Doyle’s late goal secures hard-earned win for Raharney

Westmeath Hurling League Division 1: Raharney 1-22, Clonkill 1-19

An unanswered 1-4 in injury-time enabled Raharney to edge out a very entertaining league clash against age-old rivals Clonkill in Joristown last Sunday morning, writes Gerry Buckley.

Both sides – who welcomed back their inter-county stars after Westmeath’s encouraging campaign – are certain to be contenders for the all-important championship come the autumn, and the standard of hurling on show was very high given that a sliothar has not yet been pucked in the race for Westmeath Examiner Cup.

The home team had the aid of a very useful wind blowing more or less directly from the clubhouse end of the ground, but it was Clonkill who started the brighter with points from Andrew Shaw (a delightful strike) and Anthony Price (a free) in the opening four minutes. The excellent Killian Doyle (a free) and Joey Boyle (a gift from the visitors) soon raised white flags to level the scoring.

Both sides added a half-dozen points to their tallies by the 22nd minute – the Deelsiders via Doyle (five, including three frees) and Cormac Boyle, and their opponents courtesy of the lively Jordy Smyth, Niall Mitchell (a huge free), Price (a brace of close-range frees), Darragh Egerton (a great score under pressure), and Shane Power (who judged the wind to perfection).

Five more Doyle points (two of them from open play) brought his first half tally to a remarkable 0-11. James Goonery also got in on the scoring act in the 28th minute, while Pat O’Toole’s charges stayed very much in touch with a point apiece from tight angles by Price and Smyth.

At the interval, the wonderful new electronic scoreboard, a welcome addition to the already-resplendent facilities in Joristown, read: Raharney 0-14, Clonkill 0-10.

Four points in as many minutes at the start of the second half had the green and gold-clad outfit on level terms, the scores coming from the sticks of Matthew Glynn (two), Power and Adam Loughlin.

Smyth and Goonery traded neat points, as did Mitchell (a ‘65’ after Shaw had been denied by Aaron McHugh) and Doyle (a free), leaving the teams tied at 0-16 each with 53 minutes on the clock.

Boyle (despite being pressurised) and Doyle (a great team score) raised white flags for Brendan McKeogh’s men, but Clonkill pounced for 1-3 without reply between the 56th and 61st minutes.

A Price free was followed by a flicked goal from point-blank range by Smyth (after fine approach work by subs Josh Murtagh and Michael Heffernan), with Price (a tricky free) and Power pointing to put the Loughegar men four points to the good (1-19 to 0-18).

However, the county champions delighted the home supporters by going one better, remarkably scoring an unanswered 1-4 in added-time. A Doyle ‘65’ started the scoring spree, and points ensued from Eoghan Ahearn, sub Pearse Weir and county star Robbie Greville.

It looked like a draw would be the outcome – and an eminently fair one it would have been – but there was still time for Ahearn to pick out Doyle in acres of space, and he gave Andrew Mitchell no chance, thereby rounding off a very enjoyable contest.

Scorers – Raharney: K Doyle 1-14 (8f, 1‘65’), J Boyle and J Goonery 0-2 each, R Greville, C Boyle, E Ahearn and P Weir 0-1 each. Clonkill: J Smyth 1-3, A Price 0-6 (5f), S Power 0-3, M Glynn and N Mitchell (1f, 1‘65’) 0-2 each, D Egerton, A Loughlin and A Shaw 0-1 each.

Raharney: Aaron McHugh; Darren Finn, Jamie Mulkearns, David Weir; David Hickey, Robbie Greville, Cormac Boyle; Conor McKeogh, Rory Keyes; Joey Boyle, Killian Doyle, Ciaran Doyle; Eoghan Ahearn, Eoin Keyes, James Goonery. Subs used: Pearse Weir for C Doyle (15), Daragh Core for Goonery (56).

Clonkill: Andrew Mitchell; Ciaran Nolan, John Kenny, Alan McGrath; Liam Moran, Peadar Scally, Darragh Egerton; Christopher Austin, Shane Power; Niall Mitchell, Matthew Glynn, Adam Loughlin; Jordy Smyth, Anthony Price, Andrew Shaw. Subs used: Michael Heffernan for Austin (47), Josh Murtagh for Loughlin (53), Eoin Egerton for Price (60 + 3).

Ref: Barry Kelly (St Oliver Plunkett’s).