WHITEHALL COLMCILLE EDGE PAST NAOMH BARRÓG AFTER EPIC FINALE IN PTSB DUBLIN SENIOR 1 HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP

WHITEHALL COLMCILLE 2-19

NAOMH BARROG 0-24

Enda O’Donnell was the match winner for Whitehall Colmcille at Parnell Park on Friday evening as his 65th minute point helped his side to edge out Naomh Barróg in a compelling Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship Group 1 opening round encounter.

It was Barróg who drew first blood in this contest as reliable wing-forward Joe Flanagan converted a free with just under three minutes gone on the clock. The Kilbarrack outfit had a number of opportunities to extend their lead during the early exchanges, but instead it was Whitehall who fired back with a brace of points from inside forward Conor Sheedy.

Yet Barróg continued to display plenty of industry and were back in front after wing-back Sean Gallagher produced a 0-2 salvo of his own. Flanagan stretched them further in front with another successful place-ball effort, before Whitehall centre half-back Daire Gray maintained the trend of contributing two points on the bounce by splitting the posts off long-range frees in the 12th and 13th minutes respectively.

Barróg regained the initiative when Flanagan (free) and Sean Doyle found the target, but courtesy of a mini scoring burst, Whitehall got themselves back on the front foot at the beginning of the second quarter. His earlier point has been complimented by Jamie Rafferty and when Sheedy was presented with a goal chance at a right-hand angle on 21 minutes, he angled a superb strike to the bottom left-hand corner of the opposition net.

While this was a set-back for Barróg, they swiftly reasserted themselves with unanswered scores from the increasingly-dangerous Daniel Moore (two) and full-back Aodhan O’Donohue.

This restored parity to the tie and the sides seemed destined to stay on level terms at the break after dead-ball specialists Paddy Spellacy and Flangan traded two points apiece. However, there was enough time left on the clock for Spellacy to contribute his third of the opening period and propel Whitehall towards a 1-9 to 0-11 interval cushion in the process.

Nonetheless, Barróg were still very much in the hunt and the influential Flanagan raised white flags either side of a similar score from Whitehall’s Eddie Moran on the resumption. The Kilbarrack men briefly took the lead with another close-range free by Flanagan (who would finish the action with an outstanding haul of 0-14), only for Whitehall to turn the tide in their favour with successful contributions from Spellacy and Enda O’Donnell.

The excellent Flanagan swung the pendulum back in Barróg’s favour with two more points on the bounce, but Whitehall got themselves into another strong position entering the final-quarter. Supplementing an equaliser from substitute Michael Gainey, Dublin senior star Eoghan O’Donnell was released by Spellacy off a long delivery from Gray and proceeded to find the back of the Barróg net.

This looked set to be the catalyst for the Collins Avenue side to push on for victory, but two more frees from Flanagan left the bare minimum between the teams on the stroke of 50 minutes. Despite Spellacy matching Flanagan’s efforts to push Whitehall back into a three-point buffer, the Barróg half-back line of Harry Nolan, Paddy Doyle and Gallagher all found the range to suddenly leave the sides inseparable once more.

The prospect of a sharing of the spoils was looming large at this point and this became an even bigger possibility when Barróg points from Flanagan (two) and Gallagher were equalled at the opposite end by Enda O’Donnell and Spellacy (two).

Yet there was enough time remaining in a dramatic finale for a decisive score and Enda O’Donnell displayed nerves of steel to slot the ball between the posts and send the Whitehall supporters into raptures as a result.

Scorers – Whitehall Colmcille: P Spellacy 0-8 (7f, 1 ‘65’), C Sheedy 1-3, Eoghan O’Donnell 1-0, Enda O’Donnell 0-3, D Gray 0-2 (2f), E Moran, J Rafferty, M Gainey 0-1 each. Naomh Barróg: J Flanagan 0-14 (9f, 1 ‘65’), S Gallagher 0-4, D Moore 0-2, A O’Donohue, H Nolan, P Doyle, S Doyle 0-1 each.

Whitehall Colmcille: R Murray; K Nangle, J Thorp, E O’Reilly; L McCarthy, D Gray, S Dunphy; M Noonan, E Moran; Enda O’Donnell, P Spellacy, J Rafferty; N O’Connor, Eoghan O’Donnell, C Sheedy. Subs: M Gainey for O’Connor (16), N Carroll for Sheedy (50).

Naomh Barróg: J Rooney; L Glynn, A O’Donohue, M Sharry; H Nolan, P Doyle, S Gallagher; S Ryan, C Gallagher; J Flanagan, E Hart, S Doyle; D Duggan, D Moore, M Tierney. Subs: D Flood for Moore (39), N Kidd for Hart (43), M Flanaghan for Glynn (48).

Referee: Luke Lacey (Na Fianna).