Beagh make flying start to group campaign

Beagh                   1-17      

Tommy Larkins  0-13

Alan Dooley at Kenny Park

On a balmy Saturday evening in Kenny Park, Athenry, Beagh’s Joe Gantley provided the rare moments of genuine class in a lacklustre senior hurling championship Group D contest against a Tommy Larkins side who began with purpose but whose challenge was derailed by a wasteful second quarter.   

A tit for tat opening fifteen minutes had the sides rightfully level without raising the pulses of the small, sun-drenched crowd, but over the next seventeen minutes of action Tommy Larkins could only muster a solitary score while racking up six wides. Beagh, with Joe Gantley increasingly influential, moved five clear and were never seriously in trouble for the remainder.  

Kieran Diviney grabbed Beagh’s crucial goal just before the break with his first meaningful touch of the game. Having been moved into the right corner after a fallow opening 20 minutes at full forward, Diviney picked an inviting pass and turned for goal, drilling to the net to end Tommy Larkin’s ‘keeper Darragh Starr’s unblemished record in the championship to date.

While Larkins did produce a mini-rally in the third quarter to get within a goal of the victors, Beagh responded with six of game’s last eight scores as Joe Gantley finished with five impressive points from play while his brother Rory also popped up with a brace of timely scores from deep while leading a dominant half back line.

In the early stages, however, the Beagh defence were nowhere near as tight as they needed to be and they were staring at a 0-3 to 0-1 deficit after a brisk start by Tommy Larkins. A point from Jason Flynn arrived within fifteen seconds, while Kevin McHugo and David Hickey also pointed early on as Larkins’ rearguard gave their forwards decent ball to work with.

Adrian Tuohy registered Beagh’s opening point, before Kevin Keehan grabbed two points (one free) to level matters by the tenth minute. Tuohy was having a notable battle with Larkins’ centre half back Conor Nevin on the ’40, with Nevin shoring up the central corridor before Beagh wisely decided to use their wings to better effect. Read more in this week’s Connacht Tribune