Piltown travelled to Thomastown for round 5 of the Duggan Steel u-16 hurling league on Monday the 17th April. It was a closely-contested affair with a last-minute goal from Thomastown giving them the victory.
Thomastown opened the scoring with a point from their full forward within the first minute and were heading for the Piltown goal when Aaron Kinsella pulled off his first save of the evening and Thomastown had to settle for a point on the rebound. Thomastown continued to dominate and scored another point in the fifth minute. In the seventh minute however, Billy O’Callaghan, intercepting a Thomastown ball sent it high over the bar for Piltown’s first score of the evening. Thomastown added another point shortly after and then Ben Grace, winning the Piltown puckout, found Evan O’Shea who made no mistake in finding the back of the Thomastown net.
Thomastown scored two more points before Billy O’Callaghan was fouled and Daryl Maye stepped up to take the free. It looked like the ball was going over the bar for a point but it dropped in just behind the goalie for Piltown’s second goal of the evening. Thomastown added another point and then a Tommy O’Driscoll clearance to Ian Balding saw Ian send a long-range ball high over the bar. Darragh Whittle was instrumental in Piltown’s next two points, stopping the Thomastown charge at midfield and sending the balls out to Evan O’Shea on the wing for two great points from Evan.
A sideline cut from Tommy O’Driscoll found Micheal Norris, who passed the ball off to Billy O’Callaghan for a great point. Next followed a great passage of play with some fantastic saves from Aaron Kinsella. Thomastown’s centre forward struck what looked like an unstoppable ball but Aaron got his hurley to it and Aaron saved not one, but two, further attempts on the rebound and Thomastown had to settle for a point from a 65. Thomastown then closed Piltown’s three-point lead with three points in the last four minutes of the first half, one from a converted free. HT score: Piltown 2-5 Thomastown 0-11.
The second half started with Piltown going on the attack and Evan O’Shea was denied a goal in the 31st minute and Piltown settled for a point from Billy O’Callaghan from a 65. Thomastown then scored three points in succession, two from converted frees before Ciaran McDonald cleared a breaking ball to Billy O’Callaghan who sent it over for another point. Thomastown added another point in the 37th minute. Evan O’Shea went on the attack again and a great save from the Thomastown goalie saw the ball go out for a 65 which was accurately converted by Billy O’Callaghan. In the 41st minute, a high ball into the forwards was picked up by Evan O’Shea who passed it off to Billy O’Callaghan for a lovely point.
Thomastown’s midfielder added two more points, one from a converted free. A third run on the Thomastown goal in the second half, this time from Billy O’Callaghan, was blocked and sent over the line for another 65 and Billy easily converted it for another point. Thomastown scored two more points, on from a converted free, to bring us to the 53rd minute. Over the course of the next two minutes, Tommy O’Driscoll and Conor McGowan contributed to Sean O’Neill scoring two crucial points to bring us back level with Thomastown with four minutes remaining. It was nail-biting time as Thomastown’s centre forward scored another point but Piltown dug deep and Evan O’Shea and Micheal Norris both pointed in the closing minutes to give Piltown a one-point lead. However, in the 61st minute, Thomastown’s centre forward broke through the defence and his goal meant Thomastown pipped Piltown at the post. FT score Piltown 2-14 Thomastown 1-19.
Piltown panel: Aaron Kinsella, Eoin Morgan, Sean O’Neill (0-2), Aidan Friend, Aidan Walsh, Ian Balding (0-1), Tommy O’Driscoll, Conor McGowan, Daryl Maye (1-0f), Darragh Whittle, Billy O’Callaghan (0-7, 0-3 65’s), Francis Moore, Evan O’Shea (1-3), Micheal Norris (0-1), Ben Grace. Subs: Ciaran McDonald, Aaron Reid
