Hughes and Magurie send Plunkett's into final

St Oliver Plunkett's 2-8, Clann na Gael 0-13

By Paul Hughes

Mullingar side St Oliver Plunkett’s have reached Westmeath’s top-tier U20 hurling final after a hard-fought win over Castlepollard/Brownstown amalgamation side Clan na Gael in Castlepollard on a chilly Sunday afternoon last.

Goals from Donnacha Maguire and Darragh Hughes proved crucial for the visitors as they saw off a Clan na Gael side heavily reliant on scores from prodigious Castlepollard talent Darragh McCormack.

McCormack struck 0-10 over the hour and was very unlucky to be on the losing side. The north Westmeath combination played some of the better hurling in the second half but after Hughes’ 40th-minute goal, Plunkett’s dug deep and prevailed with a late winning point from Shane Ormsby.

In the midst of a biting crossfield breeze that generally benefited Plunkett’s in the first half, the sides were level at 0-3 apiece after the first quarter.

Aaron O’Leary opened the scoring for Clan, while Tiernan Purcell and McCormack helped themselves to superb points but Thomas Meehan (2) and Daire Cleary kept the Mullingar men in touch.

Some industrious play from Plunkett’s was awarded with a goal on 17 minutes, when Meehan knocked a long ball down into the path of Donnacha Maguire, and he struck it low along the ground from about ten yards out.

Clan na Gael responded well with a brace from Darragh McCormack – a fine strike into the teeth of the breeze, followed by a free. However, back came Plunkett’s with some frees of their own, including a long-range effort from Liam Carey and a brace of dead ball efforts from Nathan Cornally.

The Mullingar lads led 1-6 to 0-5 as half-time approached, and could have netted a second goal on 21 minutes when Daire Cleary cut inside from the right and drew a decent save out of Clan na Gael ‘keeper Seán Óg Murray.

However, Clan’s McCormack had the last say of the half and pucked a wonderful score from 40 metres out on the right wing before tacking on a free from distance two minutes before the break. Darren McCormack’s charges now trailed Plunkett’s by the minimum (1-6 to 0-7).

On the restart, Plunkett’s faced into the wind and it showed, with three or four scoreable efforts going astray on them in the opening ten minutes. In contrast, Clan na Gael pressed on and hit three on the trot, with two McCormack frees and a fine point from Conor Sheridan giving them a slender lead with 35 minutes gone.

Crucially for St Oliver Plunkett’s, they found the net again on 40 minutes when Darragh Hughes rose above his marker to flick a long ball to the net. Seán Óg Murray did his best to keep it out, and in case there was any doubt that it crossed the line, Hughes seized on the rebound and drilled it home.

This lifted the visitors and unlike the first goal, Clan na Gael didn’t respond decisively, with 17 minutes elapsing before they scored again, though they enjoyed plenty of possession. In the meantime, the Mullingar contingent added another score, a Nathan Cornally free, to extend their lead to three (2-7 to 0-10).

However, Clan na Gael upped the ante in the final ten minutes and clawed their way back into the game. They were unlucky not to raise a green flag on 52 minutes, when Tiernan Purcell was fouled while lobbing the sliothar into the parallelogram. Referee Barry Nea halted play for a free, by which time Darragh McCormack gave Plunkett’s the slip, latched onto Purcell’s ball and handpassed to the net.

The home support was, perhaps understandably, upset that advantage was not played but on the field, Clan na Gael picked themselves up and moved on.

McCormack converted the free, and after going just wide with a low shot on 53 minutes, reduced the arrears to the minimum with another beauty from play. The marquee forward followed this up with another free, his tenth point, to level matters and set up a grandstand last five minutes.

Extra time looked very much on the cards but a minute into stoppage time, St Oliver Plunkett’s midfielder Shane Ormsby shot the lights out with the winning point, and he and his teammates can now look forward to a premier U20 championship final against Na Piarsaigh before Christmas.

Scorers - St Oliver Plunkett’s: D Maguire and D Hughes 1-0 each, N Cornally 0-3f, T Meehan 0-2, L Carey (free), D Cleary and S Ormsby 0-1 each. Clan na Gael: D McCormack 0-10 (6f), A O’Leary, T Purcell and C Sheridan 0-1 each.

St Oliver Plunkett’s: Pádraig Casey; Seánaí Bracken, Conor Kelly, Charlie Foy; Seán Hynes, Liam Carey, Dylan Carey; Shane Ormsby, Nathan Cornally; Eoin Meehan, Thomas Meehan, Donnacha Maguire; Daire Cleary, Darragh Hughes, Mikee Weir. Subs used: Rory O’Brien for Cleary (50).

Clan na Gael: Seán Óg Murray; Rory Carolan, Tom Flynn, Mark Lancaster; Shane Henry, Alex McCormack, Ben Murphy; Conor Gaffney, Tiernan Purcell; Ciaran English, Brian Gilchrist, Conor Sheridan; Aaron O’Leary, Darragh McCormack, Matthew Reilly. Subs used: Aaron O’Brien for Henry (27), Seán Mulvaney for Gilchrist (53), Setanta Gavigan for Sheridan (60+1).

Ref: Barry Nea (Turin).