The weekend of the 21st April was a big weekend in terms of Kilkenny hurling as the Junior, Intermediate & Senior leagues kicked off. The opening round of the JJ Kavanagh & Sons Junior Hurling League saw Piltown travel to Jenkinstown for a intense, fast-paced & exciting encounter with Conahy Shamrocks that saw the Conahy men emerge victorious.
Philly Kenny opened Piltown's scoring with a fine point within seconds of the throw-in. However, Conahy quickly responded with a cracker of a goal from Shane Brennan, followed by three points, two from James Bergin and one from a converted free from Edmond Delaney. Piltown's Martin Power scored the next two points, one from a converted free and one from a great clearance from Seamus Norris. Paddy Mullan added a point for Conahy in the ninth minute, which was quickly followed by a lovely point from Martin Power following a pass from David Kinsella. Martin & Edmond Delaney then traded points from converted frees which took us to the 15th minute.
Seamus Norris had a busy evening & put in a great performance at full back, clearing his lines well, including a clearance to Neil Kelly who sent the ball in to Ian Long for Ian's first score of the evening and Martin Power then added another from a converted free. Conahy added four more to their tally, two from Edmond Delaney and points each from Kieran Mooney & Tom Phelan. A mistake from the Conahy goalie in the 25th minute saw him clear the ball only as far as Shane O'Dwyer and Shane sent it high over the bar. A short while later, it looked like another point for Conahy but James Norris plucked it out of the air just as it was headed over the bar and his clearance reached Peter McCarthy who sent the ball up the line to Ian Long, who quickly pointed. Conahy's Tom Phelan closed out the first half with another point. HT score: Piltown 0-9 Conahy Shamrocks 1-10.
Conahy went on the attack in the second half and a great save from James Norris denied them a second goal. James' puckout found David Kinsella who sent the ball out the wing to Martin Power. Martin spotted Ian Long on the edge of the square and a quick pass to Ian resulted in a great goal which brought us back to within a point. Edmond Delaney added another point in the 36th minute before Philly Kenny struck with a lovely point from a Darragh Walsh clearance. Neil Kelly, winning a Piltown puckout, found Martin Power who tapped it over to bring us level with Conahy. The intensity increased as both sides dominated at different stages and Edmond Delaney, who was outstanding for Conahy all evening, pointed four times over the next six minutes, including two from converted frees, and his teammates Kieran Mooney & Tom Phelan also added points within that six-minute period.
It was then Piltown's turn to dominate as Martin Power pointed another from a converted free in the 45th minute and a long-range free taken by James Norris a few minutes later found David Kinsella, who sent the ball high over the bar. No sooner had Jamie Norris come on in the 49th minute when he put his mark on the game with a great point from out on the wing. Conahy scored two more points before another Seamus Norris clearance found Dean Brophy who scored a fine point. Conahy's Tom Phelan & Bill Murphy tapped over two more & things weren't looking good for Piltown at this stage. However, Piltown kept fighting and a great clearance from Peter McCarthy found Neil Kelly who passed the ball off to Jamie Norris and Jamie, running into the Conahy defence, spotted Ian Long who had evaded his marker & Ian make no mistake in his finish to the back of the net. Another point for Conahy from Shane Brennan and a point from a converted free from Martin Power brought us to the 59th minute and Piltown found themselves three points down. However, well into injury time, Piltown were awarded a free and Peter McCarthy stood up to take the free in the hope of levelling the match. However, Conahy lined the goal and Peter's shot was saved, giving Conahy the victory. FT score: Piltown 2-16 Conahy Shamrocks 1-22.
Piltown panel: James Norris, Tom Kenny, Seamus Norris, Mixer O'Dwyer, Shane Walsh, Peter McCarthy, Darragh Walsh, Shane O'Dwyer (0-1), Martin Power (0-8, 0-5f), Ian Long (2-2), David Kinsella (0-1), Neil Kelly, John Kenny, Philly Kenny (0-2), Ronan Ryan. Subs used: Dean Brophy (0-1), Aaron Gallagher, Jamie Norris (0-1).
Conahy Shamrocks Panel: Padraig Delaney, Donal Brennan, Philly Cass, Simon Callinan, Tom Mullan, Damien Webster, Liam Cass, Paddy Mullan (0-1), Gary Kavanagh (0-1), Kieran Mooney (0-2), Edmund Delaney (0-10, 0-5f), Tom Phelan (0-4), James Bergin (0-2), Alan Healy, Shane Brennan (1-1), Subs used: Bill Murphy (0-1).
Ref: Paddy Bowden
