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 Sunday Times 22nd February 2004 | |||
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By Denis Walsh
Playing with a bitter wind in the second half it only seemed a matter of time before O’Loughlin Gaels would assert themselves and pull away to the All-Ireland final, but that assumed Newtownshandrum would finally tire of shuttling the ball by courier up and down Semple Stadium — and they didn’t. Instead, the Kilkenny champions cracked.
O’Loughlin Gaels failed to score for the last 15 minutes of the match, which was an extraordinary implosion given the influence of the wind. Three times in the second half O’Loughlin’s drew level but they never once pulled ahead and each time Newtown responded with a score within three minutes. That was the key. O’Loughlin’s were never allowed to luxuriate in the belief that the game was turning for them.
Leading by only a point at half-time, the Cork champions looked to be cooked. They had done most of the good hurling in the first half, without replicating their best hurling of the week before and without hurting O’Loughlin’s on the scoreboard.
Ben O’Connor, excellent once again, had five scores after his name before he committed his first wide, but none of his fellow attackers were so dead-eye and a lead of 0-8 to 1-4 at half-time looked a poor shelter against the storm to come.
Into the breeze, though, Newtown raised their game. Jerry O’Connor, who had been subdued in the first half, came alive around the centre of the field and his surging runs through the middle led directly to two points, one of which of he got himself after a delicious one-two with his brother Ben.
The best and arguably most telling score of the game, however, was Jerry O’Connor’s second, eight minutes from the end of normal time, when he launched a steepling shot from centre field which drifted in beautifully from the left-hand post.
O’Loughlin Gaels still only needed a goal to save themselves, but O’Connor’s point knocked the stuffing out of them. Just like last week the Newtown full-back line looked a little open and ripe for the picking but, as often happens, teams playing down wind strangle themselves with bunching and Newtown were happy to join them in the rucks. O’Loughlin’s desperate need of a goal never even manifested itself into a chance.
John McCarthy, the Newtown corner-back, is a good player but an even better survivor. Most of the ball sent back out was posted by him. Pat Mulcahy did well at centre-back too, minimising Martin Comerford’s influence until eventually O’Loughlin’s sent him into full-forward, from where he failed to score over the full hour.
His brother Andy had one good spell at centre-back before half-time when he cleared a few balls, but you couldn’t say that he tied down the middle. Ben O’Connor skinned him down the sideline for his first point from play, and once again his touch and energy illuminated the match.
Barry Hogan was absolutely commanding at full-back for O’Loughlin’s and the undeniably smooth Alan Geoghegan did well when he was switched to centre field for the second half, but as a team O’Loughlin’s promised much more than they delivered. As Newtown forced the pace O’Loughlins seemed to be sitting in behind, on the bridle, but when the pressure came on they found nothing.
It was a massive game for Newtown to win but it wasn’t a flawless performance. The teenager James Bowles, a sensation before Christmas, struggled to make an impact again and basically Newtown’s full-forward line were toothless. John Paul King finally corrected his shooting to land three points, but he mixed that with three wides, just as many as Donal Mulcahy, who failed to score at all. At times Newtown’s short game was electric; at other times it was overdone and harmful to themselves.
What will please them most though is that they didn’t panic and they didn’t wilt. O’Loughlin’s had done nothing to deserve Maurice Nolan’s goal after five minutes, and though they had hurled fairly well in the second quarter they were slightly flattered to be only a point behind at the break.
When the crunch came, though, O’Loughlin’s blinked first. Newtown were screwed under their own puck-outs in the final quarter last week; yesterday, in a critical five minutes near the end, they mopped up O’Loughlin’s puck-outs and you could see the breath leaving the body of the Kilkenny champions.
Newtownshandrum: P Morrissey; J McCarthy, B Mulcahy, G O’Mahoney; I Kelleher, P Mulcahy, P Noonan; Alan T O’Brien, J O’Connor (0-2); D Mulcahy, B O’Connor (0-8 5f), J P King (0-3); J Bowles, D O’Riordan (0-1; D Naughton 50min), M Farrell (J O’Connor 54min)
O’Loughlin Gaels: K Cleere; B Kelly, B Hogan, B Murphy; A O’Brien, A Comerford, S Dowling; N Bergin (0-1; J Lawlor 57min), J Comerford (0-1; S Cummins 55min); A Geoghegan, M Comerford, N Skehan (0-2); M Nolan (1-1), C Furlong (0-1), B Dowling (0-2)
Referee: P Horan (Offaly)
Attendance: 5,968
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