Abbeyknockmoy’s fighting spirit proves their trump card

ABBEYKNOCKMOY 1-13

KICKHAMS CREGGAN 0-9

THROUGH thick and thin the hurlers of Abbeyknockmoy have been renowned for their fighting spirit and early in the second half of this All-Intermediate Club hurling semi-final at Páirc Tailteann on Sunday, they had to call on that old ally to see them through a testing encounter.

After slipping behind for the first time in the match just before the interval whistle sounded, Abbeyknockmoy found themselves 0-9 to 0-6 down just three minutes into the second half and apparently in some bother.

The reaction though to this adversity was quite dramatic. For the remaining 27 minutes, Abbey outscored Creggan of Antrim by 1-7 to 0-0, in the process delivering a stirring display of power hurling inspired by Brian Flaherty at centre back and a double substitution.

Paul Flaherty – just on the way back from a knee injury he suffered in the quarter-final at Ruislip last November – and Craig Kennedy were introduced early in the second half and both made huge contributions to the Abbeyknockmoy revival.

Kennedy’s lightning pace probably made the biggest impact. On a number of occasions, his runs bored holes in the Kickhams defence, most notably midway through the second half when he finished smartly to the roof of the net for a score that sealed the outcome of this tie.

Before that, Paul Flaherty had struck some telling long balls from both play and frees while another of Abbey’s busy bees from start to finish, Fionán Garvey, delivered a series of vital scores from play and placed balls.

After Kennedy’s decisive goal strike that put Abbey 1-12 to 0-9 ahead, much of the early fire from the Antrim and Ulster champions had been dampened down, but up until then they had posed a very serious challenge to the North Galway side.

The men from the banks of Lough Neagh had given this a real go during a fiercely contested first half with the match level on six occasions and significantly Creggan nosed in front thanks to a James Carey point, just on the stroke of half-time.

Fionán Garvey from placed balls, Caelom Mulry, Coleman Maher, Damien Rooney and Trevor Mullins had kept the scoreboard ticking over for Abbey, but each white flag was hard earned against a gritty Creggan defence.

Full match report in this week’s Connacht Tribune.