White’s brace of first-half goals fires Clonakilty to victory

Clonakilty 2-16 

Dohenys 1-12 

TOM LYONS REPORTS

TWO goals midway through the first half against the run of play laid the foundation for this comprehensive win for Clonakilty in their Roinn 1 opener of the RCM Tarmacadam junior A hurling championship in Ballinacarriga on Sunday.

It certainly wasn’t looking good for the Clon men nearing the end of the first quarter when they trailed by six points, 1-6 to 0-3, the goal coming from a penalty by goalkeeper Denis Dullea in the eighth minute.

In the space of three minutes the game was turned on its head when Sean White netted twice. The first came in the 15th minute when a shot from his brother Mark was stopped by goalkeeper Dullea but Sean was on hand to tap home the rebound. In the 17th minute he was in again as a long ball from David Lowney caught the Doheny defence out of position and White raced through to finish to the net. Clon outscored Dohenys by 1-6 to 0-2 in the second quarter to lead by 2-10 to 1-8 at the break.

‘This is the first time we have our whole team on the pitch and once we settled in you could see the improvement. The goals by Seán gave us the confidence to drive on,’ said Clonakilty manager, Seán Brierley.

Dohenys should have goaled in the first minute of the second half but when Jerry McCarthy (65 and play) and Denis Dullea (penalty) pointed, the deficit was halved to three. It was then we saw the best of the Clon defence with Ciarán Crowley, Tim McCarthy and David Lowney to the fore. They showed some great anticipation and covering as they confined Dohenys to a single pointed free from McCarthy in the closing 25 minutes.

With Thomas Clancy, well assisted by Aaron Cullinane, thundering into the game at midfield and Chris Kenneally starring in attack, Clon went from strength to strength as the game swung into the last quarter. Dohenys’ tendency to foul under pressure was clinically punished by Eoin Ryan who converted four frees and with Kenneally and Seán White scoring from play, Clon eased their way to a comprehensive seven-point win.

Scorers

Clonakilty: Seán White 2-3; Eoin Ryan 0-8 (7f); Chris Kenneally 0-2; David Lowney, Aaron Cullinane, Mark White 0-1 each.

Dohenys: Jerry McCarthy 0-5 (3f, 1 65); Denis Dullea (2pen) 1-1, Ray Jennings and Fionn Herlihy 0-2 each, Mark Buckley and Aidan O’Donovan 0-1 each.

Clonakilty: John P Forristal; Tim McCarthy, David O’Sullivan, Ciarán Crowley; Jack O’Mahony, David Lowney, Alan Murphy; Thomas Clancy, Aaron Cullinane; Eoin Ryan, Kevin Cormican, Seán White; Mark White, Chris Kenneally, Fionn McCarthy.

Subs: Cian O’Donovan for F McCarthy (50), Fergal Murphy for K Cormican (55).

Dohenys: Denis Dullea; David Farrell, Tadhg O’Leary, Ellis Farrell; Gerry Collins, Seán Daly, Adrian Cronin; Jerry Farrell, Fionn Herlihy; Aaron Mannix, Jerry McCarthy, Darragh Collins; Aidan O’Donovan, Mark Buckley, Ray Jennings.

Subs: Johnny Kelly for A Cronin (25), Noel Collins for A Mannix (ht), Adrian Cronin for R Jennings (47).

Referee: Michael O’Mahony (Kilbrittain).