No separating Annacarty and Brackens
Eire Og Annacarty 0-19
JK Brackens 1-16
Report: John O’Shea in Clonoulty
JK Brackens and Eire Og Annacarty shared the spoils in this County Senior Hurling Championship opener on Saturday.
From the outset, the Templemore side dictated the pace, with Eire Og playing catch up for the greater part of the game.
Eire Og led only once, this following an Aidan Griffin free sixteen minutes into the second half but this lead was short lived, as JK Brackens equalised almost immediately. However, the West side stuck to their task and two late points in injury time, the equaliser from Kevin Fox, salvaged a point.
JK Brackens hit the ground running and Shane Doyle got the scoreboard ticking over within forty seconds. David O’Shea, Lyndon Fairbrother (free) and Andrew Ormond tagged on points as the Mid-men jumped into a four-point lead by the sixth minute.
Eire Og were slow to start, but Paudie Bradshaw put over from out near the stand to open their account on seven minutes. From the resulting puckout, Bradshaw gathered and doubled his tally. Paidi O’Dwyer cut the deficit to the minimum two minutes later as Eire Og upped their game.
JK Brackens got their first break when Andrew Ormond goaled to go four up. Cian Mooney pulled one back for the West men before a brace from Fairbrother stretched the Templemore men out to five.
Eire Og hit a purple patch and points from Paidi O’Dwyer, Aidan Griffin (free) and Dinny Crosse kept them in touch. Shane Bourke put three between the sides, with four minutes remaining before the break. Aidan Griffin, from a 65 and Fairbrother from a placed ball kept three points between the sides, before David O’Shea got in for his second point to open up a four-point gap. With almost the last puck of the half, Tom Fox pulled one back for Eire Og to leave them trailing by the goal at half time, 1-9 to 0-9.
Eire Og needed a good start to the second period and Aidan Griffin pointed within fifty seconds of the restart. Points from Donal O’Dwyer and another converted free from Griffin had the sides on level terms, for the first time, after 34 minutes.
Brackens seemed to be able to dictate the play and Eire Og continued to play catch up. Eire Og were back on level terms by the 39th minute but were unable to get their head to the front. They did eventually hit the front, for the first and only time, when Griffin converted his sixth free on 46 minutes.
Paddy Cadell put over his first as Brackens hit the front once more. Brian Fox cancelled out a Fairbrother converted free to level the game for the fourth time, injuring himself in the process. Cadell and Fairbrother edged Brackens back in front as the game entered time added on.
Eire Og were not yet finished and Paudie Bradshaw hit his fourth point. In a final attack, substitute Kevin Fox equalised to salvage a valuable point for the Annacarty men.
Player of the Match: Paudie Bradshaw (Eire Og Annacarty)
Eire Og Annacarty: Darragh Mooney, David Fox, Brian Fox (0-1), Mickey Bradshaw, Paul Downey, Tom Fox (0-1), Paul Devlin, Seanie Ryan, Dan Kelly, Paudie Bradshaw (0-4), Donal O’Dwyer (0-1), Aidan Griffin (0-6f), Paidi O’Dwyer (0-2), Dinny Crosse (0-2), Cian Mooney (0-1).
Subs: Kevin Fox (0-1) for P O’Dwyer (45), Eoin Bradshaw for Kelly (56); Darragh O’Brien for B Fox (58).
JK Brackens: Jack Kennedy, Luke Ormond, Tom Murphy, Martin Delaney, Jordan Moloney, Paddy Cadell (0-2), Neil Quinlan, Dean McEnroe, Cathal Scully, Conor Cadell, Andrew Ormond (1-2), Shane Doyle (0-1), Shane Bourke (0-1), Lyndon Fairbrother (0-8, 7f), David O’Shea (0-2).
Subs: Lorcan Roche for Bourke (45), Lorcan Egan for McEnroe (51), James Bergin for Egan (56 inj).
Referee: Sean Lonergan (Moyle Rovers).