Slicker St. Martin’s wear down Davidstown rivals
A SLICKER, more fluent St. Martin’s eventually wore down the gallant effort of Davidstown-Courtnacuddy on a beautiful day for hurling at Bree on Saturday.
Though this is St. Martin’s second team, one thing stands out – the cumulative years of coaching is apparent in how so many of their players execute the skills.
But poor tackling, unnecessary swipes and laziness at times means inferior teams to them always have a chance.
When the Martin’s flow, they’re excellent. And they did for spells in this conclusion to Group A of the Joyces Expert Intermediate ‘A’ championship.
Though he got three points from play and showed moments of class, they ensured two men ran to close down David Dunne on most occasions.
And though Oisín Hayes was on song from frees, M.J. Reck’s side didn’t have the wherewithal up front to create scores when they were closed down.
At the other end, Ben Stafford, Eoin Sinnott, Zac Firman and Joe Mernagh always looked to have scores in them.
Brian Codd displayed some neat touches around midfield, while the fullback line coped well. Key to Martin’s victory was Diarmuid O’Leary, a great distributor and natural striker of the sliotar.
He also chipped in with a point, and made a darting run forward to provide the assist for Brian Codd’s goal in the 47th minute. It was a significant score, pushing their lead out to six.
They went on to land three more points from play, with substitute Rory Devereux, O’Leary and Luke Kavanagh all obliging, as the resistance of Davidstown-Courtnacuddy gradually faded.
It had been virtually score for score in the first-half. There was always the sneaking suspicion that the Piercestown-Murrintown men would eventually gain the upper hand, but in terms of intensity and workrate, the sides were matching one another.
The match started at a fast pace. It was 3-3 after six minutes, with Dunne the go-to man for his team.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy opted to go short with their puck-outs, and their deliveries thereafter were landing in front of the full-forward line.
A neat turn by Zac Firman put his side 5-4 up after eleven minutes. Hayes responded with a free before the Martin’s netted their first goal.
Joe Mernagh was involved in the build-up that saw Ben Stafford steal a few yards inside the last line before driving the sliotar past Seán Cooper.
Dunne shielded possession very well before pointing his second on 19 minutes, and Barry Hassey cut the gap to two soon after. But the Martin’s finished the half stronger, with two points from Mernagh, and a free from Stafford.
Trailing by five at the break, Davidstown-Courtnacuddy put in a big shift in the third quarter. The Martin’s were guilty of giving away careless frees, and Hayes took advantage with four points in a ten-minute spell.
Indeed, both sides continued to give away frees in scorable positions – Dunne’s point on the run was the only one from play out of nine from both teams in the third quarter.
It was a two-point game with 13 minutes to play. Once again, the Martin’s came with a decisive score.
Zac Firman stole a yard on the defence before releasing the onrushing O’Leary, and when Codd was fed, he had only one goal on his mind. He steered home his team’s second.
St. Martin’s were six up with ten to play, and never relinquished their grip on the game from here to the final whistle.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy now have to dust themselves down and get ready for Shelmaliers in the preliminary quarter-final, while St. Martin’s qualify directly for the quarter-final.
St. Martin’s: Callum Quirke (0-1 free); Oisín Waters, Eoin Ormonde, Jamie Berry; Donal Kelly, Shane Walsh, Diarmuid O’Leary (0-1); Mark Hennessy, Brian Codd (1-0); Zach Breslin, Ben Stafford (1-8, 0-7 frees), Luke Kavanagh (0-1); Joe Mernagh (0-2), Zac Firman (0-2), Eoin Sinnott (0-4, 2 frees). Subs. – Rory Devereux (0-1) for Mernagh (44), Callum McCleane for Sinnott (60).
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy: Seán Cooper; Jack O’Regan, Eddie Kelly, Barry Nolan; Mark Murphy, James Doyle, Dylan Sharkey; Tom Quigley, Rhyan Whelan (0-1); James Kelly, Barry Hassey (0-1), Oisín Hayes (0-14, 13 frees); Liam Lynch, David Dunne (capt., 0-3), Callum Murphy. Subs. – James Doyle for C. Murphy (26), Daniel Murphy for Lynch (HT), Cillian Doyle for Quigley (42), Darragh Furlong for Nolan (49).
Referee: Jimmy Heavey (Geraldine O’Hanrahans).