The Brian Dillons Minor Hurlers had a titanic struggle with Sliabh Ruadh (Balllymartyl and Belgooly combination) in the Rebel Og County Premier (2) Minor Hurling Championship on Sunday evening,22nd July 2012,at Delanys Ground before unluckily losing out to the South-East side on a 3-6 to 0-13 scoreline. Sliabh Ruadh went into this game as raging hot favourites but they were extremely fortunate to emerge victorious against a Brian Dillons side who performed heroically throughout. The concession of two rather soft goals on either side of the interval proved to be the downfall of Brian Dillons. Brian Dillons began promisingly with two points from the impressive Kevin Coughlan in the opening two minutes. Sliabh Ruadh had levelled the scores by the seventh minute and they went ahead,after ten minutes,when one of their half-forwards raced through the Brian Dillons defence to score a brilliant goal. Brian Dillons responded with two points from Michael Peters,who had played with the Junior (A) footballers earlier in the day,which left a point between the sides after twenty minutes play. The game had now developed into a most excitng tussle with the the south -east side definitely looking rattled . However, Brian Dillons,after a defensive error,conceded a soft goal in the twenty-eight minute which gave Sliabh Ruadh a 2-3 to 0-7 lead at the interval. The second -half began with both sides exchanging points and, then , Sliabh Ruadh.were handed another "gift" of a goal by another Brian Dillons defensive error after forty one minutes. The remainder of the game saw Brian Dillons outscore their opponents by 5 points to 2 but, their failure to breach the Sliabh Ruadh to register a goal proved to be their downfall. Despite this narrow defeat the Brian Dillons mentors will feel encouraged by the performance of their team and can look forward to the next Championship outing against Carrigtwohill with confidence. The defence,apart from the mistakes which led to the two soft goals,were solid for most of the game with Darren McGrath,Stephen Kearney,Dylan O"Donoghue, Mark Gleeson and Keith McCormick, when moved from mid-field, in scintillating form. At mid-field, Jack Maguire and James O"Shea,when moved from the defence,held their own while Kevin Coughlan, Michael Peters and Kevin Allen scored some excellent points in the attack. The Brian Dillons scores came from; Kevin Coughlan,0-7,(0-4 frees);Michael Peters,0-3; Kevin Allen,0-2; and Jack Maguire,0-1; The Brian Dillons team lined out as follows; (1) Shane Corcoran; (2) David Gillen;(3) Darren McGrath;(4) Stephen Kearney;(5) James O"Shea;(6) Dylan O"Donoghue;(7) Mark Gleeson;(8) Keith McCormick;(9) Jack Maguire;(10) Eric O"Donoghue; (11) Michael Peters;(12) Kevin Coughlan; (13) Kevin Allen; (14) Dale O"Neill; (15) Timmy O "Sullivan; Sub.used; Kieran Delaney for Timmy O"Sullivan ( 35 mins.) |
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