Clanna Gael Fontenoy crowned PTSB Dublin Junior A Hurling Champions v St Peregrine's

PTSB DUBLIN JUNIOR ‘A’ HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

CLANNA GAEL FONTENOY 1-16

ST PEREGRINE’S 0-15

By Daire Walsh

A strong closing-quarter paid dividends at O’Toole Park on Sunday as Clanna Gael Fontenoy claimed the PTSB Dublin Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship crown with a final victory over St Peregrine’s.

Trailing by a single point with 13 minutes remaining – having found themselves three behind not long beforehand – Clanna Gael suddenly regained the lead when Seamus McCann rattled the net in fine style. The Sean Moore Park outfit subsequently pushed on from there to seal the silverware on offer in the Kimmage venue.

Midfielder Karl Morgan led the way throughout for Clanna Gael Fontenoy and his 0-10 haul was certainly pivotal in ensuring they came out on top. Mark Sweeney, Eoin Harte and centre half-back Eoin Gleeson had some big moments for Peregrine’s over the course of the action, but the Blakestown men ultimately came up short on the day.

There was little to separate these two teams on paper, but it was Clanna Gael who enjoyed the brighter start to the game. After the aforementioned Morgan opened the scoring with a fourth-minute free from 70 metres, his centre-field partner Alan Culligan followed up this effort by intercepting a clearance from Peregrine’s netminder Adam O’Connor and lashing over a long-range point.

O’Connor was later called into action to turn away James Crowley’s goal-bound strike, but Morgan was on hand to knock over the resulting ‘65’ and move Clanna Gael three clear in the process.

While Peregrine’s had missed quite a few opportunities up to this stage in the contest, they finally got up and running when wing-back Peter Dunne struck a fine point on the run on the stroke of 10 minutes.

Sweeney immediately complimented this contribution with a pointed free from a tight angle and even though eight minutes passed without a score, it was eventually left for Peregrine’s centre-forward Sam Beirnes to restore parity. Harte also fired over an equaliser in response to an Aidan Duffy point at the opposite end and the Blakestown men were suddenly in the ascendancy for the very first time when the inside duo of Sweeney and Harte were both on target in quick succession.

Clanna Gael were now finding scores more difficult to come by, but in the form of the dependable Morgan, they had an impressive dead-ball specialist. In the space of four minutes towards the end of the opening period, the dynamic number nine knocked over three points to squeeze Fontenoy back in front.

Yet there was still enough time on the clock for Peregrine’s defensive lynchpin Gleeson to convert a long-range free of his own and this left the tie delicately poised at 0-7 apiece during the interval.

It was impossible to predict how the tie was going to develop on the resumption, but Clanna Gael netminder Dean Fitzpatrick was forced into producing an excellent stop from Peregrine’s attacker Harte in the 31st minute.

Nonetheless, Peregrine’s continued to take the game to their southside rivals and rattled off three points without reply through the sticks of Gleeson, Isaac Quinlan and Sweeney. Clanna Gael finally opened their second half account when Morgan expertly split the posts for his first effort from play in the 38th minute, but Peregrine’s once again developed a three-point advantage after Sweeney converted a free on the 40-minute mark.

This ramped up the pressure on Clanna Gael, but there was a lot of hurling still left to play and thanks to contributions from Morgan and McCann, the bare minimum separated the teams moving into the closing quarter.

The game then turned on its head in the 47th minute when Duffy turned sharply close to goal and proceeded to pass inside for McCann to pull superbly in the air and into the back of the opposition net. This suddenly gave Clanna Gael significant momentum and with the outstanding Morgan (a free from his own ‘45’) and McCann both firing over superb points, victory was now within sight.

Peregrine’s were always going to battle until the bitter end, however, and were just a single point adrift when Sweeney (two) and substitute Michael Meehan raised white flags. There was the same margin between the teams when Morgan and Gleeson traded frees, but it was Clanna Gael who ultimately had that little bit extra in reserve late on.

After a point from centre-forward Gus Keane offered them some breathing space, Karl Morgan and Max Morgan both found the range in stoppage-time to ensure the Clanna Gael Fontenoy players, coaches and supporters were all in raptures upon the final whistle.             

Scorers – Clanna Gael Fontenoy: K Morgan 0-10 (7f, 1 ‘65’), S McCann 1-2, A Culligan, G Keane, A Duffy, M Morgan 0-1 each. St Peregrine’s: M Sweeney 0-6 (6f), E Gleeson 0-3 (3f), E Harte 0-2, P Dunne, S Beirnes, I Quinlan, M Meehan 0-1 each.

Clanna Gael Fontenoy: D Fitzpatrick; N Madill, B Barron, M Culligan; C Morgan, A Carroll, M Cullinan; A Culligan, K Morgan; L O Laoide, G Keane, J Crowley; S McCann, S Curzon, A Duffy. Subs: M Morgan for Curzon (34), A Dodd for Madill (40), E Carroll for O Laoide (56).

St Peregrine’s: A O’Connor; S Bowe, S Sweeney, C McPartlin; P Dunne, E Gleeson, D O’Connor; T O’Connell, S Stynes; R Molloy, S Beirnes, D McGovern; I Quinlan, M Sweeney, E Harte. Subs: M Meehan for Molloy (43), O McEvoy for O’Connell (45), S Corry for Stynes (49).

 Referee: Adam Kelly (Lucan Sarsfields).