By Daire Walsh

Thursday October 11 2012

CASTLECOMER CS 2-16 COLAISTE EOIN 1-10 – EARLY goals from corner-forward Jamie Houlihan were vital in Belfield on Monday afternoon, as Castlecomer Community School had nine points to spare over a spirited Coláiste Eoin in the final round of the Leinster Post Primary Junior Hurling ‘A’ competition.

THE Booterstown school had been on the receiving end of a defeat by St Peter’s of Wexford in the same venue last week, and they were always playing catch-up following Houlihan’s 2-1 salvo inside the opening 10 minutes.

With centre half-back Donal Cass controlling matters for the Kilkenny school in defence, and Conor Delaney showing well in midfield, forwards like Houlihan, Oliver Feehan and Shane Dowling were able to express themselves effectively.

Eoin did start to get some joy towards the end of the opening period, but Castlecomer’s accuracy in front of the posts gave them a seemingly insurmountable 12-point lead at the mid-way stage.

Castlecomer were aided by a strong breeze in the first 30 minutes of action, though, and Eoin would have been hoping that they could reduce the deficit after the re-start. Indeed, Eoin did get particular joy in this regard, and thanks to a strong showing around the middle-third they really took the game to the Cats in the third-quarter.

‘Comer were able to raise their game in the closing moments, however, and they were helped by the introduction of a number of players from their substitutes bench, including James Bergin who chipped in with a fine score from play, as the Gaelscoil fell short of progressing to the semi-final stage.

Looking at this year’s campaign from a results point of view, Eoin will certainly feel some disappointment with the way things went, but they can still take plenty of positives from their performances as they aim to build in the future.

– Daire Walsh