A general view of Netwatch Cullen Park. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Carlow Senior Hurling Championship Final
Mount Leinster Rangers 2-19 St Mullins 3-16
By Kieran Murphy at Netwatch Cullen Park
Two sides who have built up a healthy rivalry over the last 20 years played out an exciting draw in the Carlow senior hurling final at Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday. With the last attack of the game, the challengers, St Mullins, worked the ball from inside their own half and Marty Kavanagh was on hand to find the net to level the game.
Between these two great sides, it was always going to come to this. There was an explosive start to the contest when Mount Leinster Rangers swooped for a Ciarain Kavanagh goal. The reigning champions continued to press and led 1-4 to 0-1 after eight minutes. Donagh Murphy was superb with the former St Kieran’s All-Ireland medal winner very much in form. It was all action and at one stage Rangers led by seven points.
The tide turned in the closing stages of the half with another intercounty star, Jack Kavanagh, netting from long distance. James Doyle also passed up on an excellent Mullins goal chance when from the edge of the small square he mishit his shot and the ball fell nicely for Dean Grennan in the Rangers goal who easily took control.
Rangers had their moments too and Eddie Byrne was on hand to rifle home from the edge of the small square. There was no end to the drama and once again Kavanagh fired to the bottom right hand corner of the Rangers net. Right on the whistle, Kavanagh’s brother, Marty, took the scoring pass and raised a white flag to leave Rangers only leading 2-9 to 2-7 at the interval.
With the game finally balanced once more, it turned out to be an epic second half. Rangers threatened to pull away, but just as they did in the opening half, St Mullins dug in.
At one point it looked as if St Mullins were winning the mini battles, but Rangers hit back and it was they who looked set to assume the momentum. Murphy added two points while Byrne was also on target. In reply, James Doyle registered three points for Mullins while Conor Kehoe and Jason O’Neill were also on the mark for the challengers.
Some of the scores were out of the top bracket. With the TG 4 cameras present the county players and others on both sides put on an exhibition of point scoring. Tony Lawlor’s effort from inside his own half looked to be a huge momentum turner.
In reply, James Doyle’s white flag was vital for St Mullins. Rangers still looked to be taking a significant lead when Chris Nolan and Joyce knocked over points to put the champions four clear. Then came the late revival with Kavanagh as the central figure. He had already missed two frees, but he stayed cool to convert one and his goal strike was as good as any in his long career.
Scorers for Mount Leinster Rangers: T Joyce 0-7 (4fs), E Byrne 1-2, C Kavanagh 1-0, D Murphy 0-4, J Nolan 0-3, C Nolan, T Lawlor, K McDonald (f) 0-1 each.
Scorers for St Mullins: M Kavanagh 1-8 (5fs), J Kavanagh 2-0, James Doyle 0-6, C Kehoe, J O’Neill 0-1 each.
Mount Leinster Rangers: Dean Grennan; Michael Doyle, Michael Joyce, Sean Joyce; Evan Kealy, Kevin McDonald (Captain), Tony Lawlor; Richard Coady, Jon Nolan; Dean Tobin, Ted Joyce, Donagh Murphy; Ciarán Kavanagh, Edward Byrne, Chris Nolan.
Subs: Conaill Fitzpatrick for Kavanagh (h/t), Diarmuid Byrne for Tobin (49),
St Mullins: Kevin Kehoe; Paídí O’Shea, Paul Doyle, John Doran; Ger Coady (Captain), Michael Walsh, Paudie Kehoe; Eamon O’Shea, Ciaran Harris; Jack Kavanagh, James Doyle (Dranagh), Conor Kehoe; Marty Kavanagh, John Doyle, Paddy Boland.
Subs: Oisin Ryan for Doran (21), Jason O’Neill for Harris (HT), Seamus Murphy for Ryan (55).
Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Palatine).
