An alternative style match report.
2024 Carlow Senior Hurling Championship Final Replay
St Mullins 2-25, Mount Leinster Rangers 3-16
By Leo McGough
If you weren’t there, didn’t listen in, didn’t even get updates, just heard the final score, then the first reaction was possibly a little surprise at the identity of the winners of last Sunday’s Carlow SHC final as well as reasoning that with that amount of flags it must have been another thriller.
Alas, from a neutral point of view, this wasn’t the rollicking roller coaster of the previous week but those of us in Netwatch Cullen Park were witness to a most unusual affair which featured a straight red card as early as the 8th minute and which saw challengers St Mullins leading by a gargantuan 16 points – 2-21 to 0-11 – six minutes into the second half.
We chose to home in on that 16 point deficit for the simple reason that no one else seems to have! In numerous conversations since Sunday I have heard the half-time score – 2-17 to 0-10 – mentioned on numerous occasions, of how 2-17 was some scoring in a half hour (which it was), of how even losing manager Paul O’Brien didn’t make a big thing of their numerical disadvantage – “we couldn’t even get the ball as far as where they had the extra man” and of how “it was as well they had such a big lead at half-time given the way the way Rangers rallied in the second half”.
But St Mullins had a bigger lead six minutes into the second half, having outscored the soon to be dethroned champions 0-4 to 0-1 since half-time to go all of 16 points clear, that 0-4 to 0-1 tally carved out despite now playing into the strong wind blowing from the dressing room end posts. You could argue, given MLR’s subsequent rally that reduced the arrears to just five points by the final whistle that that quarter of points early in the second half – courtesy of a one-legged Marty Kavanagh (2, one free, one frim play), Jason O’Neill and Paddy Boland – were the scores which effectively ensured the Willie O’Connor Cup would be hoisted high by inspirational captain Ger Coady later in the afternoon
Modern sporting strategy often focuses on breaking the game up into quarters – a concept old time Gaelic games scribes such as John D Hickey were aware of and utilised as far back as the late 1940s! – with mentors and pundits talking about ‘moving quarters’ and ‘championship quarters’,
Bringing that concept to analysing Sunday’s contest there is no doubt that the second quarter was the ‘moving quarter’. At the end of the first quarter (15 minutes) St Mullins, having hit a hat-trick of early wides, only led 0-6 to 0-4 and that after playing with a strong wind as well as the advantage of that extra man for seven of those minutes.
However the second quarter saw ravenous St Mullins hurl up a storm of their own, winning that 15 minutes (plus injury-time) by a stunning 2-11 to 0-6. And while most important to the green and white clad Southerners and their ardent supporters was the fact that they racked up the scores on the board, if this was ice-skating many of St Mullins points would have been rated at 9.9 for artistic impression, the goals rating a perfect 10!
You can read of those scores and their scorers in our ’Scores by the Clock’ and ‘How they Played’ sections, here we return to our quarterly breakdown and return specifically to that third quarter already partially mentioned when referencing St Mullins 0-4 to 0-1 start to the second half. That third quarter would have actually finished tied at 0-4 apiece but for the fact that Chris Nolan pilfered a Rangers goal in the 45th minute. 1-4 to 0-4, then, but most important from a St Mullins point of view was that the 13 point half-time advantage was still intact. That in tug-of-war terms was ‘digging in’
And St Mullins continued to dig-in. Yes Mount Leinster Rangers won the last quarter 2-2 to 0-4, the second goal with in injury-time but by then it was damage limitation for the reigning champions who were left with far too high a mountain to climb in too short a time span.
The red card? An off the ball incident that the vast majority in Netwatch Cullen Park didn’t see, including referee Patrick Murphy and the linesman on the stand side but was spotted by the umpires at the dressing room end and after consultation with the men in the white coats the match official issued Dean Tobin with the red card, his hand signals indicating interference with the helmet of a St Mullins player who had been lying injured on the ground which brought the referee’s attention to the incident.
An old Carlow hurler and mentor, long since plying his trade on the level lawns of God, had a maxim he employed in his playing days and encouraged in his mentoring days. “Visit the goalkeeper early”. The think ing was it being early in the game the referee wouldn’t take action and it would also put the goalkeeper on his guard. He had no aversion to it being tried on an outfield player either! However the rulebook doesn’t agree with our departed hurler nor do most modern day referees, an offence is and offence, early or late. Where Dean Tobin might have a grievance is that when a pile of players contest a dropping ball or get down there is often interference with helmets without any action taken. Now I can hear that old hurlers other maxim: “If you are going to do anything wrong later on, don’t get caught!”
Individual performances of exceptional quality abounded in this game. Ten of the men who were part of the county team who played a championship draw with Kilkenny at the same venue back in May were on view and showed just why that result was possible. Again we signpost you to the ‘How they played’ and ‘Scores by the Clock’ to read of just how good these county men were. And the support acts were top class too.
– ST MULLINS –
1. Kevin Kehoe
2. Paul Doyle
3. Paudie Kehoe
4. Paudi O’Shea
5. Michael Walsh
6. Ger Coady (Capt)
7. Ciaran Harris
8. Conor Kehoe 0-2
9. Eamon O’Shea
10. Jack Kavanagh 0-1
11. James Doyle 0-3 1f
12. Jason O’Neill 1-3 0-1 l-b
13. Marty Kavanagh 1-10 0-4f, 0-3 ’65’
14. John Doyle
15. Paddy Boland 0-6
Subs: John Doran for C Harris (57)
Oisin Ryan for M Kavanagh (58)
MOUNT LEINSTER RANGERS –
1. Dean Grennan
2. Michael Doyle
3. Michael Joyce
4. Sean Joyce
5. Evan Kealy
6. Kevin McDonald (Capt) 1-2 1-2f
7. Tony Lawlor
8. Jon Nolan 0-1
9. Richie Coady
10. Dean Tobin
11. Donagh Murphy 0-1
12. Teddy Joyce 0-7 6f, ’65’
13. Jamie Nolan
14. Eddie Byrne
15. Chris Nolan 2-5
Subs: Diarmuid Byrne for M Joyce (h-t)
Paul Coady for Jamie Nolan (h-t)
Ciaran Kavanagh for E Kealy (57)
Eoin Doyle for D Murphy (57)
Referee: Patrick Murphy (Ballinkillen)
