AHL 1: Game of the week - St Vincent’s v O’Toole’s

ADULT HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

ST. VINCENT'S 1-15 O’TOOLE’S 1-14

John Hetherton was the scorer-in-chief for St Vincent’s at Blunden Drive on Saturday evening, when the Marino side edged past O’Toole’s in an engrossing Adult Hurling League Division One clash.

Vinnies had comfortably defeated Naomh Fionnbarra in their most recent league encounter on July 22nd, and thanks in no small part to an early goal from Stephen McCarry, they brought a six-point lead into the interval.

O’Toole’s forced their way back into contention after the restart, but even though Peadar Carton found the net in the closing stages, the home team were ultimately defeated by the minimum of margins.

O’Toole’s trailed their opponents by a single point in the top-tier table prior to this game, and were aiming to bounce back from a recent away defeat to Craobh Chiarain. However, it was Vinnies who broke the deadlock through Ronan Fallon from the opening attack, and this was quickly supplemented by Hetherton’s first point of the contest.

As they faced into a strong breeze, O’Toole’s initially found it difficult to convert their chances, but they finally got their account up and running in the sixth-minute. Midfielder Peadar Carton found the target from long-distance, and a similar score followed from his brother Michael.

The Cartons would have a major impact for the hosts as the action developed, but it was Hetherton who was the star performer during the tense first-quarter. He split the posts from a tricky free to move Vinnies back into the ascendancy, and after he superbly fielded a high delivery inside the O’Toole’s half, he set up McCarry for an eye-catching 12th minute three-pointer.

This created some daylight between the teams, but courtesy of points by Cathal Kenny and Michael Carton either side of a Hetherton ’65’, O’Toole’s ensured that they were still within touching distance of their northside counterparts.

However, Vinnies started to gain a stranglehold in the middle-third, and four scores in as many minutes from Hetherton (three) and Brian Bolger provided the visitors with further breathing space. Michael Carton (a Leinster SHC winner with Dublin in 2013) disrupted this scoring sequence with his third point of the opening period, but O’Toole’s were still facing into a 0-5 to 1-8 deficit during the break.

They remained six points in arrears after Kenny and Vinnies midfielder Graham Giblin traded scores on the resumption, before O’Toole’s enjoyed their first significant purple patch of the night. A 0-2 salvo by the impressive Michael Carton set the wheels in motion, and although Paul Bradshaw was agonisingly wide of the mark with a goal-bound effort, half-back Ciaran Kimmage, Ger Arthur and Kenny (free) subsequently found the range in clinical style.

This suddenly cut the Vinnies lead down to one point with 20 minutes left to play, and with momentum now on their side, O’Toole’s had reason to believe that a fourth league win of 2017 was in their sights.

Yet, Vinnies didn’t panic, and the introduction of Willie Lowry and Sean O Cuanachain added fresh impetus to their play. The ever-reliable Hetherton secured their first score in all of 10 minutes from another free, and with contributions by Neal Billings and O Cuanachain in the 43rd and 48th minutes respectively, they were once again in the driving seat.

O’Toole’s were prepared to fight until the very end, however, and after Ger O’Meara (who was deployed in a roving role throughout) raise a white flag from distance, Arthur enhanced his own personal tally with a fine point on the run.

Swapped frees from Hetherton and Conor Carton kept things on a knife edge in the dying moments, but when Conor Burke and Fallon brilliantly found the target with shots from the right-hand touchline, it looked like Vinnies had done enough to squeeze through.

A neat finish from close-range by Peadar Carton (after an initial effort by Kimmage had been mishit) did provide O’Toole’s with a much-needed boost on 59 minutes, but they couldn’t muster up an equalising score before the end of the tie.

Vincent’s now find themselves in a comfortable mid-table position ahead of their final league game on September 8th at home to Kilmacud Crokes, while O’Toole’s still have two fixtures to come against Naomh Fionnbarra and Parnell’s - and currently occupy eighth place in the table.

Scorers - St Vincent’s: John Hetherton 0-8 (4f, 1 ’65’), Stephen McCarry 1-0, Ronan Fallon 0-2, Graham Giblin, Neal Billings, Brian Bolger, Conor Burke, Sean O Cuanachain 0-1 each.O’Toole’s: Michael Carton 0-5, Peadar Carton 1-1, Cathal Kenny 0-3 (1f), Ger Arthur 0-2, Conor Carton (f), Ciaran Kimmage, Ger O’Meara 0-1 each.

ST VINCENT’S: Damien Russell; James Cooke, Mark O’Farrell, Mark O’Keeffe; Ciaran Harney, Cathal Billings, Davy Garland; Ronan Fallon, Graham Giblin; Stephen McCarry, Brian Bolger, Neal Billings; John Hetherton, Conor Burke, Keith Connolly. Subs: Willie Lowry for Bolger, Sean O Cuanachain for McCarry (both 41), Franklin O’Sullivan for Connolly (48), John Walsh for C Billings (52).

O’TOOLE’S: Brendan McLoughlin; Ciaran Gethings, Richie Walker, Graham Dinh; Conor Carton, Eoin Darcy, Ciaran Kimmage; Ger Arthur, Peadar Carton; Cathal Kenny, Michael Carton, Cian Walsh; Paul Bradshaw, Ger O’Meara, Paul Donoghue. Subs: Aaron Lynch for Dinh (11), Luke Myers for Wilson (47).

Referee: Thomas Gleeson (Naomh Fionnbarra).

By Daire Walsh