Roche rescues a Good point for Sout
LEINSTER COLLEGES SH ‘A’ LEAGUE
DUBLIN SOUTH……………………………… 1-11
GOOD COUNSEL COLLEGE……………. 2-8
By Daire Walsh
JAMES ROCHE came to the rescue in O’Toole Park yesterday afternoon as his 58th-minute pointed free ensured that Dublin South enjoyed a share of the spoils with Good Counsel College in the opening fixture of the Leinster Colleges Senior Hurling ‘A’ League.
A goal from centre-forward Michael Coady had given the Slaneysiders the lead for the very first time just a minute earlier, but an expertly converted free by the Terenure College star meant that both sides had to be content with a draw from this encounter.
Dublin South had settled into the proceedings with a brace of early frees from full-forward Roche, and Diarmuid McLoughlin soon followed up with a terrific major from a tight angle on the right, which left James Furlong with no chance in the Good Counsel goal.
A David Byrne point increased their lead to six just moments later, before the New Ross school finally opened their account with scores from Liam Hennessey and Conor Bolger.
The Slaneysiders did have an excellent opportunity to cut further into the Dublin lead when strong work by full-forward Sean Grace led to them being awarded a penalty on 26 minutes, but John Walsh’s effort was well stopped on the line by Colaiste Eanna’s Keith Robinson.
DISRUPT
The southsiders took advantage of this missed opportunity, and three points on the trot from Roche, Andrew Murphy and Ben McEntee gave the hosts a seven-point lead at the interval (1-6 to 0-2).
With some big games on the horizon, Dublin South opted to make a number of changes for the start of the second period, which did disrupt the balance of their play somewhat, as Counsel managed to reduce the deficit to two early on in the half with points from Michael Redmond and Cian O’Donoghue, and a goal from close-range by corner-forward Sean Ryan.
Roche’s fourth point of the contest on 42 minutes did calm the Dublin South nerves, but Counsel had their tails up by this stage, and efforts from Ryan (2) and Redmond restored parity with nine minutes remaining.
The Dubliners appeared to have steadied the ship with points from Roche (2) and half-back Kevin Ward, but Good took the lead for the very first time with three minutes to play through Coady’s excellent individual goal following a fine run up the left-wing.
Dublin minor Roche displayed great composure just a minute later, however, as he split the posts from the left-wing for what proved to be the final score of the afternoon.
Scorers – Dublin South: J Roche 0-7 (7f), D McLoughlin 1-0, K Ward, B McEntee, A Murphy, D Byrne 0-1 each. Good Counsel College: S Ryan 1-2, M Coady 1-1, M Redmond 0-2, C O’Donoghue (f), C Bolger, L Hennessy 0-1 each.
DUBLIN SOUTH: K Robinson; C Bergin, R Tierney, H Devine; K Ward, G Quinnlivan, J Behan; M Geraghty, B McEntee; A Murphy, T Walsh, M O’Loughlin; D McLoughlin, J Roche, D Byrne. Subs: M Herlihy for Robinson (h-t), K Braine for Geraghty (h-t), C McIntyre for Walsh (h-t), A Hogan for M O’Loughlin (h-t), Walsh for Bergin (41).
GOOD COUNSEL COLLEGE: J Furlong; Podge Doyle, J Murphy, D Manning; Pierce Doyle, P Barden, C Bolger; M Redmond, R Murphy; J Walsh, M Coady, L Hennessey; C O’Donoghue, S Grace, S Ryan.
REFEREE: J Brennan (Thomas Davis, Dublin).