Revise U-19 Roinn B Hurling Championship Final
Young Irelands Gowran 2-14
St. Martins 1-10
A highly determined performance from Young Irelands of Gowran saw them rewarded for their progression at underage over the past few years, as they won the U-19 Roinn B County Final in Gowran on Saturday afternoon.
A brace of goals in the first-half in quick succession by Mikey Keating sent them on their way, as they always held a clear advantage on the scoreboard afterwards.
With the horrendous amount of rainfall that preceeded throughout the week, the pitch was just about playable and the match went ahead having been switched from Nowlan Park where it had been scheduled as curtain raiser to The Junior Final.
Young Irelands were quick out of the blocks and they led 0-3 to 0-0 after just three minutes, with Jake Byrne opening the scoring with a long range effort within seconds of the throw-in, while Killian Carey(free) and the tireless working Jim Conlon were also on target during those opening few minutes.
Micheal Keane kept the scoreboard ticking over for St. Martins throughout, and he opened the scoring with a point from a ’65 in the 8th minute. 0-3 to 0-1.
Killian Carey pointed a free from 65 metres in the 10th minute, before a well taken goal by Jamie Morrissey in the 12th minute for St. Martins brought them level. 0-4 to 1-1.
Micheal Keane added another free in the 14th minute to give St. Martins the lead for the only time, as Young Irelands responded quickly and emphatically with Mikey Keating’s golden brace.
First, a long puck out by Tim Brennan found Jim Conlon racing forward with a clear path through on goal.
Jim’s shot was saved by Niall Shore, before Mikey Keating followed up displaying great predatory instincts to dispatch the sliothar to the net (1-4 to 1-2), before applying the finishing touch with a superb strike moments later following an inch perfect diagonal ball into open space. 2-4 to 1-2.
Young Irelands maintained their dominance throughout the second quarter as they outscored St. Martins 0-5 to 0-4 to lead 2-9 to 1-6 at half-time.
The Gowran men added further points from play courtesy of Killian Carey with a superb effort from an acute angle, Mikey Keating, Jim Conlon and Ben Phelan, while Killian concluded the half with a pointed free.
Micheal Keane was on target with 0-5 all from placed balls in the opening-half as St. Martins stayed in touch.
It was two different halves of hurling with 18 scores accruing in an open first-half, while only 9 scores in total were registered in a second-half were scores were difficult to come.
Points from a Micheal Keane free and Sean Hunt from play in the 33rd and 37th minutes respectively narrowed the deficit to just four points (2-9 to 1-8), before Young Irelands steadied themselves with pointed frees in quick succession from placed balls by both Killian Carey and Paddy Langton – a long distance free from 90 yards – in the 44th & 45th minutes respectively as they restored their 6 point half-time lead. 2-11 to 1-8.
Micheal Keane added points from play in the 46th and 53rd minutes, and they were sandwiched in between by another long distance free by Paddy Langton in the 49th minute. 2-12 to 1-10.
Further points down the home stretch were added by Ben Phelan in the 54th minute, before Killian Carey concluded the scoring with a point from play in the 63rd minute.
A feature to Young Irelands throughout the second-half was the resolute determination of their defence.
Paddy Langton was a colossal and dominant figure at centre-back with Jake Byrne exceptional alongside him, while Thomas Langton who is minor again next year in 2024 gave a sterling performance when introduced as a half-time substitute in an unfamiliar position for him at corner-back.
Bobbie Brennan and the hard grafting Diarmuid Langton were key components of the Young Irelands defensive effort throughout that second-half, while Jim Conlon tracked back a lot around midfield doing an awful lot of good work to great effect.
SCORERS
Young Irelands – Mikey Keating 2-1, Killian Carey 0-6(0-4 frees), Jim Conlon, Ben Phelan & Paddy Langton (frees) 0-2 each, Jake Byrne 0-1
St. Martins – Micheal Keane 0-8(0-5 frees 0-1’65), Jamie Morrissey 1-0, Conor Dooley & Sean Hunt 0-1each
TEAMS
Young Irelands: Tim Brennan, Charlie Brennan, Bobbie Brennan, Charlie Fitzgerald (Captain), Jake Byrne, Paddy Langton, David Langton, Luke Phelan, Diarmuid Langton, Ben Phelan, Padraig Naddy, Jim Conlon, Cian Phelan, Killian Carey, Mikey Keating
Subs: Thomas Langton for Charlie Brennan half-time, Kieran Timmins for Luke Phelan 58 minutes
St. Martins: Niall Shore, Ewan Buggy, Ciaran Nolan, Cormac Quirke, Colin Hayes, Cathal Keegan, Matthew Bolger, Aaron Farrell, Micheal Keane, Ross Dowling (Captain), Jamie Morrissey, Conor Dooley, Sean Hunt, Jack Coogan, James O’Neill
Referee: Paul Hunston
