Club News

24/05/03 Hurlers get the better of Glenarrife

Glenarrife stormed into the lead on their first visit to Corrigan Park in years by putting 1 goal and 4 points onto the scoreboard after 12 minutes of play before St. John's managed to register a single point. There was a strong breeze which certainly assisted the visitors however, St. John's forwards must have put over 7 or 8 wides in this period, none of them coming close to the sticks.

It wasn't until Brian McFall sent over a point from a free out on the right hand side that St. John's started to shake themselves. He followed that up with a second point from a free and then Liam Boyle, making his senior hurling debut, stepped up to get his name on the scoresheet. He pounced on every ball sent up to him and deservedly scored two quality points in quick succession, coming desperately close to scoring a goal - his shot hitting the crossbar and going wide.

The defence were hit badly by the loss of captain, and full-back, Mickey O'Neill, as he went over on his ankle within the first 15 minutes of the start of the game, however Chris Clarke moved over from his left back position to steady the ship. And steady it he did as, for the rest of the game, he and the other corner back, Conor Gannon, managed to hold their line and keep out the advancing Glenarrife forwards. Glenarrife pulled out their other corner forward to operate as a 3rd midfielder and open up the forward line but the defence successfully kept them out.

Some good fortune followed for St. John's as Brian McFall hit a 70 straight at the Glenariffe goal, the keeper catching it however he was standing behind his line at the time and a goal was awarded. Ronan Heenan and Stephen Thompson scored further points to send St. John's within touching distance of the visitors at halftime.

The second half saw St. John's press home with the wind advantage, as Glenariffe's scoring chances diminished, with the defenders keeping them out well. Gerard Cunningham stroked over a superb 70 midway through the second half and Brian continued to send points over from frees, even taking a few on his weaker side to the bemusement of the crowd gathered to watch. John Mead also got in on the act scoring an opportunist's goal.

In the end St. John's won out 2-13 1-12 however, it is hard to see how they would have done so against any other stronger team in the county - having given away such a big lead in the first half?

 

		St. John's
		C. Cunningham
C. Gannon		M. O'Neill	C. Clarke
G. Cunningham		K. Rafferty	N. McCallin
		G. Clarke B. McFall
S. Thompson		R. Heenan	L. McCurdy
L. Boyle		D. O'Hara	J. Mead
(Subs: C. Cunningham for M. O'Neill, P. Montgomery for L. McCurdy)