Late Raleigh double helps talented Loughegar to hurling title
Scoil Mhuire Loughegar 7-5 St. Tola's N.S. 4-8
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Aidan Price, St Tola’s, gets the shot away before Cillian Galvin can challenge.Image 2 of 5
Cillian Galvin, Scoil Mhuire Loughegar, is challenged by Sean Clune, St. Tola’s NS.Image 3 of 5
Loughegar vice-captain and captain, Charlie Brennan and James Nea, raise the cup following victory in the Div 1 hurling title.Image 4 of 5
Scoil Mhuire Loughegar, winners of the Div 1 hurling title.Image 5 of 5
The St Tola’s NS team, runners-up in the Div 1 hurling final.Scoil Mhuire Loughegar took the Westmeath Cumann na mBunscol Hurling Division 1 trophy to Clonkill after an enthralling encounter against Delvin side, St Tola’s NS at TEG Cusack Park on Monday May 20. It ended in a feast of goals and points at both ends in the beautiful sunshine. Both sides were incredibly well supported in the stands and gave a true exhibition of hurling on the three-quarter sized pitch. The high-scoring goes against the grain somewhat as both teams showed some great defensive work ethic, with two outstanding goalkeeping displays on show.
The game exploded into life when Cillian Galvin fired an effort into the danger zone, to see it drop to the net beyond Robbie Neville in the St Tola’s goals. The green jerseys responded quickly through an incredible Patrick Cassidy point from distance. Scoil Mhuire soon found their feet with some great scores from Conor Raleigh (free), Padraic Craig, a Cillian Galvin goal, and another Raleigh point pushed the lead out to eight with the same on the clock.
Charlie Brennan was fastest to the loose ball to stop Ajay Gopalakrishnan’s pass reaching Rían Williams. Two wonderful scores from Ben Loughlin brought the game closer on the scoreboard heading to the break. The scores kept flying in as Dara Moran and Loughlin capped an end-to-end half with the score reading 3-3 to 1-3 in favour of Niall Brennan and Pat O’Toole’s troops.
There was no let up in the second-half in terms of scoring. Seán Clune pointed for Tola’s before Loughlin hit another goal. Aidan Price added a further white flag soon after. Scoil Mhuire, through Padraic Craig and Galvin points, kept ahead. Things got better again when Moran hit his second goal. The contest ended in a flurry of goals, five in three minutes to be precise. As Galvin and a double from Raleigh whizzed to the net, Loughlin notched two of his own to take his personal tally to 4-3.
Cathaoirleach Cumann na mBunscol Iarmhí, Derek Butler, presented the trophy to captain James Nea and both captains spoke after a fine exhibition of hurling.
Scorers - Scoil Mhuire Loughegar: C Raleigh 2-2 (0-1 from a free), C Galvin 2-1, D Moran 2-0, D Bourke 1-0, P Craig 0-2. St Tola’s: B Loughlin 4-3, P Cassidy 0-2, S Clune, R Williams, A Price 0-1 each.
Scoil Mhuire Loughegar: Charlie Brennan, Dara Moran, James Nea, Cian Heffernan, Declan Bourke, Antonio Bertolo, Cillian Galvin, Louis Kiernan, Shea Dowdall, Conor Raleigh, Padraic Craig, Keelan Harvey, Daniel Morgan, Liam Doyle, Ollie Raeside, Peter Whelan, Alex Reynolds, Peter Webb.
St Tola’s: Robbie Neville, Ajay Gopalakrishnan, Seán Clune, Conor McEvoy, James Fox, Ben Loughlin, Patrick Cassidy, Rian Williams, Aidan Price, Rhys Williams, Dara Fallon, Darragh Harte, Lorcan Massey, Darragh Connell, Senan Kelly, Joseph Cassidy, Vinny Murray, Cathal Fox, Stan Okwieka, Conall Goss, Kaiden McQuillan, Thomas Drumm.
Referee: Barry Kelly (St Oliver Plunkett’s).