Loughlin and Clonkill find an extra gear to claim title

MJS Building and Dev Westmeath Minor Hurling Div 1 final

Darragh Fallon

Robinstown was the venue on a bright but chilly Sunday morning for the replay of the Westmeath Minor Hurling Division 1 Final and as seen in the first game there was little to separate two excellent teams in Clonkill and Raharney.

In the end, Clonkill triumphed after extra-time in another thrilling encounter that could have gone either way. Raharney led by five points at half-time and at the end of normal time it was Clonkill 3-11, Raharney 2-14. Raharney had the lead at the break in extra-time before Clonkill outscored them, 0-5 to 0-1, in the second period to take the honours and end a pulsating encounter.

Referee Ray Aughey threw in the ball and within seconds the game's first score was registered by Oisin McCauley, after good work from Cian McGee. A minute later Clonkill responded with Ben Loughlin opening his account after great running from Conor Joyce and Conor Cleary. Raharney got to grips with the game over the next six minutes with Cian McKeogh and Josh McGauran with fine points from play before Donnacha Briody entered the scene with a great goal following a long ball delivered from Cian McGee.

In the eighth minute Briody added to his total with another fine point off his right. In the 12th minute Ben Loughlin steadied the Clonkill ship with a free from close range and followed up less than a minute later with another pointed free. Oisin McCauley was next to score for Raharney with a fine individual effort before Ben Loughlin responded again with another pointed free following a challenge on Padraig Monaghan.

A slight lull in the game followed before Donnacha Briody pointed another free for Raharney in the 18th minute. Three minutes later, Cian McKeogh added to the Raharney advantage with a pointed free after being fouled. Clonkill needed a score and Padraig Monaghan turned provider with a speculative shot which found the Raharney net. The gap was now down to a goal, but a Donnacha Briody free from long-range and a fine Eoghan Flanagan score (after a move which involved Tom Shaw) pushed the Raharney advantage to five points (1-9 to 1-4) at half-time.

Briody goal

The second half burst into life from the throw in with Clonkill taking advantage, Ben Loughlin producing a neat score after good work from Conor Cleary. Two minutes later Padraig Monaghan grabbed his second goal of the day after a great catch and turn before rifling home. Ben Loughlin was next up with a lovely score from play on his right to further tie the game up again.

Raharney gathered themselves and that man Donnacha Briody was again to the fore with a great goal after superb support work from Cian McKeogh and Eoghan Flanagan. It was a game that continued to ebb and flow; Clonkill responded again with two further pointed frees from Ben Loughlin before Donnacha Briody replied in kind with two pointed frees for Raharney. Into the last 10 minutes of the second half and Eoghan Daly produced a superb finish after a brilliant run to bury the ball into the Raharney net which levelled the game again.

Ben Loughlin and Donnacha Briody exchanged two frees each over the next six minutes to keep the scoreboard ticking over before the contest entered the last couple of minutes in normal time. The game ticked into injury time and Ben Loughlin again showed his accuracy from placed balls with another free from the right hand side. With very little time left, Raharney won a '65' and with Donnacha Briody standing over the ball he made no mistake in levelling this thrilling final again. That all meant the sides were still deadlocked at the end of normal time.

Extra-time was almost a game of two halves on its own with Raharney making the most of the initial 10 minutes and Clonkill responding in kind in the second period. Clonkill did start extra-time well with a fine snappy score from Padraig Monaghan before Raharney dominated over the next five minutes. Cian McKeogh shot a lovely score before two more Donnacha Briody pointed frees and a further score from substitute Shaun McCann gave Raharney a three-point cushion.

Padraig Monaghan, with another strong run and score, reduced the deficit to two points before half-time in extra-time, at which stage it was: Raharney 2-18, Clonkill 3-13.

Weary legs and bodies at this late stage of the game invariably led to frees and the game's two outstanding marksmen in Loughlin and Briody exchanged pointed frees in the first three minutes of the second period of extra-time, before Loughlin added another pointed free to bring his team within one point. A minute later, Ben Loughlin was again called into action with another pointed free before Raharney goalkeeper Oran Smith and his defenders produced a fine save and clearance to keep Clonkill from scoring another goal.

In the seventh minute of the final period, Ben Loughlin pointed another free following a foul on Padraig Monaghan to tie the game up again. In the game's dying minutes, with both teams desperate for scores, Ben Loughlin came up trumps for Clonkill with two crucial scores from frees, the second of which was from near midfield, to put his side two points clear.

Seconds later, referee Ray Aughey brought a close to proceedings and Clonkill were 2026 Minor Hurling Division 1 champions.

Scorers – Clonkill – Ben Loughlin 0-15 (13 frees), Padraig Monaghan 2-2, Eoghan Daly 1-0, Conor Cleary 0-1.

Raharney – Donnacha Briody 2-11 (0-9f; 0-1 ’65’), Cian McKeogh 0-3 (1f), Oisin McCauley 0-2, Josh McGauran 0-1, Eoghan Flanagan 0-1, Shaun McCann 0-1.

Clonkill – James Nea, Adam Kiernan, Niall Brady, Sean Maleady, Eoghan Daly, Conor Cleary, Aaron Connaire, Michael Brennan, Conor Joyce, Conor Maleady, Padraig Monaghan, Josh Murtagh, Cormac Murphy, MJ Long, Ben Loughlin. Sub: Ciaran McGrath for S Maleady (20).

Raharney – Oran Smith, Ronan Smith, Calum McHugh, Frank Kiernan, Ronan Lawlor, Cian McGee, Cian Fleming, Oisin McCauley, Josh McGauran, Tommy Smith, Cian McKeogh, Eoghan Flanagan, Donnacha Briody, Tom Shaw, Owen Bagnall. Subs: Jack Duignan for T Smith (27), Calvin Collins for O Bagnall and Sean McCann for E Flanagan (45).

Referee – Ray Aughey (Turin).