Louth Senior Hurling Championship Final

KNOCKBRIDGE HC 3-16 ST. FECHINS 2-14

By Dan Bannon at Louth GAA centre of Excellence, Darver

Knockbridge hurling club claimed their 12th Louth Senior Hurling Championship at the hands of St. Fechins in Darver on Saturday afternoon.

Agonisingly for the Termonfeckin side, the loss was their fourth Senior Hurling final defeat in a row. Not a nice record to possess, but a massive third quarter surge for Knockbridge insured they were full value for their victory.

The winners were seven points down early in the second half when Fechin’s forward Peter Fortune found the net but 2-6 to no reply set Knockbridge up for success. The first goal came from man of the match Shane Fennell while captain Gareth Hall got the second in that final winning sequence.

A massive week for the village of Knockbridge, capped off by their hurlers, after their footballers picked up the Intermediate title on the same pitch exactly a week ago.

Five dual players started and, buoyed by that footballing success, Knockbridge settled much better into the spectacle. Fennell opening the scoring and Gerard McKeown pounced for an early goal to really drive Knockbridge into the ascendancy with a 1-5 to 0-3 lead at the first water break.

The timing of that stoppage allowed Mattie Ryan to get a handle on his Termonfeckin side and crucially break Knockbridge’s momentum.

The response was better than expected from the sea siders, as they stormed back into the game and played their best hurling of the final. David Stephenson landed three frees in that period with Fortune notching two points either side of a wonderful Paddy Lynch goal to give them a 1-9 to 1-5 lead at the half time whistle.

When Fortune’s goal went in at the start of the second half, the Paddy Kelly Cup looked to be heading back to Termonfeckin. However Knockbridge had other idea’s and completely took over.

While Hall and Fennell will get the plaudits, David Kettle’s influence for his side in this match winning spell should not be understated. Three second half points from the county man were superb but his intensity really swung the game in his sides favour.

Shell-shocked St Fechins did respond again after yet another water break, this time through three excellent points from goalscorer Lynch, all from play, but Fennell was now guiding Knockbridge over the line at this stage with a range of placed balls.

Irony would have it that football captain James Costelloe fired over the last score of the final to seal a wonderful victory and also allow hurling captain Gareth Hall to take his turn in the spotlight.

Scorers for Knockbrigde: Shane Fennell 1-7 (5f), Gerard McKeown 1-2, David Kettle 0-3, Gareth Hall 1-0, Stephen Hoey, Conor Deane, James Costelloe and Ronan Byrne 0-1 each

Scorers for St. Fechins: Paddy Lynch 1-4, Peter Fortune 1-3, David Stephenson 0-4 (0-4f), Jamie McDonnell, Paul Mathews and Seán Kerrisk 0-1 each.

KNOCKBRIDGE: Kevin McNally; Conor Kerrigan, Ronan Byrne, Mark Wallace; Stephen Hoey, Stephen Kettle, Ricky McKeown; James Costelloe, Liam Molloy; Gerard McKeown, Seán Marry, David Kettle; Conor Deane, Gareth Hall, Shane Fennell. Subs: Peter Brennan for Marry (42), Robert Wallace for Molloy (50), Neil Thornton for Hall (58), Daire McKiernan for C Kerrigan (62).

ST FECHINS: John Crosbie, Cormac Mc Auley, Seaghán Conneely, Danny Morgan, Micheál Byrne, Donal Ryan, Oisín Byrne; Jamie Mc Donnell, Jack Murray; Paddy Lynch, Peter Fortune (c), Conor Mathews, David Stephenson, Anto Byrne, Paul Mathews. Subs: Ryan Walsh for M Byrne (h-t), Seán Kerrisk for Byrne (40), Sean Hodgins for Murray (46), Michael Ryan for Stephenson (55).

Referee: Kevin Brady (Pearse Óg)