Southern Gaels take huge step towards knockout hurling

Southern Gaels 3-12 St Brigid's 1-12

Southern Gaels gave their chances of lifting silverware in 2024 a significant boost with an excellent win against an out-of-sorts St Brigid's in a sunny Castletown Geoghegan on Saturday evening.

This was a game that Southern Gaels dominated from start to finish and, in truth, they could and should have won by more. Infuriated by some refereeing decisions, they channeled their aggression into the scoring zone and when they hit their stride, they played some very attractive and exciting hurling.

St Brigid's were very poor up front, with all but five of their scores coming from placed balls. They also hit 13 wides over the hour, many of them poor efforts, and were fortunate to remain competitive for as long as they did. That said, they battled right to the bitter end and finished with somewhat of a flourish, but it was too little too late against a Southern Gaels side that threw their bodies on the line and simply would not yield. Heading into play-off territory, they seem to have hit form at just the right time.

The result leaves Southern Gaels in third place on five points, one point ahead of St Brigid's, with one round of games remaining. Brownstown are on top (seven points) and Raharney are second (on five points, they are ahead of Southern Gaels by virtue of the head-to-head rule). The team which tops the group goes straight through to the intermediate championship final, with the second and third placed teams meeting in one semi-final.

The Athlone outfit had wind advantage in the first half and hit scores from long range through Cian Geary and Eamon Martin, with Chulainn Dowd adding a free and excellent team scores finished by Sean Dowd and his brother Fionn. Two David Hanlon frees were St Brigid's only response.

The game really turned in Southern Gaels' favor on 13 minutes when a long-range Geary free was not dealt with, and Chulainn Dowd whipped to the net for a superb opportunist goal. St Brigid's had a brief purple patch thereafter, with Hanlon adding another free and an excellent score from play, while wing-back Niall Cully also pointed to narrow the gap to three. Johnny Martin scored a beauty for Southern Gaels, and after another Hanlon free, Chulainn Dowd hit the point of the half following a superb run.

Fionn Dowd was denied by a brilliant save from Paddy Carroll in the St Brigid's goal, but Johnny Martin tapped the ball into the net for Southern Gaels' second major. Hanlon finished the scoring from another placed ball, but at the break, St Brigid's trailed by six points, 2-7 to 0-7.

The expected surge after the break never materialized for St Brigid's, and they were dealt a hammer blow when, after another wonderful save from Carroll - this time from Eamon Martin - the ball ended up in the net courtesy of Sean Dowd, putting clear daylight between the teams.

Chulainn Dowd and Hanlon exchanged frees before Finbar Coyne briefly raised S. Brigid's hopes with a wonderful goal. However, they could not press on from it, and instead, Kevin Dolan from long range and another Chulainn Dowd free stretched the gap out to eight points for Southern Gaels, and they never looked like relinquishing it.

The hard-working Conor Slevin and another Hanlon placed ball narrowed the gap once more, but they were negated by two marvelous points from Sean Dowd and Cian Geary, effectively sealing the deal for Southern Gaels. Slevin did narrow the gap with two late frees, but it was mere window dressing, as the Athlone-based side ran out six-point winners in some style.

Man of the match: Niall Cully, Stephen Quinn, and Sean Deegan tried hard for St Brigid’s, while David Hanlon was excellent from frees. But all the stars were in Southern Gaels’ colours, with the Dowds (Sean, Fionn and Chulainn) superb, the Martins (Diarmuid, Eamon and Johnny) excellent and Kieran Duncan outstanding at full-back. However, Cian Geary gets the nod for his all-around contribution and leadership from wing-back.

Scorers - Southern Gaels: C Dowd 1-4 (0-3f); S Dowd 1-2; J Martin 1-1; C Geary 0-2; E Martin, K Dolan, F Dowd 0-1 each. St Brigid's: D Hanlon 0-8 (7f), C Slevin 0-3 (2f), F Coyne 1-0, N Cully 0-1.

Southern Gaels: Jonathan Keogh, Shane Galvin, Kieran Duncan, Diarmaid Murtagh, Cian Geary, Cian McCarthy, Dermot Treacy, Diarmuid Martin, Eamon Martin, Maurice Fitzgerald, Sean Dowd, Kevin Dolan, Johnny Martin, Fionn Dowd, Chulainn Dowd. Subs: Sean Murphy for Galvin (44 mins), Eoin Hardiman for Fitzgerald (50 mins), M.J. Kelly for Fionn Dowd (57 mins).

St Brigid's: Paddy Carroll, Conall Dunne, Seamus Faulkner, Ciaran Geraghty, Evan Connell, Stephen Quinn, Niall Cully, Joe Hyland, Sean Deegan, Chris Daly, Paul Carey, Cormac Eighan, Conor Slevin, David Hanlon, Finbar Coyne. Subs: Michael Geraghty for Eighan (37 mins), Ryan Judge for Connell (41 mins), Eoghan Gallagher and Brian Brophy for Hyland and Deegan (50 mins), Billy Arthur for Daly (52 mins).

Referee: Derek Heffernan.