The Brian Dillons Junior (B) Hurlers, popularly referred to as the "Killer Bees", stormed through to the semi-final of the.. City Division Junior (B) Hurling Championship with an impressive, 2-15 to 1-8, win over Na Piarsaigh, which was played in Ballinlough ,on Thursday evening, 4th September, 2014. This result gave the club a much needed fillip after their Junior (A) Footballers defeat in the semi-final of the Championship, on the previous evening. On a beautiful evening ,for a game, Brian Dillons were quick off the mark when Kevin Varian stroked over a pointed free, after three minutes play. This was followed, one minute later, by a Michael Colohan point , after good work by Mark Buckley ,and when Edmund Hussey ,finished a fine solo run by scoring a neat point, Brian Dillons were three points up, after five minutes play. Na Piarsaigh opened their account with a point, after seven minutes, to which Brian Dillons replied with a similar effort from Tommy Boland, after great work, again, from Mark Buckley...0-4 to 0-1 after eleven minutes. Na Piarsaigh displayed their potential, one minute later, when they breached the resolute Brian Dillons defence , to score a goal ,which levelled the scores...0-4 to 1-1. Brian Dillons regained the lead, almost immediately, when Kevin Varian, who was looking very dangerous, scored a lovely point but, this was cancelled out by a similar Na Piarsaigh score, two minutes later...0-5 to 1-2, midway through the first half. Brian Dillons fell behind for the first time in the game, after seventeen minutes, when Na Piarsaigh pointed from a free. Three minutes later came a defining Brian Dillons score. Along range free was delivered into the Na Piarsaigh goalmouth by the Brian Dillons centre half back, Darren McGrath, and was plucked out of the air by Brian Barrett who ,duly, slammed the ball to the back of the net for a great goal, which gave the lead back to his team, which they would never lose again....1-5 to 1-3. Another point for Na Piarsaigh left the minumum between the teams but, in the twenty fourth minute of the first half, Brian Dillons had their second goal when Tommy Boland, who was working tremendously hard, first timed to the net from close range. Three minutes later, Na Piarsaigh reduced the arrears with another point, but Brian Dillons finished the half, in style, with points from wing back, Dylan O"Donoghue and the ever dangerous corner forward, Mark Buckley... Brian Dillons leading by 2-7 to 1-5 ,at the interval, The Brian Dillons Team Management made a wise move for the second half, when they switched midfielder, Niall Fahy, one of three players ,who had endured a gruelling game with the Junior (A) Footballers on the previous evening, with corner back ,James Varian. Both players benefitted enormously from the switch. Niall Fahy proceeded to give his usual dependable defensive performance , in the corner back berth while, James Varian turned in a magnificent performance in the centre of the park. However, it was Na Piarsaigh who opened the second half scoring with a point, in the opening minute. After five minutes of the second half,James Murphy, after receiving from Michael Colohan, scored a fine point for Brian Dillons but, Na Piarsaigh replied with another point, one minute later. Kevin Varian and James Murphy added points for Brian Dillons but, in spite of their obvious superiority, the scores were not coming as one would have liked, and after 16 minutes of the second half, they had only managed to score three points. Another clever move by the Brian Dillons selectors, at this stage of the game, put the issue beyond doubt. Another of the Footballers, who had played on the previous night, Edmund Hussey, was showing the effects of fatigue and he was replaced by the experienced, James Horgan, for the closing 14 minutes of the game. James Murphy came out to centre half forward, where he was to win plenty of possession from the aerial balls, while James Horgan notched two points from his first two touches. Three further points from Mark Buckley, James Murphy and Kevin Varian ("65), pushed Brian Dillons ahead, 2-15 to 1-7, at the end of normal time. Na Piarsaigh scored their third point of the second half, in the 31st minute, from a penalty. Scorers for Brian Dillons were; Tommy Boland,1-1; Kevin Varian ,0-4 (0-1 free, 0-1 "65); James Murphy, 0-3;Brian Barrett,1-0; Mark Buckley,0-2; James Horgan,0-2;Dylan O"Donoghue, Michael Colohan and Edmund Hussey, 0-1 each. The Brian Dillons team lined out as follows; John O"Herlihy; Luke O"Connell; Derek McDonnell; James Varian; James O"Shea; Darren McGrath; Dylan O"Donoghue;Michael Colohan; Niall Fahy; Kevin Varian; Edmund Hussey; Brian Barrett; Tommy Boland; James Murphy; and Mark Buckley; Sub; James Horgan for Edmund Hussey (46 mins.) |
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