St Catherine’s 1-20
Argideen Rangers 0-21
NOEL HORGAN REPORTS
MORE frustration for Argideen Rangers in the county premier junior hurling championship.
To have had any chance of progressing to the knock-out stages, the Timoleague men needed to register an eight-point win in their clash with 2023 runners-up St Catherine’s at Carrigtwohill on Friday evening.
What seemed a tall order didn’t look unattainable after they raced into a four-point lead inside five minutes.
The concession of a soft goal midway through the first half undid much of Argideen’s early good work, and, as Catherine’s settled, there was precious little between the sides for the rest of a pulsating tie.
Ultimately, Argideen came up short by two, a result which foiled their bid to avoid the relegation play-offs. After incurring three narrow defeats, Argideen manager Jim Foley had good cause to bemoan his side’s exit from the title race.
‘It was a tight group, and I’m very proud of the effort the lads put in when their backs were to the wall tonight. They came out fighting, they showed great spirit, and that’s what we’ll expect from them again in the relegation final,’ he said.
Sean Maxwell, Conor Lehane, Sean Walsh and Fergal Walsh were the scorers during Argideen’s whirlwind start. The Carbery side remained in front until disaster struck in the 13th minute when goalkeeper John Sheehan allowed a high ball to slip from his grasp, leading to the game’s only goal from Catherine’s full-forward Eoin Condon. That made it 1-4 to 0-6, but Sheehan atoned with a splendid save from Catherine’s Rory Galvin in the second quarter. It was 1-10 to 0-11 at half-time.
As the tit-for-tat nature of the struggle continued on the resumption, Argideen were 1-12 to 0-14 in arrears when John Michael O’Callaghan, Conor Lehane and Finbarr Butler were involved in a promising raid in the 37th minute. As the latter threatened a goal, he was hauled down, but, much to Argideen’s annoyance, their claims for a penalty were ignored, and they had to be content with an O’Callaghan point from the resultant free.
It was certainly a marginal call, but, undaunted, Argideen kept battling, regaining the lead after ace free-taker O’Callaghan pushed them 0-17 to 1-13 ahead in the 43rd minute.
After Catherine’s replied with a quick hat-trick of points, Argideen weren’t to lead again, although they did get back on terms, 1-18 to 0-21, when another converted free by O’Callaghan was followed by a brace from play by Finbarr Butler near the end.
Butler and O’Callaghan up front, midfielder Fergal Walsh, and Daniel Hurley and Darragh Holland at the back played leading roles for the losers, whose fate was sealed by a couple of points from frees by Catherines’ Rory Galvin in stoppage time.
Scorers
St Catherine’s: R Galvin 0-10 (8f); B Mulcahy 0-4; E Condon 1-0; K Wallace 0-3; J Neville, S O’Donoghue, E Davis (f) 0-1 each.
Argideen Rangers: J M O’Callaghan 0-9 (8f, 1 65); F Butler 0-4; S Maxwell, F Walsh, P Butler 0-2 each; C Lehane, S Walsh 0-1 each.
St Catherine’s: E Davis; F O’Connell, E O’Riordan, G O’Brien; C Hegarty, O Fitzgerald, N Sheehan; K Wallace, J Hayes; J Neville, R Galvin, S O’Donoghue; B Mulcahy, E Condon, M Mulcahy.
Subs: W Leamy for Neville (44), P Keane for Hayes (44), K Barry for M Mulcahy (48), K Neville for Sheehan (48), K O’Donoghue for Condon (55).
Argideen Rangers: J Sheehan; B Fleming, G Crowley, D Holland; A Guinevan, M Lawton, D Hurley; F Walsh, C Lehane; P Butler, C O’Donovan, S Walsh; F Butler, S Maxwell, JM O’Callaghan.
Subs: D O’Donovan for Maxwell (46), B Foley for C O’Donovan (56), S Henchion for Lehane (inj), 62).
Referee: D Twomey (Shanballymore).
