Treacys lose their way against St Mary’s

County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Group 4

St Mary's 1-20

Sean Treacys 0-14

Sean Treacys suffered a disappointing defeat to St Mary’s in the opening round of group 4 of the County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship in Dundrum on Sunday.

Sean Treacys certainly won’t be happy with their second half performance, a period when they played second fiddle to a well-drilled Mary’s side, and when six of their seven points came from the stick of Patrick Dawson.

The Clonmel side were quickly off the mark when Seán Kennedy fired over after just thirty seconds. They had raced into a three-point advantage by the seventh minute before Sean Treacys came more into the game to tie the contest for the fifth time with six minutes of the half remaining.

In the minutes coming up before the interval, the West side were guilty of needless indiscretions, resulting in Seán Kennedy putting over three placed balls in a four- minute spell to ensure that, at the break, St Mary’s led by three, 0-10 to 0-7.

Mary’s started the second period in whirlwind fashion, hitting 1-2 inside two minutes to go into a double scores lead, 1-11 to 0-7, the goal coming from Michael Murphy.

From then on really there was going to be only one winner as they upped their game considerably with Peter McGarry to the fore with four points from play as St Mary’s overcame the loss of long term injury victims Seamus Kennedy and James Morris.

Treacys introduced the Ryan brothers, Jody & Seanie, in an effort to stem the tide, but to no avail. St Mary’s were nine points clear at the three-quarter stage and maintained this to the end, with Seán Kennedy and Peter McGarry leading by example.

St Mary’s consolidated that advantage for the final quarter, answering anything that Treacys threw at them. Niall Hoctor set up Conor Deely for a minor after an attacking run out of defence. Enda Dunphy hit his second long range free to stretch the lead out to eleven, before Patrick Dawson and Paddy Deegan pulled two back for the West men.

The pace dropped for the final ten minutes, as Mary’s gave game time to some of their bench. Patrick Dawson kept Treacys ticking over but man of the match Seán Kennedy had the last say when he closed out the game with his tenth point of the day from a free in injury time.

This victory will the give the South men plenty of confidence going into round 2, where they will take on Burgess, while it’s back to the drawing board for Sean Treacys against Killenaule.

Player of the Match: Sean Kennedy (St Mary’s)

St Mary’s: Enda Dunphy (0-2f, 7), Tadhg Condon (7), Liam Ryan (7), Josh Ryan (7), Darragh O’Connor (6), Tadhg Sheehan (7), Sammy Ryan (0-1, 7), Conor Deely (0-1, 6), Richie Gunne (0-1, 7), Oisín Forristal (6), Seán Kennedy (0-10, 6f, 9), Michael Murphy (1-0, 7), Peter McGarry (0-5, 9), Niall Hoctor (6), Gavin Ryan (6).

Subs: Ross Peters (7) for Forristal (HT), James Power (6) for Hoctor (49), Darragh Landers (6) for G Ryan (53), Thomas Charles (NR)) for Deely (57).

Sean Treacys: Shane Stapleton (6); Brian Nolan (7), Sean Hickey (7), Andy O’Brien (6), Eoin Sheldon (7), Paul Nolan (7), Brendan O’Dwyer (6), Stevie Carr (6), Paddy Deegan (0-3, 7), Brian Carey (6), Mikey Feehan (0-2, 7), Colm Kennedy (0-3, 7), Darragh Kennedy (6), Patrick Dawson (0-6, 5f, 7), Paddy Carey (6).

Subs: Jody Ryan (6) for P Carey (33), Seanie Ryan (6) for D Kennedy (36), Cillian Kennedy (6) for Carr (45), Tom Hickey (6) for B Carey (47), Shane Fahey (NR) for O’Dwyer (57).

Referee: Keith Delahunty (Moyle Rovers).