No love lost as Counsel Gaels pip Mark’s in Junior ‘A’ Championship

THERE was no shortage of action in the Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship as rivals Good Counsel/Liffey Gaels and St Mark’s locked horns at Davitt Road, with the former taking a hard fought 2-19 to 3-13 win.

It was a feisty physical clash, with the two teams battling to regain a foothold in the group after each slipped up in the previous round.

As expected from recent games between the two teams, there was no love lost on the Drimnagh pitch with huge tackles, follow-through pulls of hurl paired with excellent hooking and blocking.

It was the Tallaght outfit who started the tie on top, with full forward Joey Cannon splitting the posts from the near left but this was cancelled out when Brian Mahon blocked down a clearance down the other end.

Corey Scahill converted a few frees for the hosts and he established their lead for the first time, but his team struggled somewhat in front of goal with several attempts skewing wide.

Yet, despite being marshalled well by the Saints defenders Johnny Bryan, Lee Mayo and Karl Hoare, Counsel Gaels managed to find a way to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Luke Blood was a revelation in the middle of the park, first scoring under pressure out near the sideline, then zipping a low-flighted ball in to Barry O’Reilly, who rushed out and swiveled to flick it over.

It was tit-for-tat throughout the opening half, with Mark’s forward Jack Kielthy shining over dead balls and, in the build-up, while Ross Byrne was the player of the half at wing-back.

Jack Kielthy scores a goal for St Mark’s

Byrne brought a frenetic energy to the play, and having scored a wonderful point after super play by Karl Lanney and Cannon, the winger was later dismissed for a second yellow.

Cannon found a goal for the travelling outfit before the break, to take the exhilarating clash into the break deadlocked at 0-9 to 1-6.

Mark’s started the half strong with Cannon taking his personal tally to 1-3 while Lanney and Kielthy chipped in with further scores.

The wind had somewhat left the game after what was a rip-roaring opening half an hour, and the second half lacked the same level of intensity.

Counsel Gaels turned the screw and were impressive in the final third, with all six of their forwards registering scores, Mark Pollard imposing in the middle of the park.

Pollard scored an epic point after winning the Mark’s puckout on his own 65m-line and going on a solo run which saw him expertly regain his catches by flicking the sliotar off the ground before shooting.

O’Reilly found himself in the right place when an attempted point ricocheted off the post into his path, with the forward pulling on the ball into the net, beyond goalkeeper Robbie Kenny.

Shortly after target man Shane Ryan hit a brace of points, Brian Mahon doubled their goals tally but Mark’s came roaring back into it late-on.

Kielthy buried the ball past netminder Shane Kirby after Shane Galvin picked him out with a lovely cross field ball before Jamie Phillips, who had a solid game, dropped a speculative ball around the square.

Substitute Conor Burke was first to meet it and the sliotar hit the net to reduce the deficit to just three points but there was not enough time to close the gap.

Elsewhere, St Patrick’s of Palmerstown asserting their dominance at the top of the group with a 2-10 to 0-13 victory against St Jude’s in Glenauline Park.

St Pat’s are now a point ahead of Good Counsel/Liffey Gaels, who are two points ahead of St Mark’s and St Jude’s, with the latest round of results teeing up a blockbuster finale to the group stage.

With it being a six-team group, the top four teams in the group progress into the knockout stages while the bottom going into relegation play-offs.

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