The St Brendan’s Hurlers, Sponsored by Bodibro faced Thomas Davis in Round 2 of the Go Ahead Junior C Hurling Championship in Longmeadows on a fine Tuesday evening for Hurling.

So What Happened in Round 1?

Well, that occurred last Sunday week July 16th at St Catherine’s Park in Lucan when St Brendan’s faced Na Gaeil Óga, despite playing the majority of the second half with 14 men, it was the home side emerging victorious on a final score of 2-15 to 2-14.

St Brendan’s scorers were: Gavin Muldoon 1-3, Patrick Carey 1-1, JJ Lennon 0-7, Oisin Carley, Cathal Kelly and Patrick Lambe with 0-1 each.

So onto this evening and The Dark Force got off to a dream start tanks to a goal from Shane ‘Harry Styles’ Nolan after collecting a long pass from Patrick Lambe and then wrong footing the Thomas Davis goalkeeper and simple touch into the net. Gavin ‘The Goal Getter’ Muldoon bid for a goal in successive game ended when he couldn’t collect a flying slioter off a pass from Cathal Kelly.

The Tallaghtforians struck a their opening score from a 65, Cathal Kelly won a turnover and found Rob Hanrahan from 70 meters out found both the distance and accuracy and to score the opening point, Cathal Kelly won the Davis puckout and found The Wexican Oisin Carley for the first of what would be many scores from the Wexican who was on free taking duties this evening. 1-2 to 0-1.

Carley then score his first free in following a Nolan foul. Davis then got their scored score from a well taken sideline cut from the Chapelizod Road end of Longmeadows. The Lambe Of God, or Pa to Cian Walsh, scored the 4th point following another Nolan turnover who was fouled in the process but the referee waved advantage. 1-4 to 0-4.

After some Aerial Ping Pong between Carley, Muldoon and Kelly, it was The Wexican to process with the point and a 5 point lead. Another long distance Hanrahan point followed from a free in after Davis was penalised for throwing the slioter.

Cian Walsh was furious when the referee signalled a Davis shot wide, changed his mind and then gave a 65, which went wide anyway. On the other side, Carley won Hartes puckout and got fouled in the process and promptly converted the free in.

St Brendan’s were going for goals but the Davis goalkeeper produced a fine point blank save, however Lambe was on hand to guide the slioter over the bar. The first score of the half was a goal, the last score of the half was also a goal with the away side beating Michael Harte for goal to ensure a level game at half time.

The Hungry Boba Pizzeria Half Time Score St Brendan’s 1-9 Thomas Davis 1-9 

Cian Walsh was no doubt furious at the concession of the late goal in the first half and that fury rubbed off on the players on the second half, especially Shane ‘Harry Styles’ Nolan, who started the second half exactly the way he started the first with a goal and a similar style to his first half goal to boot. Nolan was then fouled in the penalty area and a penalty was awarded, which Nolan converted and allow Cian Walsh chuck his half time fury into the River Liffey.

The lead became 8 thanks to a brace of points with 30 seconds from Pa Carey, the second of which he caught the Davis puckout and stroked on the spot over the bar , 3-11 to 1-8. After a Davis Point. Oisin Carley hit a free in from 30 meters , then Gary ‘The Heavyweight’ Mason, unleashed his inner Richie Bennis from the end of the 1973 Munster Hurling Final to point a free in from 75 meters out and make the score 3-13 to 1-9.

Substitute Liam Kennedy came on and in his first contribution to the game, made it 3-14 with a super strike when on his knees, and just to show how Cian Walsh timed the substitution to perfection, Kennedy made it a brace with a point form 25 meters, and he was not finished there by hitting a hattrick of points to make it 3-16 to 1-11.

Davis hit a goal direct from a sideline cut to add a bit of respectability to the scoreboard, but endured a frustrating evening and a player vented his frustration by rugby tackling Stephen Dunne, followed by a bit of Greco Roman Wrestling, by both players, who were then sent off, rather harshly on Dunne’s part. I hope Andy Farrell was watching because it was a super serious tackle.

Oisin Carley kept the scoreboard ticking with a free in from close range and Mark Kinsella ensured there was no anxious moment for Cian Walsh with a great catch and clearance from 13 meters. The Tallaghforians most famous hurler, Zak Moradi, got on the scoresheet with a consolation point for his side. But Carley had the final say with a final free in from 25 meters after a Shane Nolan foul.

And the end of the evening, St Brendan’s picked up a big Championship win and now must wait until August 20th and a rematch of last years Junior D Final against Round Towers Lusk, but will the game go ahead because Lusk gave a walkover to Na Gaeil Oga this evening.

Final score from Longmeadows: St Brendan’s 3-19 Thomas Davis 2-12.

Both the St Brendan’s Ladies Football 2nd and 3rd teams concluded their group stages of the Junior H and J Championships.

On July 17th The 2nds secured their place in the Junior H Semi Finals thanks to a 2-11 to 2-6 victory over the Na Fianna 4th team, seven days later, Cian Walsh’s bid to get the side match sharp for the semi-finals were scuppered when Man O’War gave a walkover to the team 48 hours ahead of their scheduled meeting. The Female Darkest Force will now face St Finians Newcastle in the Junior H Semi-finals on July 31st.

The St Brendan’s Ladies 3rd XV played their final 2 Junior J Championship matches on July 17th and 24th. On the 17th, The Female Darker than Dark Force limited Lucan Sarsfields to 6-7 while scoring 1-4 themselves with Stephanie Gallagher getting the goal. On the 24th the team wrapped up their Junior J Championship campaign with a 3-16 to 0-8 defeat at the hands of Cuala 3rd team. Despite the defeat, a significant milestone was reached with Adele Binns became the first player to emerge from the St Brendan’s underage teams to get her name on the scoresheet. Yes St Brendan’s Ladies’ 3rds may have lost all 5 games but according to Eugene Cunningham, it was good craic this evening and a wealth of match experience gained by the players going forward, some of which will be lining out for the Camogie team in the Junior 4 Championship in August