Bennettsbridge (Kilkenny) 1-17
Abbeyknockmoy (Galway) 1-14
Paul Keane reports from Croke Park
SEAN MORRISSEY’S FREAK 56th minute goal proved to be the difference as Bennettsbridge came from behind to secure a slightly fortuitous AIB All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title success this afternoon.
The Kilkenny champions trailed by four points with 12 minutes remaining but firstly fought back to level terms before Morrissey floated in a high ball from the right wing that somehow sneaked to the net.
Abbeyknockmoy goalkeeper Declan Molloy will have nightmares about the concession as the ball sneaked in over his head and under the crossbar, the score that ultimately separated the sides in an energetic and entertaining contest.
Morrissey finished 1-6 overall, all from open play, and was the man-of-the-match as the intermediate silverware followed the same path as the junior title by going to Kilkenny.
Bennettsbridge begun the brighter and took a deserved four point lead after 23 minutes, 0-10 to 0-6, with four of those scores from former All-Ireland minor medallist Morrissey.
William Murphy, a late addition to the team, also scored two points though the Leinster champions didn’t score again until the 36th minute.
In the meantime, Abbeyknockmoy fought back thanks largely to Paul Flaherty’s six points in the opening half to level it at up 0-10 to 0-10 at the break.
Bennettsbridge hit three points in a row early in the second-half to take a two-point lead again but, again, they would succumb to a burst of Abbeyknockmoy scoring.
This time, the Galway outfit fired 1-2 without reply to turn the game on its head and move 1-13 to 0-13 ahead after 43 minutes.
Midfielder Damien Rooney got the Abbeyknockmoy goal but the introduction of Craig Kennedy was decisive as he firstly fired the shot that was parried for Rooney to tap in before scoring a neat point himself.
The three-time Galway intermediate champions led 1-14 to 0-13 approaching the 50th minute but, agonisingly, didn’t score again as Bennettsbridge dug deep for a famous win.
Scorers for Bennettsbridge: Sean Morrissey 1-6, Nicky Cleere 0-7 (0-7f), William Murphy 0-2, Hugh O’Neill and Brian Lannon 0-1 each.
Scorers for Abbeyknockmoy: Paul Flaherty 0-8 (0-5f), Damien Rooney 1-0, Fionnan Garvey, Caelom Mulry, Eoin Blade, Brian Flaherty, Brian Costello and Craig Kennedy 0-1 each.
Bennettsbridge
1. Enda Cleere
2. James Moran
3. Robert Lennon
4. Cormac Wafer
5. Jason Cleere
6. Enda Morrissey
7. Aidan Cleere
8. Darragh Wafer
9. Kevin Blanchfield
11. Nicky Cleere
13. Sean Morrissey
12. Brian Lannon
17. William Murphy
14. Liam Blanchfield
10. Hugh O’Neill
Subs
21. Sean Wemyss for K Blanchfield (53)
15. Michael Shiel for Murphy (53)
18. Kevin Brennan for Lannon (62)
Abbeyknockmoy
1. Declan Molloy
2. Ronan Cooley
3. John Culkin
4. Tommy Farragher
5. Trevor Mullins
6. Brian Flaherty
7. Brian Costello
8. Damien Rooney
9. Caelom Mulry
10. Danny Mullins
11. Coleman Maher
12. Eoin Blade
13. Paul Flaherty
14. Brian O’Donnell
15. Fionnan Garvey
Subs
18. Greg Kennedy for O’Donnell (41)
17. Padraig O’Donnell for Blade (53)
Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow).
Sounds worrying
@geraldo: he has a point about thr penalty count. When your winning handy enough there’s no excuse to give away penalties.
Hard to stay disciplined and motivated if you are winning by 50pts. The big problem is the overlap with international windows. It effectively means each club has to have two teams. If there were fewer games it would be more competitive. A pool or conference system is the only way to go without asking unions to reduce the number of teams they have.
@Rudiger McMonihan: few clubs lose a whole team to the international windows. Maybe one in each country would lose 15. I think a 2 division league might work but as soon as the SA teams come in it would be them and the 3 Irish sides. So maybe not.
@Chris Mc: I think this year you need to include all four provinces. If Connacht had played all their games they would be second in conference B.
@Chris Mc: no union will ever have relagation, would the FIR, WRU or IRFU risk one or more of their professional teams being 2nd division teams? Glasgow, Edinburgh, Zebre, Benetton lose as many players as Leinster to international call ups and have nowhere near the same resources. Its little surprise Leinster are walking it against those teams.
@Rudiger McMonihan: think we touched on this before, clubs need the 10/11 home games. The proposed new rugby calendar if it gets agreed will sort it out. With no overlap durning internationals. It has a 29/30 week club season, but I think it would be the end of the HCup. As the French Top 14 takes 29 weeks and if given the choice between changing their league system or leaving the HCup the French would leave the HCup. The Pro 16 and English Prem would have maybe 5 weeks that they could fit a new European rugby cup in (Current HCup, takes 9 weeks), but no way can the French fit in a 29 round league and 9 round HCup in 30 weeks, and if there are no French is it really worth it?
@Kingshu: yeah I said they need to reduce the number of club games. Pre-covid Super rugby teams played far fewer games (16 + 3 knock outs). The best players go on to play internationals after (14 in a normal year). Then the rest play in the mitre cup (10 + 2 KO’s). So everyone gets game time, the calendar is more coherent and the games are more competitive. The way our calendar is set up is ridiculous. There is so much overlap between pro14, Heineken cup and internationals. We bounce between the 3 all year too. Teams dont get enough time together to build momentum and their position on the table is often down to how well their 3rd or 4th choice player is.
@Rudiger McMonihan: The New global calendar proposal
Is
Autumn internationals: October-November
Club and European games: December-July with a 7 week break for
Six Nations: April-May and same time the Rugby Championship: April-May. Players get a break from end of July to start of Oct.
Thats a 30 week club season with 7 week break with no games played durning 6 nations/rugbt championship. I just can’t see the Top 14 fitting their league and Hcup into that window.
@Con Cussed: have they not lost 2 games so far. They are a bit off the top 3 to be fair.
@Kingshu: I am with you on this. The system that has been cobbled together over the years has suited the Irish set-up more than anyone else; its deficiencies are increasingly obvious but it is hard to see that there will be changes that will be beneficial in the round.
The underlying problem is that there are only 2 countries – England and France – with the resources to support a domestic professional ‘club’ set-up. The rest have to rely on subsidies from the mens’ senior international game and an artificial cobbled-together league combining the remaining countries.
For us the real focus of the ‘club’ game is the Heineken Cup, but this can only really exist if the English and French clubs want it to, and only a minority of them are really committed