Newcestown 1-18
St Mary’s 0-10
TOM LYONS REPORTS
VETERAN Daniel Twomey was the man who led Newcestown to a comprehensive win over neighbours St Mary’s in the first round of the RCM Tarmacadam junior A hurling championship on Sunday evening in Rossmore.
The St John’s men led this encounter from start to finish and when their outstanding centre back Eoin Kelly retired injured in the 12th minute, having already contributed three points, it was Twomey who took on the leadership role at full forward. His unerring accuracy saw him finish with 1-7.
‘This was a good win for us,’ said man-of-the-match Twomey. ‘We have a lot of players there who have played senior hurling. We were missing a few players promoted to senior (on Saturday) but that’s what we are used to. The players who came in just got on with the job. We don’t have any problem with numbers although we are missing a few with injuries and lads being away. We have a few coming back from America this week, so that will be a bonus.’
With Eoin Kelly lording proceedings at centre back, Newcestown hit the front early with points from Daniel Twomey and Kelly (3). Depleted St Mary’s had no answer to the early surge from the winners but with Darren O’Donovan emerging as a central figure – he scored all but one of St Mary’s total of ten points – they slowly worked their way into the game.
Two pointed frees from O’Donovan and a third from play by Ian O’Donovan had the gap down to a single point by the end of the first quarter. That was as good as it got for the Ballineen/Enniskeane men.
Even though Kelly had to depart the scene with an injury, it was Newcestown who grabbed control again, with Twomey much to the fore. When a speculative shot by Twomey from 60 metres out on the wing deceived the Marys’ defence to nestle in the net, it was the beginning of a permanent takeover by the winners. Points from Ciarán Hurley, Seamus O’Sullivan and Darragh McSweeney opened a seven-point gap before O’Donovan and Twomey swapped frees to leave Newcestown leading by 1-9 to 0-5 at half time.
O’Donovan opened the scoring in the second half but it was all Newcestown in that third quarter as Gerard Murphy, Twomey (two frees) and O’Sullivan found the target to increase the lead to ten points. O’Donovan again opened the scoring in the last quarter but the response from Newcestown was the same, points from Ciarán Hurley, Twomey (two frees) and O’Sullivan leaving 12 between the sides.
To their credit Mary’s never stopped battling but with O’Donovan as a lone scorer, hitting two from play and one from a free, there was no likelihood of overhauling the winners at any stage. Ciarán Hurley closed the scoring for Newcestown as they took a first step in repeating last season’s campaign which saw them going all the way to the final.
Apart from Twomey and Kelly, impressing most for a well-balanced Newcestown team were Cian Twomey, Cathal Clarke, Eoin Calnan, Niall Murray, Séamus O’Sullivan, Conor Goggin, Ciarán Hurley and Oisín O’Donovan O’Sullivan. Trying hardest for St Mary’s, apart from the outstanding Darren O’Donovan, were Dylan Scannell, David Curtin, Mark O’Driscoll, Jack Hurley, Olan Corcoran and Jason Collins.
‘We have Mathúna’s next and we played them in the league, they were very strong that day,’ Daniel Twomey said. ‘We did very well last season to reach the final but were disappointed with our display then. We’ll do our best to get out of the group, to the quarter-final, and then take it from there.’
Scorers
Newcestown: Daniel Twomey 1-7 (6f); Ciarán Hurley, Séamus O’Sullivan, Eoin Kelly (1f) 0-3 each; Darragh McSweeney, Gerard Murphy 0-1 each.
St Mary’s: Darren O’Donovan 0-9 (5f); Ian O’Donovan 0-1.
Newcestown: Ronan McSweeney; Cormac O’Sullivan, Cian Twomey, Darragh Buttimer; Cathal Clarke, Eoin Kelly, Niall Murray; Seamus O’Sullivan, Conor Goggin; Ciarán Hurley, Andrew Shorten, Gerard Murphy; Darragh McSweeney, Daniel Twomey, Rick Bradfield.
Subs: Eoin Calnan for E Kelly (12, inj), Oisín O’Donovan O’Sullivan for D Buttimer (ht), Ger O’Driscoll for R Bradfield (52), Fiachra Ó Donnchadha for D McSweeney (52), James Ryan for A Shorten (52).
St Mary’s: Dylan Scannell; Brian Brady, David Curtin, Diarmuid Whooley White; Billy O’Brien, Darren O’Donovan, Peter Daly; Paudie McNamara, Eoin Cullinane; Jack Hurley, Jason Collins, Mark O’Driscoll; Aaron O’Driscoll, Olan Corcoran, Ian O’Donovan.
Subs: Ciarán O’Donovan for A O’Driscoll (40), John Bob Daly for I O’Driscoll (40), Diarmuid Healy (55).
