Kennedy comes up trumps for Clarinbridge boys

Clarinbridge 0-16

Kilnadeema/Leitrim 0-13

CLARINBRIDGE hurlers turned on the style in the second half in Salthill on Sunday to win a third county minor A title and the club’s first since 1998. The warriors of Kilnadeema/Leitrim left nothing out on the field in this hotly contested and enjoyable final replay but the ’Bridge’had too much quality in their ranks.

A third of the Clarinbridge starters featured on the Galway squad that won this year’s All-Ireland minor title but it was a lesser known player, Mark Kennedy, who really stole the show. Kennedy, who is just 15, showed maturity beyond his years and gave an exhibition of hurling, tormenting the Kilnadeema/Leitrim defence to finish with a haul of six points, five from play.

Kennedy was one of the few bright sparks for the winners in the opening half, when things weren’t going all Clarinbridge’s way; and he stepped it up again when it matter after the break with an energetic display that deservedly earned him the man-of-the-match accolade.

Of course, there were others among the winners’ ranks, who caught the eye, none more so than Patrick Foley, captain Evan Niland and Ian O’Brien and overall, as a team, Éanna Ryan’s charges looked to possess a marginally superior natural hurling ability and skilfulness throughout. Kilnadeema/Leitrim can be mighty proud of their efforts, too.

Though it’s no consolation, the East Galway outfit contributed handsomely to an entertaining spectacle, which was rich in quality and filled with superb scores from both sets of players. The outsiders certainly took the battle to the ’Bridge in the opening half. They didn’t give an inch, showed no shortage of hunger, commitment and work ethic and threw everything at the favourites right from the off, with Dylan Towolawi, Conor Molloy and Mikey Lynch particularly prominent.

The big problem for mentor John Flanagan and Co was their team’s dominance wasn’t reflected on the score board. Kilnadeema/Leitrim, for all their endeavour, needed to be more than one-point to the good at the break. That they hurled so well, and had managed to nullify some of Clarinbridge’s attacking threats in the first half hour, and yet were still only 0-9 to 0-8 in front, must have been deflating.

But Kilnadeema/Leitrim stubbornly refused to lie-down after half-time and despite Clarinbridge getting a foothold at puck-out time, and dominating the battle in the middle third of the field between the two half-backlines, they clung on thanks in the main to tenacious defending from the likes of Conor Bohan, Ciaran Connor and Mark Lawless.

The final quarter proved decisive, however. The dam didn’t burst but the relentless pressure from Clarinbridge told in the end as they outscored their opponents by four points to one in the last 15 minutes.

Full match report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.