Cunningham leads the Ringtown hurlers home

Ringtown 2-19 Brownstown 1-12

It was a case of one side getting it right as Ringtown saw off the challenge of Brownstown in a meeting of the top-two in Senior B as Mark Cunningham led the way with 1-7 in favourable, but breezy conditions at Killucan last Sunday.

A good crowd came as the Irish summer of late turned into a day of sunshine, making for good scoring potential. At the final whistle, it would be Gerry Quinn's charges well in control having shown slicker movement and proven more creative finding space to get their scores.

The sides were level at a score apiece after the first five with Seán Boylan and Jamie Fitzsimons (free) exchanging scores. From there, the men in blue were unable to get a foothold in matters and trailed from Ciarán Moran’s point after six minutes. Just as it looked as if a move had broken down, the sliotar broke to Cunningham who made no mistake firing past James Moore. Those in attendance saw the weapon Ringtown made use of in goalkeeper Pat Burke as he fired over a free from well-inside his own half against the swirling air.

Physical hits aplenty but strong fielding from Ryan Moore and Darren Kilcoyne for Ringtown did them no harm either. Cunningham and Burke (identical free to his last) continued their placed-ball exploits before Moore made a good stop to deny Emmet Corrigan another green flag. Declan Mullen’s men were reliant on Fitzsimons’ frees to keep them in the game. He hit two more from mid-range before a further lifeline came in the shape of an Emmet Cunneen strike to the bottom corner following great soloing. It was the first score from play for the team in blue with four minutes to the break. Moran linked with Jeff Nea before the half-forward found the target despite pressure. Three quick-fire scores before the interval made it 1-10 to 1-5 in favour of the Ringtown men.

Whatever was addressed during the break didn’t materialise for Brownstown as the continued high ball was not working. Cunningham pointed a free, made easier by being moved for dissent, before Corrigan launched a huge effort from the middle of the field. Despite the best attacking efforts of defenders Conor Shaw and Tiernan Purcell going forward, Ringtown remained steadfast in their efforts. Luke Moore set up Corrigan once again before the former found the net, perhaps fortuitously, after his super catch ended in a scramble with bodies on the deck. The sliotar ending up in the net to leave it 2-13 to 1-7 with twenty left.

Johnny Hardman was sweeping the defence for Ringtown and he won the free which allowed Burke to hammer over his fourth and final free, once again from inside his own half of the park. The final ten minutes changed little as the scoreboard ticked over for both sides. Moran and Oisín Kiernan saw red in the final minutes (two yellows) but it mattered little as Cunningham ended things with his last score. With Brownstown ending with only 1-2 from play, questions will be asked as to why they persisted with unworkable tactics. For Ringtown, two wins and onto round three.

Scorers - Ringtown: M Cunningham 1-7 (4 frees), L Moore 1-1, E Corrigan, P Burke (4 frees) 0-4 each, C Moran 0-2, S Boylan 0-1.

Brownstown: J Fitzsimons 0-10 (9 frees, 1 45’), E Cunneen 1-0, T Purcell, R Dugdale 0-1 each.

Ringtown: Pat Burke; Tommy Daniels, Ryan Moore, Niall Moran; Charles Flynn, Darren Kilcoyne, Dominic Flynn; Conor O’Grady, Ciarán Moran; Jeff Nea, Emmet Corrigan, Seán Boylan; Luke Moore, Johnny Hardman, Mark Cunningham. Subs: Paul Nangle for O’Grady (37), Kevin Nea for J Nea (44), Jason Moran for Boylan (48), Cian McGahern for Daniels (60), Jamie Sweeney for Flynn (60+1).

Brownstown: James Moore; Tom Flynn, Conor Shaw, Darren Dugdale; Shaun Smith, Danny Henry, Tiernan Purcell; Robbie Dugdale, Conor Rice; Oisín Kiernan, Emmet Cunneen, Jack Gavin; Kenny Higgins, Niall Leonard, Jamie Fitzsimons. Subs: Rory Carolan for Henry (39), Gary Smith for Gavin (48), Darragh Reilly for Higgins (56).

Referee: Jimmy Greville (Castlepollard).