A bad day at the office’ for Shanahoe Leinster Hurling League Div 3 Final
FORMER Laois footballer Shane Cooke swapped the big ball for the small ball on Saturday last
as he played a vital role in his side’s victory over Shanahoe in the Leinster hurling league final.
The Laois club found the going tough as Commercials from Dublin were by far the better side in a game
which was played in Nowlan Park as a curtain-raiser to the senior hurling clash between Wexford and Dublin.
The real difference lay up front where Dublin side were most impressive with five of the starting forwards getting on the score sheet over the hour.
“A bad day at the office,” was the view of Shanahoe manager Fergal Cuddy after the game in
which he saw some of his players pick up some nasty injuries.
The game was delayed for 14 minutes when defender Owen Wallace suffered concussion
after he received a nasty gash to the head. There certainly were some anxious scenes as medical personnel tended the corner back.
The club also had to deal with leg and arm injuries to Patrick Lalor and Declan Cuddy, respectively.
But the Laois side were struggling from the outset as they found their Dublin opponents tricky to deal with from an early stage.
That said, the opening exchanges were close with Gearoid Keogh and Anthony Kirwan swapping points early in the game.
But then the Dubs were in cruise control when they put points on the board through Cooke and Daniel Murphy.
The difference in class was beginning to tell when Cooke, who was a handful, sent a low ball i
nto John Cullinane and the forward dispatched the ball past John Clooney to the Laois net.
Shanahoe hit back immediately when Anthony Kirwan was fouled and his namesake, Jimmy,
stepped up to send the ball past the Commercials keeper.
The Dublin side then hit back with three points in succession through Ciarán Kelly and Keogh to pull further ahead of their opponents.
However, light was still flickering for the Laois side when Timmy Carroll raced through for a goal
and it seemed we were going to be in for an entertaining close fought game. But this was as good
as it got for the Laois side as Commercials were to get an upper hand on the game to be ahead 1-12 to 2-4 at the interval.
The new half started badly for Shanahoe with Wallace’s injury and this seemed to have a telling
affect on his team mates who seemed more concerned with Wallace’s welfare than the contest.
After play resumed, the Laois side were to only add on one more point.
This was in contrast to the Dublin side who closed out the game with 1-7 in the remainder of the half.
A heavy defeat for the Laois side but in the context of what happened Shanahoe can be contented with
having gone as far as they did in this contest. Realistically they will be much happier if they are celebrating
intermediate success later in the year.
COMMERCIALS: Kieran Gregg; Ciarán Dunne, Leonard Crookes, Robert Ryan; Ciarán Kelly (0-2), John Finnegan,
Donnacha Corcoran; David Murphy, Eoin Power (0-1); Niall Fleming, Gearoid Keogh (0-8, 3f), John Morris (1-0);
John Cullinane (1-0), Shane Cooke (0-4), Daniel Murphy (0-5, 2f). Sub; Gavin Cooke (0-1) for Fleming (45mins)
SHANAHOE: John Clooney; Owen Wallace, Pauric Lalor, Liam Drennan; Dayle Bergin, Martin Kirwan (0-1),
Brian Guilfoyle; Liam Cuddy (0-2), Patrick Lalor; Declan Cuddy, Karl O’Keeffe, Jimmy Kirwan (1-0);
Anthony Kirwan (0-2), Tomás Lalor, Timmy Carroll (1-0). Subs: Kieran Brennan for D Cuddy (15mins),
Thomas Kirwan for P Lalor (23mins), Michael Kavanagh for Wallace (38mins)
REFEREE: Fergus Devereux (Kildare)
