Hazelwood into Munster “A” Hurling Final
Hazewlood College 2-9
Roscrea CC 1-10
Hazelwood College reached their first ever Senior Hurling “A” Munster final after a hard fought victory over reigning champions Roscrea CC. Hazelwood got off to the perfect start, with a Jamie Coughlan point followed quickly by a goal from Jimmy kiely in the first 5 minutes. Roscrea were not knocked off their stride and opened their account through their free taker Jamie Bergin. Points were then swapped, Jamie Coughlan scored from a placed ball before wing forward Sean Cleary fired one over from Roscrea. Hazelwood then hit a purple patch scoring 1-2 in a three minute spell, 1-1 from Jamie Coughlan and a superb point from Hazelwood’s other Jamie Coughlan bursting forward from wing-back. A this stage Hazelwood were leading 2-4 to 0-2 but a Roscrea team with seven county Minors from Offaly and Tipperary were not going to lie down. Jamie Bergin scored two more from placed balls for Roscrea. A Michael Fitzgibbon point for Hazelwood was sandwiched between Roscrea points from Eoin Ryan and Jason Fitzpatrick to leave the score at half-time 2-5 to 0-6 points in favour of Hazelwood. Eoin Ryan quickly opened the second -half scoring through an Eoin Ryan free but Hazelwood responded with three frees of their own. Eoin Ryan and Jamie Coughlan then traded frees in a second half which was a tough low scoring affair. This left Hazelwood six points up with six remaining. These six minutes that were all about Roscrea attacking and Hazelwood fighting tooth and nail to keep them out. Roscea scored 1-1 in this period and dropped two late 65’s in around the square in search of a winning goal but they could not break down a Hazelwood defence that had played well throughout. Tadgh O’Flynn and Sean O’Riordan deserve notable mention as well as the hard working midfield pair of Michael Fitzgibbon and Seamus Sheehan. Hazelwood now go forward to meet Causeway Comprehensive in the Munster Final on Saturday March 13th in an attempt to back up last year’s victory at “B” level with a Munster win in the A grade. The venue is yet to be decided.
Team and Scorers:
Kevin O’Callaghan, Sean O’Riordan, Barry Lynch, Billy Naughton, John Barrett, Tadgh O’Flynn, Jamie Coughlan (0-1), Seamus Sheehan, Michael Fitzgibbon(0-1), Jerry lane, Paddy Sheehy, Kevin Noonan Keith Lacey, Jamie Coughlan (1-7, 5 frees, 1 ‘65) Jimmy Kiely (1-0)
Subs: Micheal Brosnan, Padraig Lane, Ian Carroll, Brian Noonan, Daniel Egan, Paddy Hassett, Matthew Whelan, Diarmuid Coleman, Darren Boyce, Shane Carroll, David O’Donnell, Cian Mulcahy Danny McCarthy