Round 4 of the PTSB Junior C Hurling Championship saw The St Brendan’s Hurlers, sponsored by Bodibro, take on bottom of the table Faughs in Longmeadows in a bid to get their Championship back on track following defeats to Commercials and Pobal Parnell. Camogie Coach Adrian ‘Cry Before Dawn’ Morrissey was on the sidelines here today and to say he had a massive impact on the Hurlers, you could say was a bit of an understatement. 

And what a start it was, 4 minutes into the contest and The Dark Force were leading by TWO GOALS, to No Score! Tom ‘Kyle Hayes’ Kiely with the first goal and Rob ‘Shane Lowry’ O’Hanrahan with the second. Both collecting final passes of Eoin ‘Quinn Roux’ Fallon.

After an opening point for the away side, Michael ‘Offaly Good’ Culleton restored the six point lead with his first point, Faughs struck their second point shortly afterwards. 

St Brendan’s tally became a Desmond (2-2) thanks to Kiely who added a point with his goal following a clearance by The Dream Maker Sean Dardis and final pass from Matthew ‘The Scholar’ McGlynn. That became 2-3 with a super point from Bryan Dolan after a spectacular catch and puc.

On the other side, Michael ‘Bruno Fernandes’ Harte made a timely block from the small square and clearance from Jack ‘The Relegator’ McCarron. Kiely’s bid for a second goal was halted after a save from Faughs for a 65, which subsequently went wide.

14:27 and despite a McCarron point to make it 2-4, Faughs got back into the contest with a close range goal that was too hot for Fergus O’Regan and could have been in for a second goal but the Faughs forward grabbed hold of Pa Dowd’s hurl and a free out awarded.

But the home side recovered after that goal concession with a trio of points. The first from Fallon after collecting O’Regan’s puck out, his shot skimmed off the crossbar and over, the second from Michael ‘Offaly Good’ Culleton after a pass from Fallon and the third from Pa Carey after a Hanrahan shot was going wide and Carey collected possession and pucked from a tight angle, 2-7 to 1-2.

Faughs hit back with goal number 2. The started raining before the end of the first half as Kiely pointed a free in after a foul on Conor ‘Cowley’ Walsh and then Carey scored from play after a final pass from Kiely. 

So at half time, St Brendan’s lead 2-9 to 2-4.

In the second half, despite hitting three consecutive wides, St Brendan’s reached 2-10 thanks to a Tom Kiely free in after the referee gave advantage. That became 2-11 with newcomer Trevor Purcell raising the white flag after a turnover from McCarron. 

And it looked like victory was imminent when Carey netted the third St Brendan’s goal with a rasping low shot. Eoin Fallon went on to win the next puc out and took the shot himself and over the bar, 1-3 scored in 3 minutes and 3-12 thus far.

But yet again, St Brendan’s let their opponents back in the contest with a goal and 2 points, the goal coming after a short puc out went awry. 

But Fallon steadied the ship with a low shot into the net after a Carey diagonal ball who made two attempts to win possession and made the most of his second opportunity.

Another brace of points followed from both Kiely and Michael ‘Offaly Good’ Culleton to make it 4-14. Bryan Dolan produced a rather unorthodox swing to puc over St Brendan’s point number 15, which was his last action as he was substituted in place of Daniel ‘Ginger’ McCarthy. 

Indeed it was 6 points on the spin with Liam ‘The Sweeney’ Nagle supplying the final pass to Tom Kiely for another point, who then turned supplier to Pa Carey to add another point to his personal tally, and Michael ‘Offaly Good’ Culleton scored his third point for an overall tally of 4-18.

And there’s more!

Faugh’s tried a make it a contest late in the game with a fourth goal, but Trevor Purcell promptly ended the contest in style when a low bat down shot bounced into the net for a 5th St Brendan’s goal.

Michael ‘Offaly Good’ Culleton rounded off the contest with his fourth and his sides 19th point after substitute Conor Glenham won a turnover in midfield.

So a first win of the Junior C Championship for the Hurlers and a win or a draw against Na Gaeil Óga in two weeks time will ensure a place in the Quarter Finals

Final Score from Longmeadows St Brendan’s 5-19 Faughs 4-8.