Credit to both St Mullins and Ballinkillen who served up a cracker.
Carlow Senior Hurling Championship Round 4
St Mullins 3-23 (32) Ballinkillen 4-17 (29)
By Leo McGough
Goals galore, points aplenty, pucks of energetic endeavour, this, despite the fact both sides were virtually assured a semi-final place, was a richly entertaining Carlow SHC fourth round tie in sunny Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday evening.
The accumulation of a combined 7-40 was noteworthy in itself but it was the quality of many of those scores which gave clear evidence that both combinations are ‘in the groove’ and moving well ahead of their last four challenges in a fortnight’s time.
Ballinkillen, on the back of their draw with joint-championship favourites Mount Leinster Rangers and an impressive win over Bagenalstown Gaels, produced a third substantial performance – 4-17 would win most games – and a performance that is even more impressive when you learn the blue and gold brigade were without the industrious Craig Wall in attack while his brother Dion, the county’s full-back, was forced to retire at the break.
That said, St Mullins could point to the fact that they were without ace forward Paddy Boland due to injury but ace forwards are a commodity that the green clad Southerners are not short of. Yet, this game prompted an interesting question on one of those ace forwards: “When was the last time, if ever, the ‘Mouse’ didn’t score a point in a SHC match with St Mullins?” Yes, you read that right, Marty Kavanagh did not score a point, as in a raise a white flag last Saturday evening. However, playing his first game of this campaign (due to injury) ‘Mouse’, wearing No 27 and operating from left corner forward, was not held scoreless, the county’s highest scoring hurler locating the net three times for possibly his first SHC hat-trick.
The first goal came as early as the first minute when fastening on to an angled cross field ball from his brother Jack and while his first shot was excellently saved by the advancing Ballinkillen ‘keeper Thomas Dowling, Mouse collected the rebound and dispatched it into the Deerpark end rigging.
Goal No 2 came in the 15th minute when availing of a short puck-out mishap he raced in from the left corner to finish neatly. The game was in the second minute of injury time when Kavanagh completed his hat-trick, catching a long ball out of the St Mulllins defence and slightly to the left of the posts rifling home a hard low shot.
That no white flag was added to his tally was partly down to the fact that James Doyle, who had assumed the free-taking duties in Kavanagh’s absence, continued as the designated placed ball striker and right well the county star did too, racking up an impressive 0-11, 0-6 from frees, a point from a ’65’ and a quartet of quality points from play. One of those frees was taken from close to the stand side inside his own half and sent sailing over the Canary end posts. Another county man, Conor Kehoe, also contributed 0-4 from play. See what I mean about no shortage of ace forwards?
Now to another teaser. Paul Doyle. Great defender? Tick. Rousing clearances? Tick. Scorer of extraordinary points? Eh, no. Well not until last Saturday. The game is in the final minute if normal time when Paul, who played this game as the centre half back, gained possession on the left wing just inside the Ballkillen half, not too far from the stand sideline. Paul put the ball on the stick, made a little run. We’ve seen that before. Then, off that stick without handling the No 6 essayed a shot that had the white flag flying at the scoreboard end posts. {No more than identifying the difference between hand-passes/throws, we are open to correction on the ‘without handling’ claim but from our vantage point on the far off terrace that’s how it looked to us!}
Ok, enough about St Mullins, what about us Ballinkillen fans who have read this far are querying. Well there is a lot to be said about ye, especially up front where the blue and gold forwards and mid-field are quite adept at raising green and white flags themselves. Once more Ciarán Whelan tops the Ballinkillen Roll of Honour, not just for his high quality 1-8, 1-3 of which came from play but for his all-action hurling and his hunger to be where the action is. Made a few exciting runs and created a number of scores for his colleagues too.
Probably the highest praise one could laud on No 12 Shane Kelly, scorer of 1-2 from play is that on occasion on the run you could get him mixed up with Ciarán Whelan. To Shane’s immense credit too he did not allow early missed opportunities to deter him and kept on keeping on. Jack Treacy was another outstanding Ballinkillen raider, 1-3, all bar a point from play and as in all previous games this campaign the 2023 Joe McDonagh Cup medal winner pocketed a superb point from tight to the sideline.
Padraig Hynes is serving as the ideal target man on the edge of the square and as well as netting an early goal of his own, ’twas his alertness in reading a short puck-out that created Treacy’s major. And the you have Sean Murphy. There remains a perception that ‘Choo Choo’ as a hurler is best employed as a work-horse, best not shoot. Yet during his sojourn with the county hurlers a few years ago he was the team’s top scorer from play. Yes, he holds the hurl wrong way round, he certainly wouldn’t be a player a purist coach would tell young lads to copy, but his speed, work-ethic and ‘finish’, yes ‘finish’ – two top class points on this occasion – combine to make Sean a real menace.
The concentration up to now has been on scorers and righty so in a game with so many scores. Time was when a defender was rated on keeping his man scoreless or containing his man’s contribution but in the modern game it appears to be taken as a given that your man is going to score so a big part of the defenders game is creating opportunities for his own forwards. Hence 1-9 to 0-9 games are obsolete. With that in mind we can pick out David English (Ballinkillen) and Cormac Lomax (Ballinkillen) Ger Coady and Paudie Kehoe (St Mullins) who did a power of useful hurling, deft stick passes a feature of all four’s clever play.
And what of goalkeepers Kevin Kehoe and Thomas Dowling? Both made a brilliant saves in the first half, Kehoe to deny Ciaran Whelan and Jack Treacy, Dowling denying James Doyle and while both also saw short puck-outs go wrong and yield goals, their puck-outs in general were put to good use.
So to the story of the scoring. ‘Mouse’s early goal elicited a rapid Ballinkillen responce, quick fire Ciaran Whelan (free) and Jack Treacy points, to which James Doyle replied with his opening point from play before a turn-over and Ballinkillen persistence on the follow-up created the opening for Padraig Hynes to race through and plant a low 6th minute shot in the St Mullins net to give his side a 1-3 to 1-1 advantage.
Come the 21st minute the sides were level at 2-5 apiece, goals exchanged in the 14th and 15th minutes, Jack Treacy netting for Ballinkillen, Marty Kavanagh for St Mullins, both as a result of short puck-out malfunction. A Ballinkillen defender has also taken a ball off the line towards the end of that exciting first quarter.
Significantly, from that 21st minute to half-time, St Mullins shot six successive points to retire with a 2-11 to 2-5 advantage, Jack Kavanagh, James Doyle (free), Conor Kehoe, James Doyle again (play), Michael Walsh (a quick-hands point when under severe pressure) and Jack Kavanagh again raising the white flag. Jack’s last point came after a pass from the brother, a cross-field ball, literally, no angle, a straight ball from near the terrace sideline to the far wing.
That six point cushion was to stand to St Mullins though Ballinkillen did all in their power to reel them in, the task made a little more difficult when James Doyle opened the second half scoring with a pointed free. Ballinkillen shot the next four points, Sean Murphy, Jack Treacy (free) and Ciarán Whelan two superb points from play in the space of 60 seconds in the 5th and 6th minutes giving their side real hope.
Come the end of the third quarter St Mullins led 2-16 to 2-12 and the early stages of closing quarter was a real tit-for that affair, points bartered on a regular basis, leaving it 2-20 to 2-16 with three minutes of normal time remaining. St Mullins 20th point from the stick of Jason O’Neill (an ace forward not mentioned above, scorer of 2-6 in a county final a couple of years ago) owed much to the impact of the bench, eager-beaver substitute Oisin Ryan involved twice in the move.
Then came a brace of points from the St Mullins’ Doyle’s, John’s (expected), Paul’s (unexpected!) before ‘injury-time’, of which there were four minutes, produced five scores, three of them goals. Jack Treacy pointed on the run, then in the 62nd minute,’Mouse’ completed his hat-trick, a minute later Ciarán Whelan sent a rocket to the net from 25m, James Doyle rifled over his 11th point and finally Shane Kelly billowed the St Mullins net to reduce the arrears to two points in the 64th minute. Yes there was ‘stoppage time’ at the end of ’stoppage time’ but not enough for Ballinkillen to pilfer a winner.
To all involved, including referee Paud O’Dwyer, well done, this could have been a dreary dead-rubber contest but instead was played with a fervour bordering real championship fervour and a good adverstisment for Carlow club hurling.
– ST MULLINS –
1. Kevin Kehoe
2. Ciaran Harris
3. Paudi O’Shea
4. John Doran
5. Ger Coady (Capt)
6. Paul Doyle 0-1
7. Paudie Kehoe
8. Eamon O’Shea
9. Michael Walsh 0-2
10. Jack Kavanagh 0-2
11. James Doyle 0-11 6f, ’65’
12. Conor Kehoe 0-4
13. Jason O’Neill 0-2
14. John Doyle 0-1
15. Marty Kavanagh 3-0
Subs: Oisin Ryan for John Doyle (53
Patrick Walsh for J O’Neill (59)
– BALLINKILLEN –
1. Tommy Dowling
2. Ciarán Dowling
3. Dion Wall
4. Sean Brenan
5. Eric English 0-1
6. David English
7. Cormac Lomax
8. Kevin Kavanagh 0-1
9. Ciaran Whelan 1-8 0-4f, 0-1 ’65’
10. Sean Cummins
11. Sean Murphy 0-2
12. Jamie Wall
13. Shane Kelly 1-2
14. Padraig Hynes 1-0
15. Jack Treacy 1-3 0-1f
Subs: Patrick Kavanagh for D Wall (h-t)
Conor Treacy for S Cummins (45)
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Palatine)
