Naomh Eoin have bigger things on the horizon this year.
Carlow Senior Hurling Championship Round 1
Naomh Eoin 2-15, Ballinkillen 1-13
Naomh Eoin got off to the desired start in this years Carlow SHC after an important 5 point win over Ballinkillen.
All wins are of course important in Championship hurling, but these two will have sized each other up well and both would have fancied wins before hand which gives credence to Myshall’s win.
In the end Naomh Eoin just had that little bit more about them, but they did need that little stroke of luck along the way also like any team. On this occasion it came 10 minutes into the second half when an attempted pass by Dion Wall back to his goalkeeper Thomas Dowling ended up in his own net.
Ballinkillen had led narrowly at the interval due a Ciaran Whelan goal on the stroke of half time to leave things at 1-5 to 0-7.
The aforementioned own goal seemed to rattle Ballinkillen and when Scott Tracey nailed Naomh Eoin’s second major it left Ballinkillen with a mountain to climb at 2-14 to 1-10.
Grit and resilience is ingrained in Naomh Eoin and their improvements over the past couple of years in terms of skill set and application makes them a different animal now this year.
The winners will take on Bagenalstown at 5pm on Saturday in Netwatch Cullen Park while Ballinkillen face a daunting task against MLR at 6.30pm, although they have caused Rangers trouble before at times where they would’ve been unfancied.
Interesting times indeed even at these early stages!
Scorers – Naomh Eoin: Scott Tracey (1-2), Ciaran Abbey (0-4f), Brian Tracey (0-3f), Peter Abbey (0-3), Dion Wall (1-0 own goal), Cathal Tracey (0-1), Colm Beck (0-1), Michael Nolan (0-1).
Ballinkillen: Ciaran Whelan (1-8, 0-7f), Kevin Kavanagh, Jamie Wall, Shane Kelly, Eric English & Sean Murphy (all 0-1 each)
