Dwyer inspires Belgooly to victory over gallant Shamrocks

Belgooly 1-22 Shamrocks 0-16

(JJ Hurley)

Belgooly proved far too strong for a gallant Shamrocks side in the Ross Oil SE Junior A Hurling Championship at Minane Bridge on Friday night.

Referee Kevin O’Sullivan with Shamrocks captain Mark Hitchmough and Belgooly captain Jamie Dwyer before their clash in the Ross Oil SE Junior A Hurling Championship game at Minane Bridge on Friday night.

A game dominated by Barry Dwyer and Ryan Long in the first half will long be remembered for a treble save by Herlihy five minutes into the second half, which seemed to stir his side into action as they fought back into the contest. Tempers flared, but Belgooly settled to take the victory.

Shamrocks were first out of the blocks as James Lynam opened their account, but it was Belgooly who took the initiative as the evergreen Barry Dwyer opened their account.

Three points followed in quick succession as Dwyer, Eddie Corkery and Ryan Long had Belgooly in front by 0-4 to 0-1 after ten minutes.

With both sides missing chances, Shamrocks got their second score on 11 minutes from Josh Bartle, but Belgooly’s reply was swift, with a point apiece from Kevin Fitzgerald and Dwyer.

By the 20th minute, the gap had narrowed to 0-6 to 0-4 as Josh Bartle and a fine individual effort from Darragh Scriven raised white flags.

However, Belgooly were in no mood to surrender their lead as points from Dwyer (2) and Long gave them a five-point lead on 24 minutes.

Fitzgerald almost had a goal, but Shamrocks goalkeeper David Herlihy produced a great save.

The Belgooly man made amends minutes later as he sent over a superb point, and another free from Dwyer had the score at 0-11 to 0-4 approaching the break.

Just on the stroke of the short whistle, Long extended Belgooly’s lead to 0-12 to 0-4.

The second half saw Barry Dwyer score a goal after Shamrocks had given themselves a slim bit of hope as Darragh Scriven sent over.

An exchange of scores, including a Cian Lynch free, had the score at 1-13 to 0-7 on 34 minutes, as Herlihy produced another fabulous stop from Long.

With Dwyer keeping the champions ticking over with another point, the Shamrocks keeper produced three outrageous saves in a row, two from Fitzgerald and one from Dwyer.

Outscoring Belgooly by three points to one, David Andrews, home on holidays from Australia but signing up for one game, got himself on the scoresheet with one point as the lead was cut to 1-15 to 0-10.

However, Belgooly pulled away having hit four consecutive points to lead 1-19 to 0-10 on 53 minutes, and despite Shamrocks battling on gamely, it was the champions who took the points.

Scorers for Belgooly: B Dwyer 1-11 (6F, 2 65), K Fitzgerald 0-6, R Long 0-4, E Corkery 0-1.

Scorers for Shamrocks: C Lynch 0-8 (7F), D Scriven 0-2, C Hayes 0-1, M Hitchmough 0-1, J Bartle 0-1, J Lynam 0-1, D Andrews 0-1, D O’Flaherty 0-1.

SHAMROCKS: D Herlihy; G Ronayne; F Herlihy; K May; B O’Mahony; M Hitchmough; A McCarthy; C Hayes; R Barre; S Foy; D Scriven; J Bartle; J Lynam; D Andrews; C Lynch.

Subs:D O'Flaherty for J Lynam (45).

BELGOOLY: J Dwyer; J O’Sullivan; T O’Donovan; D Walsh; C O’Sullivan; N O’Sullivan; L Walsh; C O’Donovan; B Dwyer; K Fitzgerald; R Long; E Corkery; E Lynch; M Kenny; S Kiely.

Subs:F Walsh for E Corkery (29), Ger Kiely for D Walsh (55), L O'Riordan for M Kenny (56), A Grant for N O'Sullivan (60).

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan, Valley Rovers.

Shamrocks goalkeeper David Herlihy, who produced a string of saves against Belgooly in the Ross Oil SE Junior A Hurling Championship game at Minane Bridge on Friday night.