HURLING: DUBLIN SCHOOLS’ JUNIOR ‘A’ C’SHIP
CODD POINT IS CATCH OF DAY
Eanna and Aidan’s must settle for share of spoils in seesaw encounter
COLAISTE EANNA…………………………….. 1-15
ST AIDAN’S CBS……………………………….. 2-12
Daire Walsh
MIDFIELDER Malachy Codd came to the aid of Colaiste Eanna on Tuesday afternoon, when his final-minute point helped the Ballyroan school to earn a share of the spoils with St Aidan’s CBS in a fast-paced Dublin Schools’ Junior ‘A’ Hurling encounter.
Although Ardscoil Ris and Colaiste Eoin have been the pace-setters in this five-team competition, Eanna and Aidan’s were eager to bounce back from the recent defeats they suffered to this aforementioned duo. Eanna had home advantage for this tie, but it was Aidan’s who ultimately made the brighter start to the proceedings.
SUPPLEMENTED
Full-forward Eoghan Flaherty broke the deadlock with a free inside the opening minute of the play, and this score was quickly supplemented by a well-worked point from half-forward Josh Thorpe – as well as a second successful placed-ball effort courtesy of Flaherty.
Eanna initially found it difficult to settle into the game, and netminder Matthew Nolan came to their rescue in the ninth minute – when he turned away a goal-bound strike by Aidan’s attacker Sean Lowry. Yet, the hosts eventually found their feet, and after a long-distance free dropped into the square, Dillon Dunleavy was on hand to fire beyond the reach of the helpless Kevin O’Sullivan in the Aidan’s goal.
This heralded a strong purple patch from Eanna, and thanks to unanswered scores by Dunleavy (two), Cillian Wall (free), Sean Lambert and Codd (two), they had developed a six-point cushion (1-6 to 0-3) by the 22nd minute of the game. Aidan’s were off-target on a number of occasions during the second quarter, but they disrupted this Eanna scoring sequence with a Lowry point seven minutes before the interval.
However, Dunleavy quickly responded with another score for Eanna, and even though Flaherty added a brace of frees for the Collins Avenue outfit, Dunleavy brought his own personal tally up to 1-5 on the half-hour mark. Aidan’s were struggling to tie down the impressive Eanna wing-forward, but an injury-time goal from Lowry did reduce their arrears to three points (1-9 to 1-6) just in time for the break.
This three-pointer was a timely boost for Aidan’s, and in a similar vein to the opening period, it was Flaherty who got them underway with a fine point after the restart. There was no reason for Eanna to panic, though, and after centre-back Wall registered his second point of the day, Aidan’s corner-forward Eddie Moran and the excellent Codd swapped scores.
Aidan’s looked set to receive a lifeline on 36 minutes when a penalty was awarded in their favour, but the subsequent effort from 21 metres by Flaherty was saved in commanding fashion by Nolan. This was a let-off for the home team, but with his first touch after coming on as a substitute, Sean Finn claimed a much-needed 41st-minute goal for Aidan’s. This placed the visitors in a positive mood, and they soon moved back into the ascendancy with a terrific long-distance point from Lowry.
The stern Eanna defence was making life difficult for their opponents during this juncture, however, and courtesy of three points without reply from Wall (two) and Codd (who combined for all of their side’s scores in the second-half), the southside school were once again in pole position with just seven minutes remaining on the clock.
DISPLAYED
Aidan’s displayed great resilience, however, and with the help of points by central attackers Flaherty (two) and Lowry, they held a slender edge in the final minute of normal time. They were hoping to hold out their first victory of the competition, but it was Codd who had the final say with an eye-catching score on the run for Colaiste Eanna.
Scorers – Colaiste Eanna: D Dunleavy 1-5, M Codd 0-5, C Wall 0-4 (1f), S Lambert 0-1. St Aidan’s CBS: E Flaherty 0-7 (6f), S Lowry 1-3, S Finn 1-0, J Thorpe, E Moran 0-1 each.
COLAISTE EANNA: M Nolan; J McDonnell, J Lambert, D Barrett; R McDonnell, C Wall, J McGuire; E Cashman, M Codd; D Dunleavy, J Dalton, A Dalton; S Lambert, C Corcoran, A Farrell.
Subs: H O’Sullivan for A Dalton, G O’Kelly for Farrell (both h-t).
ST AIDAN’S CBS: K O’Sullivan; E Power, C Murphy, C Sheridan; K Hannon, K Doran, S Giles; N Power, A McNally; T Gleeson, S Lowry, J Thorpe; E Moran, E Flaherty, K Ward.
Subs: S Finn for Ward (39), C Burke for Hannon (42), T Kellett for Gleeson (54).