Sixmilebridge 2-12 Kilmaley 1-13

Sixmilebridge got their 2018 Junior B campaign off to a winning start following a hard earned win over Kilmaley at Father Murphy Memorial Park, Newmarket, on Sunday evening.

JP Griffin was ruled out of the contest due to a hamstring injury, but other than that Mikey Corbett had a full deck to choose from.

The winners, who played with the aid of a strong breeze in the opening half, got off to the perfect start with a Donald Devanney goal inside three minutes. This was followed by two quick Kilmaley points, the first of which was from a free converted by the Kilmaley center forward.

Errol Touhy got the first of his total of 1-4 in the 10th minute, and two minutes later he was hauled to the ground inside the square to win a penalty for the Garney siders. Mark Conlon blazed the penalty over the bar to settle for a point. Indeed Sixmilebridge took control for the next 10 minutes scoring four points without reply, the pick of which was an Errol Touhy effort from a tight angle out on the sideline. This put Sixmilebridge into a commanding 1-6 to 0-2 lead and triggered Kilmaley to replace their full back - ex-Clare legend Conor Clancy.

Between then and the break, Kilmaley had a purple patch and outscored Mikey Corbetts charges by 0-5 to 0-1 to leave it 1-7 to 0-7 at half time.

The second half began at a frantic pace, with 5 scores inside the first six minutes. Kilmaley were fastest out of the blocks, with a point from their corner forward which was replied to by a Ross O'Donnel effort. Then came what could have been a potential turning point when the Bridge defence, who were starting to struggle with the Kilmaley pace, gave away a 21 yard free. The Kilmaley center forward caught the Sixmilebridge line off guard when he drilled a low hard effort to the back of the net from the resultant free, to put Kilmaley on level terms . Johnnie Hayes quickly restored the Sixmilebridge lead with a fine point, before two Kilmaley points, one of which was another free, gave them the lead, 1-10 to 1-9, for the first time in the contest.

Michael O'Halloran, recently returned from Brooklyn to the Bridge, replaced James O'Neill in an attempt to stem the tide.

Corbetts charges then took control for 5 minutes , scoring 1-2 without reply to restore a four point lead. Errol Touhy was again the main source of the scores with 1-1 of this scoring burst, and a point from Duck Devennay. This made the score 2-11 to 1-10. Amazingly eventhough there were over 15 minutes left, Sixmilebridge were to score just once more in this tie - an 18th minute point again from Errol Touhy.

The Sixmilebridge full back line were under massive pressure for the final ten minutes. Kilmaley tagged on three more points, two from frees and one from a 65. They also had a blazing shot come back off the cross bar and cleared to safety by Kilkenny man Mark O'Donovan. Sixmilebridge had to play the final seven minutes with 14 men after Donald Devennay was shown a bizarre red card by the man in the middle that even baffled the Kilmaley folk in attendance.

Mikey Corbett will be very happy to see his team show great character and battling qualities to see out the contest under tremendous pressure. The whole squad and management team will be fully aware that there is plenty of room for improvement. 1-7 of Kilmaleys total of 1-13 came from placed balls, meaning that they only scored 0-6 from play. In their last three league games Kilmaley clocked up scores of 5-21, 2-19 and 3-17, so this was a major effort from the Bridge men who displayed a fantastic attitude on what was a difficult evening for hurling.

Outstanding on the day for Sixmilebridge was the man from Tir Na Nog, Errol Touhy who tormented the losers defence from start to finish. Others to put in big performances were Dunamaggin man Mark O'Donovan and Eric Lynch in the backs, and Ross O'Donnell in the forwards.

Speaking after the game, 47 year old Errol Touhy was asked what was the secret to his success, Errol wasn't giving much away when he said "When I saw Conor Clancy on the edge of the square I knew my time had come. I looked Clancy square in the eyes and I said, listen boy you might have marked Sean Og O Hailpin, Sean Shoulder McMahon and Brian Whelehan, but you've never marked Touhy from Walton Lodge. I could see he was rattled".

James Liddane refused to speak to the press after the game and has privately said that he is adhering to a full media ban until such time as the CCCC deal with Ducks red card. 

Team

1.            Eric Purcell

2.            Eamonn O’Donoghue

3.            Mark O’Donovan

4.            Billy Maxwell

5.            Eric Lynch

6.            David O’Meara

7.            Barry Corbett

8.            Kieran Liddane

9.            Johnnie Hayes

10.         Ross O’Donnell

11.         Donald Devanney

12.         James O’Neill

13.         Martin Conlon

14.         Errol Touhy

15.         Jamie Lyons

Subs

Brian O’Loughlin for Billy Maxwell (25 mins)

Michael O’Halloran for James O’Neill (37 mins)

Caimin Barrett for Jamie Lyons (50 mins)

James O’Neill for Martin Conlon (61 mins)

Alan McAuley

Ian Chaplin

Ed Skehan

Scorers

Errol Touhy (1-4)

Donald Devanney (1-1)

Ross O’Donnell (0-3, 1 free)

Johnnie Hayes (0-2)

Martin Conlon (0-2, 1 free, 1 penalty)