Connaughton points the way to success for Fr. Daltons

Pat Connaughton, was the main difference between the teams as Fr Daltons rounded off 2008 in great style by lifting the Westmeath junior hurling "B" crown, with a clearcut win over a disappointing Brownstown side in ideal conditions at Kinnegad on St. Stephen"s Day.Hurling in the the Ballymore area has been teetering on the verge of extinction in recent years and this fully deserved win over one of the great traditional clubs in the Lake County is an enormous shot in the arm for the small ball game in "the town with no middle".The unconfined joy on the faces of players, mentors and supporters when Michael Riggs belatedly blew the final whistle - the Raharney man officiated well, but his second half added-time allocation of seven minutes seemed very excessive - showed just how much this victory meant to all associated with Fr Daltons, and any reduction in Christmas Day food and drink consumption proved to be a justifiable sacrifice for a very wholehearted bunch of players. Brownstown, whose failure to score from play throughout the contest says it all, will be the first to admit that the hungrier side (in the sporting sense!) triumphed and, despite the cold, the men in blue and white sportingly remained on the pitch for the post-match cup presentation.With Fr Daltons having defeated Brownstown by just a single point in an earlier round, this was expected to be a ding-dong final. A lovely crisp afternoon was the ideal way for a good-sized attendance to adjust from a lazy day perched at the dining table and the fireside and, while the quality of hurling was anything but riveting, there was no shortage of honest endeavour from both sides. Scores were proving difficult to come by in the early exchanges, with a miss from a scoreable free in the third minute by Brownstown"s highly-rated centre half back, Conor Sleator, an indicator of things to come. With exactly seven minutes on the clock, Fr Daltons" Brian Finnerty broke the deadlock when he pointed neatly, after full back Willie Anderson had initially done well to clear his lines. A little under two minutes later, a foul on John Gilligan (whose direct running was already causing concern for the losers" rearguard) gave Pat Connaughton the chance to open his account from a straightforward 25-metre free.After Conor Sleator failed to find the target from two monster frees, his team-mate Mickey Travis had better luck from closer range to put Brownstown on the scoreboard in the 17th minute. A number of niggly injuries made for a stop/start game by this juncture, but John Gilligan maintained his fine form in the 23rd minute to set up Ciaran Martin for a well-taken third point for the men in green and gold. However, their best score of the first moiety was still to come, courtesy of Derek Cuffe, who dissected the posts from an acute angle, with four minutes of normal time remaining. Brownstown replied with a converted 35-metre free from Mickey Travers, but they were unable to add to their meagre total of two points despite a scramble in the Fr Daltons goalmouth as the the half came to a close. As the clock ticked down to 30 minutes, Pat Connaughton pointed a routine free and, at the break, Fr Daltons led by 0-5 to 0-2.Ironically, given his disappointing striking of placed balls in the opening half, two excellent pucks from Brownstown"s Conor Sleator (a "65" and a free from the halfway line) had reduced the deficit to the bare minimum, with less than six minutes played in the second moiety. Sandwiched in between these, Ciaran Martin came close to raising a green flag in a game of precious few goalscoring chances, but the Fr Daltons" centre half forward pulled the ball across the goalmouth and the danger was averted.However, Sleator"s brace of points was as good as it got for the lads in blue as they failed to trouble the umpires in the time remaining, with the Ballymore men slowly but surely building up a commanding lead. Two fine points by Pat Connaughton started the ball rolling, the first from a "65" in the eighth minute, closely followed by a neat effort from play, using his vast experience to good effect after fine approach play from Ciaran Martin. Ten scoreless minutes ensued, the highlight of which was an unsuccessful effort to blast a game-levelling goal from a close-range free by Cormac Reilly, following a massive drive from a free by goalkeeper Stephen Reilly leading to a foul close to the goalmouth.The failure to eke out what would have been a flattering equaliser seemed to deflate the Brownstown men and, despite the ongoing resilience displayed by the likes of Niall Craig, Conor Sleator and Kenny Higgins, it was more or less all one-way traffic for the remainder of the match. Pat Connaughton pointed a tricky free in the 20th minute and the same player followed up with a darting run goalwards but his weak shot for a goal did not match his approach play and Stephen Reilly saved at the second attempt. Five unanswered points in the last six minutes of normal time wrapped up the victory for Fr Daltons, the scores appropriately shared between the two best forwards on view, Pat Connaughton (3) and John Gilligan (2). The latter"s brace came in the 25th minute (following great approach play by Brian Finnerty) and the 27th minute (after he did well to field the sliotar from Andrew Slevin"s free). Connaughton chipped in with an opportunist point from play, a routine free and a well-struck "65" in the 30th minute. Fr Daltons were now "home and hosed" and Brownstown"s efforts to manufacture a face-saving goal proved in vain. As the watches of impatient winners" fans turned 37 minutes, the referee"s long whistle signalled the start of was likely to be a long New Year"s party in Ballymore.Fr Daltons: Brian McCabe; Pat Conway, Kevin McLoughlin, Donal Glynn; Declan Heavin, Pat Hickey, Michael Maloney; Paddy Martin, Andrew Slevin; John Gilligan (0-2), Ciaran Martin (0-1), Brian Finnerty (0-1); Pat Finn, Derek Cuffe (0-1), Pat Connaughton (0-8, 0-4 from frees, 0-2 from "65"s). Sub: Pete Murray (for Cuffe, 46 mins).Brownstown: Stephen Reilly; Ollie Henry, Willie Anderson, Niall Craig; Johnny Fitzpatrick, Conor Sleator (0-2, 0-1 from a free, 0-1 from a "65"), Martin Kelly; Kenny Higgins, Robert Dugdale; Mickey Travers (0-2, both from frees), Seamus McNamee, Brendan O"Brien; Gavin Mulvey, Cormac Reilly, Cyril Dugdale. Subs; Derek McNamee (for O"Brien, 39 mins), Gerry Kelly (for C. Dugdale, 54 mins).Referee: Michael Riggs (Raharney).Footnote. After the game, Billy Foley, on behalf of the Westmeath Hurling Board, presented the cup to winning Fr Daltons captain, Paddy Martin.