FAUGHS INTO FINAL BATTLE
O’Shea leads his men to victory
DUBLIN JHC ‘B’ SEMI-FINAL
FAUGHS………………………..2-13
CRAOBH CHIARAIN………….0-11
Daire Walsh
FAUGHS will face Naomh Maur in the Dublin Junior ‘B’ Hurling Championship decider, after they got the better of Craobh Chiarain in a tense semi-final at Clonshaugh on Sunday morning.
There was little to separate the teams for the majority of the contest, but thanks to a brace of late goals by Ciaran O’Shea, the Wellington Lane outfit ultimately progressed.
Following their defeat to St Vincent’s in last year’s final at this grade, Faughs are eager to go a step further in 2017.
Quickfire scores from Ed Fitzgerald (’65’) and Tadhg Clifford gave them an early two-point cushion, before both teams were reduced to 14 men in the ninth-minute.
A heavy hit on Chiarain’s midfielder Stephen Kirwan kicked off a melee involving several players, and led to Faughs’ Daniel Coughlan and Craobh’s Gary Warren receiving straight red cards.
This flashpoint disrupted the flow of the play, but although they struggled to take their chances initially, Chiarain’s eventually opened their account with points from Kirwan and Mark Ryan.
Faughs immediately restored their lead with a sharp effort by O’Shea, and despite conceding another point to Sean Nibbs on 20 minutes, Shane Brew’s charges created some daylight with successive scores by David Donohue (two) and Tadhg Clifford.
However, Chiarain’s enjoyed a strong finish to the first-half, as the midfield duo of Kirwan and James Finn reduced their deficit to a minimum (0-6 to 0-5) in time for the interval. Indeed, a long-distance free from Finn five minutes after the restart brought them back on level terms with the southsiders.
DIFFICULT
Faughs were finding it difficult to settle back into a familiar attacking rhyhtm, but a 0-2 salvo from corner-forward Trevor Donohue offered them some much-needed breathing space. A subsequent David Donohue free enhanced Faughs’ advantage, only for Chiarain’s to once again rein in their challenge.
The reliable Finn (two) and Keith Cooling were on target for the northsiders, and this left the tie delicately poised moving into the final-quarter. Yet, after David Donohue converted consecutive frees for Faughs, Chiarain’s full-forward Alan Hetherton was also sent-off for interfering with the helmet of opposition centre-back Aaron Ryan.
This proved to be too big of an obstacle for Chiarain’s to climb, as Faughs were able to exploit their numerical supremacy. O’Shea pulled to the net from close-range in the 54th-minute, and though the hosts were still in touch after Kirwan and Killian Pendergast traded scores, O’Shea’s second goal placed the outcome beyond doubt.
Finn and Kirwan continued to lead by example for Chiarain’s, but with O’Shea bringing his final tally to 2-2 with a stoppage-time score, Faughs finished with all of eight points to spare.
MATCH FILE
Scorers – Faughs: C O’Shea 2-2, D Donohue 0-5 (4f), T Donohue (f), T Clifford 0-2 each, E Fitzgerald (’65’), K Prendergast 0-1 each. Craobh Chiarain: S Kirwan (3f), J Finn (2f, 1 ’65’) 0-4 each, K Cooling, M Ryan, S Nibbs 0-1 each.
FAUGHS: S Curley; K O’Brien, S O’Dea, T Murnane; H O’Leary, A Ryan, D O’Shea; D Coughlan, E Fitzgerald; D Donohue, K O’Driscoll, C Brew; T Donohue, C O’Shea, T Clifford.
Subs: D Burke for O’Dea (h-t), O’Dea for Burke (34-38), K Prendergast for O’Driscoll (39), C McKiernan for T Donohue (46), J Morrissey for D O’Shea (60).
CRAOBH CHIARAIN: G Leonard; C Roche, C McCann, G Mohan; S Ennis, C Poole, G Warren; J Finn, S Kirwan; K Lambert, R McGurk, K Cooling; M Ryan, A Hetherton, S Nibbs.
Subs: J Fitzgerald for Poole (32), G Ennis for Ryan (38), M Murphy for Lambert (58).
MENTORS – Faughs: S Brew, P Donohue, S Doyle, V O’Shea, T Donohue. Craobh Chiarain: J Maher, D Ryan.
REFEREE: Timmy McCarthy (St Vincent’s).
WIDES – Faughs: 13 (7+6). Craobh Chiarain: 9 (6+3).
CONDITIONS: Dry weather throughout, but a strong breeze at times.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Ciaran O’Shea (Faughs).