McGovern exocet seals fine start by Crookedwood men

Crookedwood 5-10, St Brigid's 1-13

Crookedwood were nine-point winners over St Brigid's in the first round of the Westmeath Senior ‘B’ hurling championship at Clonkill on Saturday, the victory secured courtesy of a strong response after the Dalystown side scored their only goal of the contest.

This game was up for grabs five minutes into the second half, at which stage Crookedwood led by 3-5 to 1-10, but from there to the end, the St Brigid’s effort faded and they managed just three further scores, two of which were frees. Each of those came from Mikie Mullen, which underlines a collective weakness on the scoring front, a puzzle they will have to solve if they are to progress at this level.

Three first-half goals from Barry O’Mara and Kevin Orme, who shot a brace, provided the platform for a Crookedwood win; two further majors by Lorcan O’Mara and Shane McGovern followed after the break to complete the task in pretty emphatic style. Crookedwood look quite an efficient outfit and six different scorers contributed to their tally.

Both sides finished the game with 14 men after substitute Kieran Geraghty and Ronan Scally picked up straight red cards following an unsavoury incident in the 58th minute, the officials taking firm action to maintain order.

At half-time, Crookedwood were leading by 3-4 to 0-9, having played against the useful breeze, and the concession of those three first-half goals certainly undermined St Brigid’s chances. Last year’s intermediate champions needed to make a statement with the elements in their favour, but instead they looked edgy in defence and it took a couple of strong saves by Paddy Carroll to prevent further damage.

Crookedwood’s experience and ability proved the biggest factors. They worked the ball effectively, going long in the second half, and their use of Adam Bate was very effective. They will be looking for a greater impact off the bench, however, when this championship gets to the business end.

Three goals in the opening quarter gave the Wood control here. The first came from Barry O'Mara after just two minutes, Shane McGovern’s delivery unhinging the St Brigid’s defence. Barry O’Mara, so often the finisher, was the orchestrator of the second, his ball finding Seán Brennan, who set up Kevin Orme for the finish. And Orme pounced for the third after Michael Davitt's initial shot was saved by Carroll. Crookedwood built on that and got some fine scores in the second half, O’Mara’s booming point from his own half-back line a terrific score in the 38th minute, and when he set up Lorcan O’Mara for a low, crisp finish in the 40th minute, the lead was six points. Though not insurmountable, it was useful, and Shane McGovern’s brilliant finish sealed the deal in the 51st minute. His first-time exocet gave Carroll no chance between the posts.

The goals St Brigid’s needed never looked likely to materialise against a robust Crookedwood defence. Mullen was always the go-to man in attack, but Crookedwood gave him little space in which to operate, getting plenty of bodies around him to thwart most of the chances that came his way. Jack Carroll’s goal on 35 minutes, following Stephen Quinn’s delivery, left them just a point adrift, but the 16 minutes that followed were dominated by Crookedwood, who scored 2-3 and conceded just 0-2, only one of which came from play. That was the trend in this first-round clash.

Scorers - Crookedwood: B O’Mara 1-6, K Orme 2-1, S McGovern 1-1, L O’Mara 1-0, M Davitt and S Brennan 0-1 each.

St Brigid’s: M Mullen 0-11 (7f; 2 ‘65s’), J Carroll 1-1, C Slevin 0-1.

Crookedwood: Alan O’Mara; Simon McCarthy, Seamus Savage, Ronan Scally; Michael Davitt, Damien Grifferty, Matthew Ryan; Edward Nally, Oisín Boyle; Kevin Orme, Lorcan O’Mara, Barry O’Mara; Shane McGovern, Adam Bate, Seán Brennan. Subs: Anthony McGivney for Nally (HT), Noel Yourell for Savage (inj., 44), Ger Brennan for Boyle (52), Brian McLoughlin for Orme (56), Ciaran McGovern for L O’Mara (58).

St Brigid's: Paddy Carroll; Conal Dunne, Dan O’Sullivan, Billy Arthur; Cormac Eighan, Joe Hyland, Christopher Daly; Niall Cully, Seán Deegan; Stephen Quinn, Conor Slevin, David Hanlon; Jack Carroll, Mikie Mullen, Jack Gallagher. Subs: Seán Corrigan for Gallagher (HT), Finian Carroll for Eighan (45), Seamus Faulkner for Quinn (inj., 53), Kieran Geraghty for Arthur (55), Alex Bradley for Dunne (60+5).

Referee: Matt Shaw (Clonkill).

Examiner's Eye on the game

Man of the Match

Adam Bate (Crookedwood). Wearing the number 14 jersey but deployed in defence, Adam Bate played the sweeper’s role superbly and used his pace and strength to make a telling impact. He was injured after a hefty tackle in the second half, but continued to make a strong contribution.

Score of the match

The fifth Crookedwood goal was superb. It came after a long clearance by Adam Bate out of defence and Shane McGovern latched on to the delivery before whipping a first-time shot past Paddy Carroll to the roof of the net from an angle.

Match officials

Referee Matt Shaw was very solid and sharp throughout, and his judgement on contact was generally spot on. He took decisive action when quickly dismissing Kieran Geraghty, and his linesmen alerted him to Ronan Scally’s part in the same incident. Technical fouls were correctly penalised throughout.

Next up

Crookedwood meet St Oliver Plunketts; St Brigid’s face Brownstown.