Shinrone 1-30 ....... Ballyskenagh 2-7
By John O'Callaghan
Shinrone bounced back from their opening round defeat to Shamrocks to score a huge win over their neighbours Ballyskenagh in the second round of the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship at Coolderry on Sunday last. Shinrone effectively had this game won by the end of the first quarter when they led by 1-10 to no score after a terrific start and they continued to impress throughout the game picking off their scores at will. Ballyskenagh tried hard to keep them at bay but they were simply over run and had no answer to the onslaught.The Shinrone scoring spree was led by Derek Morkan and Eddie Bevans who between them accounted for 1-23 of Shinrone's total. Morkan scored a total of 1-12, 1-9 of that from play, while Bevans weighed in with an impressive 0-11, 0-4 of which came from play. That's impressive scoring by any standards and left Ballyskenagh floundering.
In the circumstances, it is amazing to note that Shinrone only scored six points in their opening game against Shamrocks, only one of those points from play, when they went down to an eight point defeat. That loss certainly must have stung them and they responded in the best possible way on Sunday and they hit the ground running from the very start. By the eighth minute they had already matched their score from the previous game and their goal followed a minute later. They had 1-10 on the board before Ballyskenagh got their first score in the 17th minute. Shinrone had stretched their lead to 16 points late in the half but a goal and a point in injury time gave Ballyskenagh a small glimmer of hope as they had wind advantage in the second half and they went in trailing by 1-16 to 1-4 at the break.
That glimmer of hope was quickly wiped out after the interval as Shinrone continued to dominate. Three points in less than three minutes stretched their advantage and they were 20 points clear at the three quarter stage.Ballyskenagh did pull a second goal back and to their credit they kept going until the end but Shinrone just continued to pick off the points and they had 20 to spare at the final whistle. Shinrone's performance contrasted sharply with their one from the previous week. The good start certainly helped as it setttled them down quickly and they just took off from there. They picked out gaps in the Ballyskenagh defence at will and Derek Morkan and Eddie Bevans were clinical in their finishing as they punished their opponents at every opportunity.Ballyskenagh have now suffered two heavy defeats in succession and it is looking like it will be a long hard season for them. They are missing a number of players and they will hope that they have some of them back before the next round of the championship comes around. They were completely outplayed for long periods of this game but they showed some good fighting spirit in trying hard to the finish but after the joy of winning the intermediate title last year, they now face a difficult season back at senior level and they will have to work hard to retain their senior status.
William Comerford, Mark Morkan and Keith McNamara played well in the Shinrone defence. Tomas Hannon and Darren O'Meara won a lot of ball at midfield, while Derek Morkan and Eddie Bevans were the pick of the attack, and Michael Cordial won a lot of possession and set up a number of scores when introduced for the second half. Alan Franks did well in the Ballyskenagh goals, Ger Delaney, Alan Middleton and Derek Middleton worked hard in defence. Brendan Murphy did a lot of work around the middle of the field and Emmet Middleton contributed three points. The attack was well held overall and Tadhg Maher, Timmy Hennessy and Ronan Middleton did their best. Shinrone were off the mark after 40 seconds with a point from Tomas Hannon. Ballyskenagh gave away a lot of needless frees early on and Eddie Bevans pointed two and Derek Morkan another in the first four minutes.Eddie Bevans added two more points, one from play and one free before their only goal after nine minutes. Darren O'Meara and Kevin Reid linked up and his pass was doubled to the net from close range by Derek Morkan.
Ten minutes had elapsed before Ballyskenagh had their first shot at goals but it was a wide. Shinrone continued to dominate and Eddie Bevans pointed another free before Derek Morkan struck two from play with Kevin Reid adding another to make it 1-10 to 0-0 after 14 minutes. Ballyskenagh got their first score in the 17th minute when John Dooley pointed a free. Mark Morkan and Derek Morkan replied for Shinrone before Emmet Middleton scored a Ballyskenagh pointed. Eddie Bevans pointed another free and Ballyskenagh were presented with a goal chance after 26 minutes when awarded a 20m free. Goalkeeper Alan Franks, who had netted two frees the previous week, came forward but his effort was saved and Tadhg Maher knocked the rebound over the bar.
Eddie Bevans and Derek Morkan (2) stretched the lead to 16 points before Alan Middleton replied after good work by Brendan Murphy. In first half injury time Ronan Middleton's shot was saved by Conor Cleary and in the follow up Ciaran Kirwan finished the ball to the net to leave it 1-16 to 1-4 at half time. Shinrone were quickly off the mark again on the resumption and Derek Morkan pointed after half a minute. Eddie Bevans and Morkan again raised further white flags. John Dooley pointed a Ballyskenagh free but Shinrone continued to pick off the scoresand six points followed in a seven minute spell from Eddie Bevans, Derek Morkan (3), Mark Morkan and Michael Cordial. Sixteen minutes into the half Ballyskenagh scored their second goal when Shane Carroll's effort was saved by Conor Cleary but Timmy Hennessy was following up to fire the rebound home. Derek Morkan and Emmet Middleton exchanged points before Eddie Bevans pointed two more, Michael Cordial added another and then the man who strarted their scoring finished it with Tomas Hannon recording their 30th point. Emmet Middleton had a late point for Ballyskenagh but there was no doubting the masters on the day and Shinrone had their first win of the campaign.
Scorers:
Shinrone: Derek Morkan (1-12, 3 frees), Eddie Bevans (0-11, 7 frees), Tomas Hannon, Mark morkan and Michael Cordial (0-2 each), Kevin Reid (0-1)
Ballyskenagh: Emmet Middleton (0-3), Ciaran Kirwan and Timmy Hennessy (1-0 each), John dooley (0-2, 2 frees), Tadhg Maher, Alan Middleton (0-1 each).
Teams:
Shinrone: Conor Cleary; Colin O'Meara, William Comeford, Keith McNamara; Donal Morkan, Mark Morkan, Daryl Carney; Tomas Hannon, Darren O'Meara; Derek Morkan, Sean Ormond, Liam Feighery; Kevin Reid, Eddie Bevans, Henry Bevans.
Subs: Michael Cordial for Sean Ormond, half time; Niall Cleary for Donal Morkan, 46 mins; Mark Bevans for Henry Bevans, 46 mins; Barry McNamara for Liam Feighery, 52 mins.
Ballyskenagh: Alan Franks; Kevin Tuohy, Alan Middleton, Ger Delaney; Derek Middleton, Shane Kirwan, Gavin Hannon; Brendan Murphy, Emmet Middleton; Tadhg Maher, Barry Keeshan, Cian Donovan; Ciarán Kirwan, John Dooley, Ronan Middleton
Subs: Timmy Hennessy for Cian Donovan, 13 mins; Ollie Douglas for Tadhg Maher, half time; Shane Carroll for Gavin Hannon, 34 mins; Tony Douglas for Ciarán Kirwan, 52 mins; Cormac Franks for Ronan Middleton, 58 mins
(C) Midland Tribune, 20th May 2009
Home | Archives | Photo Gallery | Contact Us