Rampant Rangers finish with a flourish in Premier JHC opener

Argideen Rangers 0-24

Tracton 0-19

JOHN MURPHY REPORTS

HUNGER is a great sauce and Argideen Rangers hurlers’ displayed it in spades at balmy Ballinspittle with a barnstorming last ten minutes to fashion a fantastic five-point victory in this absorbing Co-op Superstores Premier JHC clash.

To their credit, Rangers had been under the cosh for much of this cracking contest where the pace was relentless, the effort and application by both teams of the highest calibre and the display by the respective free-takers, John Michael O’Callaghan and Tracon’s Ronan Walsh, simply superb.

It was hard to believe that while O’Callaghan had hit the target as early as the second minute, it took 52 minutes before Rangers were to hit the front again in the 54th minute, the Rangers ace free-taker again obliging to leave it 0-17 to 0-16.

Argideen Rangers' Sean Maxwell and Tracton's Keith Webb in a race for possession.

From that to the final whistle Rangers turned on the afterburners with the injection of substitutes, Lorcan O’Leary, Billy Foley and Philip Flynn, providing further impetus up front. There were also superb displays from Matt Lawton, the Butler brothers Padraig and Finbarr, the O’Donovan brothers Darragh and Cathal with a rock-solid full-back line denying Tracton at crucial stages.

Not that Tracton were going to capitulate easily. There was much to admire about the tenacity of excellent midfielders David Byrne and Darragh Kidney, the sublime free-taking of Ronan Walsh, the staunch defending of Graham and Keith Webb and the stylish touches of Daniel O’Flaherty making for great hurling finesse.

Substitutes Joe Kingston and Billy Foley exchanged scores, as did the enterprising Darragh Holland and David Byrne.

Finbarr Butler raised a great cheer with a beauty from distance, but John Good quickly negated it with a superb strike. However, Rangers had the bit firmly between their teeth and O’Callaghan and Flynn sealed the deal in style with four delightful white flags.

Rangers were home and hosed, but not before a Titanic effort by the vanquished came up just short.

Tracton's Darragh Kidney is challenged by Argideen Rangers' Darragh Holland.

On a superb sod the first half was a cracking affair. The more cohesive Tracton picked off some delightful scores and punished any Rangers indiscretions by the lethal Ronan Walsh. David Byrne, Darragh Kidney, Cian Quinn, Daniel O’Flaherty were all in on the scoring act, but Padraig Butler, the O’Donovan brothers, Cathal and Darragh bisected the uprights with efforts for Rangers, while O’Callaghan split the posts with effortless ease. Half-time saw Tracton ahead-0-12 to 0-10.

The second half saw similar action. Matt Lawton fired over a fantastic score on resuming only for Paul O’Riordan to reply in similar fashion. It had all the trappings of a draw, but Rangers' late scoring burst won the day. Manager Paul Holland was in an upbeat mood, praising the effort of his charges, while feeling that the mixture of youth and experience was coming to fruition.

‘Tracton provided a big challenge for us. We lost a couple of players in the junior football championship last week. Our application and effort today was first class. Hopefully we have learned from last season. I felt we played well and were deserving winners, but Tracton provided a real test’, Holland said.

Scorers

Argideen Rangers: JM O’Callaghan 0-13 (11f); Padraig Butler 0-4; Darragh O’Donovan, Cathal O’Donovan, Billy Foley, Philip Flynn, Darragh Holland, Matt Lawton, Finbarr Butler 0-1 each.

Tracton: Ronan Walsh 0-8 (3f, 3 65s); David Byrne 0-4; Paul O’Riordan 0-2; Darragh Kidney, Cian Quinn, Joe Kingston, John Good, Daniel O’Flaherty 0-1 each.

Argideen Rangers: Joe Sheehan; Andrew Guinevan, Gerry Crowley, Bill Fleming; Sean Henchion, Matt Lawton, Fergal Walsh; Cathal O’Donovan, Darragh Holland; Conor Lehane, Sean Maxwell, Padraig Butler; Finbarr Butler, JM O’Callaghan, Darragh O’Donovan.

Subs: Philip Flynn for Conor Lehane (42), Billy Foley for Sean Maxwell (51), Lorcan O’Leary for Darragh O’Donovan (53).

Tracton: Kieran Lyons; Conor McGuinness, Kelvin Healy, David Good; Rory Sinclair, Graham Webb, Keith Webb; David Byrne, Darragh Kidney; Daniel O’Flaherty, John Good, Paul O’Riordan; Daniel Harrington, Ronan Webb, Cian Quinn.

Subs: Tom McGuinness for Keith Webb (35), Joe Kingston for Cian Quinn (43), Mark Castleton for Paul O’Riordan (54).

Referee: Eoin Coleman (Youghal).