Late O’Mara free ensures crucial win for Crookedwood

Crookedwood 2-14, Cullion 1-16

By Shane King

A fiercely competitive and thoroughly entertaining contest unfolded in Robinstown on Saturday evening, as Crookedwood edged out Cullion by the narrowest of margins in round two of the Westmeath Senior B Hurling Championship. Both sides delivered spirited performances in pursuit of their first points of the campaign following opening-round defeats, but it was the men in green and yellow who held their nerve in the closing stages to claim a hard-fought one-point victory.

Played in mainly dry conditions, with just a light shower that didn’t overly affect proceedings, this was a match that ebbed and flowed throughout. Crookedwood were marginally the sharper of the two with some excellent scores from Ronan Scally, Shane McGovern and Lorcan O’Mara helping to keep them in front for long spells. However, Cullion were never far behind, thanks in large part to the sharp shooting of Jack Gillen and Kevin Regan.

It was Cullion who made the brighter start, with Jack Gillen’s long-range free from his own 45-metre line somehow dropping into the Crookedwood net, raising the green flag in the third minute to give them a perfect opening. But Crookedwood responded with urgency, as points from Ronan Scally and McGovern had the deficit cut to a single point by the sixth minute.

A lively exchange followed, with Kevin Regan and Barry O’Mara trading scores. O’Mara converted a free before making an even bigger impact moments later by rifling the ball to the net for Crookedwood’s first goal, putting his side in front. Unfortunately for O’Mara and his team, his momentum was halted soon after as he was forced off with an injury, a notable blow given his scoring exploits in the opening round two weeks ago.

Nonetheless, Crookedwood continued to press on, with Scally adding a brilliant long-range point to push their lead to three. But Cullion came roaring back with a trio of well-taken points. Jamie Kindregan and Kevin Regan scored from play, before Gillen added a free to bring the teams level once more.

Simon McCarthy nudged Crookedwood ahead again, but Conor Regan replied with a fine score to keep Cullion in touch. Lorcan O’Mara then split the posts from a free in the 28th minute to ensure Crookedwood held a slender 1-6 to 1-5 lead at the break.

Cullion would have been frustrated going in a point behind, having created plenty of opportunities but registering 12 wides. Crookedwood, meanwhile, had to adjust quickly to the loss of Barry O’Mara.

While the first half was evenly poised, the second half burst into life as Shane McGovern combined brilliantly with Kevin Orme, who fired to the net within seconds of the restart to push Crookedwood four points clear. But Cullion responded with determination, notching three points in a row, two from Gillen (a free and one from play) and one from the impressive Conor Regan, to bring it back to a one-point game.

Crookedwood once again reasserted themselves with excellent points from Michael Davitt and Lorcan O’Mara in quick succession. Although Gillen replied for Cullion, Crookedwood soon stretched their lead to four again with a fine score from Brian McLoughlin and a ‘65 converted by O’Mara.

Kevin Regan then took over for Cullion, landing a hat-trick of points to close the gap to the minimum, before Davitt and McGovern responded for Crookedwood to push the lead back to three with ten minutes remaining.

The sides exchanged further scores, Gillen from a free for Cullion and Davitt again for Crookedwood, but Cullion weren’t finished yet. With time ticking down, they mounted a fierce comeback, levelling the game through another brilliant solo effort from Regan and two more frees from the accurate Gillen.

As the game lingered in the balance in the pulsating final moments, Crookedwood held their composure as Lorcan O’Mara sent over a free from inside the 45 to edge them back in front. Despite Cullion’s late efforts to rescue a draw, the Crookedwood defence stood firm, repelling two threatening attacks to hold on for a vital and hard-earned one-point victory in a game that could have gone either way.

Scorers - Crookedwood: L. O’Mara 0-4 (2 frees and 1 ‘65), B. O’Mara 1-1 (1 free), M. Davitt 0-3, K. Orme 1-0, S. McGovern 0-2, R. Scally 0-2, S. McCarthy 0-1 and B. McLoughlin 0-1.

Cullion: J. Gillen 1-7 (1-6 from frees), K. Regan 0-6, C. Regan 0-2 and J. Kindregan 0-1.

Crookedwood: Alan O’Mara, Matthew Ryan, Damien Grifferty, John Kiernan, Feichin Óg Brennan, Ger Brennan, Seamus Savage, Ronan Scally, Sean Brennan, Lorcan O’Mara, Shane McGovern, Noel Yourell, Kevin Orme, Brian McLoughlin and Barry O’Mara.

Subs: Micheál Davitt for B. O’Mara inj. (15) and Oisín Boyle K. Orme.

Cullion: Conor Kelly, Brian O’Reilly, James Clarke, Pierce Shaw, Andrew Connaughton, Conor Shaw, Conor Gilhooley, Pierce Corroon, Jamie Kindregan, Calum Faughnan, Conor Regan, Kevin Regan, James Kelly, Jack Gillen and Shane Broughan.

Referee: Jimmy Greville (Castlepollard).