Brownstown show composure to edge out Plunkett's

Brownstown 1-13, St Oliver Plunkett's 2-8

By Shane King

Brownstown secured their first win in this year’s Senior B hurling championship on Saturday evening, edging past St. Oliver Plunkett's by two points in a tightly contested encounter. Their sharper edge in front of goal proved the difference on a sunny evening in The Downs, giving them the platform to build momentum in what is already shaping up to be a fiercely competitive championship.

Plunkett's entered the game with two wins already under their belts, but with so little separating the sides in this year’s campaign, every point on the leader board is hard-earned. Saturday’s clash followed the trend, entertaining and close, though littered with mistakes that at times dragged down the standard. In a contest that swung back and forth, Plunkett's struck two goals, one from a Conor Bracken penalty and another superb finish by Andrew Cunningham, but Brownstown’s accuracy from frees and a decisive second-half goal from Emmett Cunneen ultimately gave them the edge in a tight and error-strewn encounter.

It was Brownstown who struck first inside the opening two minutes as Jamie Reilly clipped over the first score from play. Plunkett's responded swiftly with Matthew Cunningham splitting the posts to level matters. From there, Brownstown took control, with centre-back Conor Shaw marshalling the defence and driving his side forward. Two accurate frees from Niall Leonard and a neat effort from Conor Rice then pushed them three clear.

Plunkett's almost hit back with a goal on eight minutes when Donnacha Maguire’s shot was well saved by James Moore in the Brownstown goal, with the sliotar deflecting over the bar. Moments later, Oisín Kiernan made a fine turnover before laying the ball off to Shaw, who struck an excellent long-range point from just inside the halfway line.

However, Brownstown’s defence faltered shortly afterwards as a foul on Matthew Cunningham inside the danger zone handed Plunkett's a penalty. Goalkeeper Conor Bracken made the trek up the field and made no mistake in blasting the ball to the net to draw level.

Brownstown kept their composure, however, as Leonard landed two more frees, while Tiernan Purcell pointed stylishly from play to restore their three-point cushion. But Plunkett's finished the half strongly with Cunningham converting two frees to leave just a point between the teams at the interval.

Plunkett's emerged the brighter after the restart as Cunningham levelled from a free within two minutes. Moments later, goalkeeper Bracken denied Brownstown a point with a save above the crossbar at one end before his side surged forward on a sweeping move up the right wing of the field. Andrew Cunningham finished the attack in style, rifling to the top corner to push Plunkett's three clear.

The lead was short-lived as Leonard responded with yet another free before Conor Shaw dropped a placed ball short, where Emmett Cunneen was quickest to react, batting the sliotar to the net to regain the narrow advantage they had enjoyed at half-time.

Leonard continued to lead the line impressively, tagging on another point from play before adding yet another free. With both sides trading wides during a tense spell, Purcell finally broke the deadlock, firing over from play to extend the Brownstown lead to four.

Still, Plunkett's refused to go quietly. Cunningham and Leonard exchanged further frees as the game edged towards its conclusion. Bracken kept his side alive with a well-taken free, while Matthew Cunningham added another from play to narrow the deficit late on, but it was too little, too late for the Mullingar side as Brownstown held out to secure a vital two-point victory.

Scorers - Brownstown: N. Leonard 0-8 (7 frees), E. Cunneen 1-0, T. Purcell 0-2, J. Reilly, C. Rice and C. Shaw 0-1 each.

St. Oliver Plunkett's: M. Cunningham 0-6 (4 frees), C. Bracken 1-1 (1 penalty and 1 free), A. Cunningham 1-0 and C. O’Leary 0-1.

Brownstown: James Moore, Shane Henry, Philip Gilsenan, Tom Flynn, Oisin Kiernan, Conor Shaw, Anthony Mulvaney, Patrick O Reilly, Tiernan Purcell, Donal Lane, Shaun Smith, Conor Rice, Jamie Reilly, Niall Leonard and Emmett Cunneen.

Subs: Jamie Fitzsimons for S. Smith (34), Kenneth Higgins for S. Henry (55), Danny Henry for K. Daly (55) and Jack Gavin for J. Reilly (61).

St Oliver Plunkett's: Conor Bracken, John Fry, Zach Aherne, Dylan Carey, Liam Carey, Aaron Craig, Tomass Turks, Matthew Cunningham, Nathan Connolly, Cathal Craig, Thomas Meehan, Andrew Cunningham, Colm O’Leary, Ross Corroon and Donnacha Maguire.

Subs: Brian Reidy for T. Turks (temporary sub; 39), T. Turks for L. Carey (46), Greg Gavin for D. Maguire (48) and Darragh Geraghty for R. Corroon (58).

Referee: Mick Murtagh (Clonkill).