Valley Rovers 0-17
Ballymartle 1-14
(Valleys win 3-0 on penalties)
JJ HURLEY REPORTS
VALLEY Rovers goalkeeper Aaron White was the hero in the South East U21A hurling final as they overcame Ballymartle in a penalty shootout at Crosshaven on Sunday morning.
Played in less-than-ideal conditions for hurling, the teams couldn’t be separated after extra time. Then up stepped White to block three penalties.
With both sides finding it difficult to come to terms with the conditions, Evan O’Shea opened the scoring on eight minutes. Playing with the breeze Ballymartle led by 0-4 to 0-1 after 18 minutes, thanks to points from Paudie Dorney, Conor Kelleher and Matt Higgins (2).
A Harry O’Sullivan score led to a reply of three from Cillian Lordan, Oisin Whyte and Higgins. O’Shea, who was brilliant over the hour, then struck for a point, before Ballymartle had the perfect end to the half: a Higgins’ goal that left the score at 1-7 to 0-3 at the break.
With the wind favouring Valleys in the second half, early scores from Eoin Guinane and Shane Ryan gave an early impetus but Conor Kelleher struck a beauty to dent those ambitions. Over the next ten minutes Valleys outscored Ballymartle by 0-3 to 0-2, the pick of the scores coming from a Guinane line ball
Entering the final ten minutes Valleys trailed by 1-10 to 0-10 but O’Shea sent the tie to extra time with three frees.
Nip and tuck best described the extra time as they finished level on 1-12 to 0-15 after the first ten minutes thanks to points from Ryan and O’Shea as Higgins and Jack Deasy scored for Ballymartle.
Twice, Ballymartle hit the front in the second period with points from Roanan Sheehan and Hennessy but O’Sullivan and Guinane had reeled them back in.
As the game finished level, Ballymartle had their spotters saved by White, who only stepped in to replace the original goalkeeper at the last minute. His heroics were followed by goals from O’Shea, O’Sullivan and Joe Twohig as they found the Ballymartle net in the shootout.
Scorers
Valley Rovers: E O’Shea 0-9 (9f); E Guinane (LB) 0-3; S Ryan, H O’Sullivan 0-2 each; D Galgey 0-1.
Ballymartle: Matt Higgins 1-6 (5f); L Hennessy 0-2; C Kelleher, O Whyte, J Deasy, P Deasy (f), C Lordan, R Sheehan 0-1each.
Valley Rovers: A White; N Daly, C O’Sullivan, T McGrath; A Slattery, E Guinane, C Johnson; K Dart O’Flynn, C McCarthy; S Ryan, H O’Sullivan, D Carthew; E O’Shea, J Twohig, S McEntee.
Sub: S Kiely for D Carthew (ht).
Ballymartle: C Barry; E Cummins, R Stewart, D Murphy; J Deasy, P Dorney, P Cronin; F Desmond, O Whyte; E Deasy, C Lordan, C Kelleher; R Sheehan, M Higgins, Leo Hennessy.
Subs: R Deasy for P Cronin (ht), D Desmond for E Deasy (36), E Deasy for C Kelleher (46).
Referee: B Swiney (Shamrocks).
