The quarterfinal of the Leinster Adult Club Hurling League took place in Clara on Friday the 14th April 2017. Piltown were drawn against St Patrick's of Wicklow Town. Thankfully the rain held off & the winds eased & Piltown played some great hurling to emerge victorious.
St Patrick’s full forward opened the evening’s scoring with a point in the second minute and their mid-fielder followed up with another in the fourth minute. Piltown got on the scoreboard in the fifth minute when Jamie Norris won the Piltown puckout and with a quick pass to Martin Power, Martin found the open Ronan Ryan who scored a lovely point. Shortly after, St Patrick’s full forward got past the Piltown defence for a goal in the seventh minute. Piltown’s half back line of Shane Walsh, Peter McCarthy & Aidan Nugent played well & worked in tandem and a pass from Peter to Aidan who sent the ball down the wing to Jamie Norris resulted in a great point. St Patrick’s added another point in the 10th minute.
David Kinsella, who had an excellent game, won the Piltown puckout in midfield in the 12th minute and, sending the ball in low to Philly Kenny, Philly turned and pointed with ease. James Norris pulled off a great save in the 13th minute and St Patrick’s had to settle for a 65. Less than a minute later, a clearance from Tom Kenny to Shane O’Dwyer in midfield found Philly Kenny and Philly made no mistake in finding the back of the net for Piltown’s first goal of the evening. Piltown’s defence held strong again and a clearance from Mixer O’Dwyer to Martin Power found Ronan Ryan for another Piltown point.
David Kinsella, winning another Piltown puckout, sent the ball into the full forward line and a quick hand pass from Philly Kenny to Ronan Ryan resulted in another great point. Piltown had found their rhythm and Seamus Norris halted a St Patrick’s attack and his clearance found Shane O’Dwyer. Shane, spotting Martin Power making a run up the wing, sent a diagonal ball in front of Martin and Martin scooped it up and buried it in the back of the net in the 19th minute. Shane O’Dwyer was also instrumental in Piltown’s next two points, finding Jamie Norris who sent the ball high over the bar in the 21st minute and not two minutes later, Shane linked up with Neil Kelly who passed the ball off to David Kinsella for a great point. St Patrick’s last point of the half came from their centre forward in the 26th minute. James Norris found David Kinsella again on the puckout and David passed the ball off to Ian Long who sent it high over the bar. Martin Power closed out the first half with two points, one from a converted free. HT score: Piltown 2-10 St Patrick’s 1-5.
St Patrick’s opened the second half with a point straight from the throw-in and following a quiet passage of play, Peter McCarthy found Philly Kenny in the 35th minute who added another to his tally. St Patrick’s added two more points, once from a converted free before Jamie Norris won a breaking ball & was headed for the goal. However, Jamie was denied a goal with a great save from the St Patrick’s goalie and Shane O’Dwyer instead tapped it over from the 65m line. Shortly after, Shane stepped up to take a free and he dropped it in short where it was picked up by Philly Kenny who sent it straight over the bar. St Patrick’s then went on the attack and scored a point in the 42nd minute and a fine goal in the 44th minute. Neil Kelly then won the Piltown puckout and found Ronan Ryan who turned and sent it over the bar. St Patrick’s scored another point in the 56th minute and another period of dominance from Piltown saw the lads add 1-3 to the scoreline in the space of three minutes – two great points from David Kinsella & Shane O’Dwyer & Ronan Ryan was again on target scoring 1-1. St Patrick’s could only manage one more point before Philly Kenny closed out the match with another great point. FT score: Piltown 3-18 St Patrick’s 2-11.
Many thanks to Clara GAA for the use of the pitch & facilities.
Piltown panel: James Norris, Tom Kenny, Seamus Norris, Mixer O’Dwyer, Shane Walsh, Peter McCarthy, Aidan Nugent, Martin Power (1-2, 0-1f), Shane O’Dwyer (0-2, 0-1 65), Ian Long (0-1), David Kinsella (0-2), Neil Kelly, Jamie Norris (0-2), Philly Kenny (1-4), Ronan Ryan (1-5). Subs used: James Kirby, Shane Doody
Ref: Pat Moran (Laois)
