St Vincents Claim Opening Round Victory in Go-Ahead Ireland Senior 1 Hurling Championship

ST VINCENT’S 6-27 

ST OLIVER PLUNKETT’S/ER 1-19

St Vincent’s started their Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship campaign on a positive note as they overcame 14-man St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh by twenty-three points at Parnell Park on Friday evening.

The writing was on the wall by half-time as the Marino outfit led by 4-12 to 1-8 with two James Mulcahy goals augmented by further goals from John Hetherton and Thomas Connolly.

There was scant respite for Plunkett’s in the second-half as Connolly and Hetherton doubled their goal tallies to leave them comfortable winners by the final whistle.  

The locals took little time in settling as a brace of Brian Bolger points handed them the early initiative and they doubled that lead by the 5th minute through further scores from Sean Mulcahy and the excellent Bolger. 

Plunkett’s finally opened their own account through Dennis McSweeney a minute later before Mark Sweeney’s restored Vinnies’ four-point buffer when pointing from distance in the 7thminute. 

That advantage was extended to seven points soon after as Hetherton was in the right place at the right time to flick home from close range as Plunkett’s goalkeeper Dean Farrell failed to deal with a delivery from deep. 

Their opponents responded well to this setback as Dennis McSweeney put the finishing touches to a well-worked move in the 11th minute with successive scores by Conor Scully and Ger Ryan bringing Plunkett’s to within two points coming up to the first-quarter mark. 

However, another defensive lapse was punished by Mulcahy soon after and his superb goal in the 21st minute saw Vinnies emphatically regain control of matters. 

A fourth goal arrived through Connolly five minutes before the break with an already uphill task for Plunkett’s becoming even steeper as Éanna Boland was dismissed approaching the break.

The procession towards the Eoghan Ruadh goal was even more pronounced upon the restart as Connolly added his second goal in the 36th minute. 

There were points from McSweeney, Ryan and Irinel Popa to reward the battling Plunkett’sefforts but St Vincent’s continued to add to their tally courtesy of sublime efforts by Conor Burke and Hetherton. 

A sequence of seven unanswered points from the start of the final quarter highlighted the ease with which Vinnies were cruising through the encounter as Hetherton blasted a sixth goal in the 54th minute.

By way of riposte, Ryan converted five frees on the bounce to limit the damage on the scoreboard but the contest ended with another sumptuous Hetherton score in added time, putting the finishing touches to a dominant Vinnies display.    

Scorers – St Vincent’s: J Hetherton 2-4; B Bolger 0-9 (2f, 1 ‘65’); J Mulcahy 2-2; T Connolly 2-0; S Mulcahy, D Peel, K Ryan 0-2 each; D Perry (f), C Burke, M Sweeney, D Twomey, S Williams, P Gilroy 0-1 apiece. St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER: G Ryan 0-13 (11f); D McSweeney 1-2; C Scully, I Popa, S Clerkin, D Phelan 0-1 apiece.

St Vincent’s: D Perry; E O’Neill, M O’Farrell, J Brady; C O’Neill, C Burke, S Mulcahy; M Sweeney, D Twomey; D Peel, B Bolger, S Williams; T Connolly, J Hetherton, J Mulcahy. Subs: B Murray for C O’Neill (27), K Ryan for Connolly (41), P Gilroy for Williams (47), D McBride for Sweeney (53). 

St Oliver Plunkett’s/ER: D Farrell; B Bergin, D Phelan, T Cullen; C Scully, C O’Flynn, E Boland; E Byrne, I Popa; C Hayes, B McDonnell, G Ryan; D Bugler, D McSweeney, S Clerkin. Subs: I Sherry for McSweeney (47).  

Referee: Dean Alford (Round Towers Clondalkin).