the ground as the rest of the players made for the dressing-rooms.
Gearóid McGrath consulted with his umpires before issuing just one yellow card, to Pepper, and I’d love to know the reasoning behind that.
I’m sure the referee’s assessor would be even more interested, and one could fully understand why the Rapps contingent were so annoyed with such a truly bizarre outcome.
The Harriers led by 0-9 to 0-5 at that stage, recovering steadily from a slow start that saw them trail by 0-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes.
The first four points arrived from frees, with Chin’s opener followed by three from Kevin Foley before Darragh Pepper landed one from play after good work by Kevin Ryan and Jack Byrne.
The Harriers responded swiftly, via Conall Clancy after a Podge Farrell handpass, before a wide from a line ball by the former resulted in some well-rewarded swift thinking from their rivals. Anthony Larkin pinged a quick puck-out to Kevin Foley on the left, and he soloed into the clear before splitting the posts to make it 0-5 to 0-2 after twelve minutes.
It was a case of so far, so good for the Matty Flynn-O’Connor-managed side who were yet to record a wide, but the remainder of the half went disastrously from their point of view.
They conceded seven points without reply, only mustering three misses as the Wexford town side swept ahead. The Harriers had drawn level by the 17th minute, courtesy of Chin, Farrell and a Chin free, and the latter added another four points – one from play – to establish that 0-9 to 0-5 interval lead.
He went low from a close-in free that was saved in the 24th minute, but converted the ’65 that followed, while earlier in the half he had popped a pass inside to Luke Murphy, who couldn’t make the most of the chance.
The leaders had chalked up eight wides but only added two after the break, and the opening two points from a Chin ’65 and free left them with a decent cushion (0-11 to 0-5).
Over 28 minutes of playing time had elapsed without a Rapparees score before Kevin Foley finally ended the drought from a free midway through the third quarter.
Darragh Pepper quickly made it a four-point game, but any hints of a potential recovery were quickly dispelled. Podge Farrell and Conall Clancy nailed scores from play while Chin added a trio of frees, with the Rapps restricted to two Kevin Foley placed balls in reply as they trailed 17-9 after 53 minutes.
Oisín Pepper and veteran substitute Tomás Mahon narrowed the gap to six before a good ball into space by Richie Lawlor – who performed at left half-back – created the room for Chin’s 13th point, and third from play.
It was also his side’s last, and they made the finish more difficult for themselves than it should have been, but this was a good boost all the same ahead of their concluding group game against Cloughbawn in New Ross on Sunday.
Faythe Harriers: James Henebery; Alex Lynch, Richie Kehoe, Kyle Scallan; Liam Cassin, Ciarán Kirwan, Richie Lawlor; John Bridges, Josh Sheil; Darby Purcell (0-1), Conall Clancy (0-2), Wayne Mallon; Podge Farrell (0-2), Lee Chin (capt., 0-13, 8 frees, 2 ’65s), Luke Murphy. Subs. – Colm Heffernan for Cassin (50), Glen Murphy-Butler for Murphy (51), Eoin Roche for Mallon (52).
Rapparees: Anthony Larkin (0-1 free); Óran Carty, Anthony Roche, Mel Doyle; Nick Doyle, Alan Tobin, Floyd Murphy; Craig Foley, Kevin Foley (capt., 0-8, 7 frees); Jack Byrne, Liam Ryan, Kevin Ryan; Oisín Pepper (0-2), Dylan McVeigh, Darragh Pepper (0-2). Subs. – Tomás Mahon (0-2, 1 free) for C. Foley (42), Ben Edwards for Carty, temp. (60+1-FT).
Referee: Gearóid McGrath (St. James’).