Brophy goal key as gritty St Brigid’s prevail

St Brigid's 3-12 Raharney 2-11

St Brigid’s recorded a crucial victory over Raharney in poor conditions at Kinnegad on Friday evening, as the penultimate round of the Westmeath Intermediate Hurling Championship began.

Goals from Conor Slevin, Brian Brophy and substitute Alan Farrell paved the way for victory in a game played in relentless rain. The saints held a four-point lead at the break, 1-9 to 1-5, in what was a very competitive affair and it was only when Brophy flicked home their second goal in the 37th minute that they found any kind of breathing space.

Players from both sides were saturated and deserve tremendous credit for a wholehearted display in a downpour. An early goal after just two minutes gave Raharney the perfect start – Aaron Ready flicking the ball past Paddy Carroll, following Robbie Coyne’s delivery. They were five points clear (1-2 to nil) in the eighth minute after Donie Mullen converted a free, but gradually St Brigid’s got into their stride.

The sides were level by the end of the first quarter after Conor Slevin’s 65-metre free hopped into the net in the tricky conditions, but Robbie Coyne showed good control to fire over and Mullen converted a free to put Raharney two points ahead. A feature of the game was Paddy Carroll’s long-range free taking and he shot a monstrous free in the 28th minute: they got five of the last six points, including another long-range Carroll strike, to lead by four at the interval.

The second half saw St Brigid’s continue to keep Raharney at arm’s length: after Jamie Carr pucked over a lovely point, following some intricate, if risky, build-up play, Carroll hit a free between the posts and the St Brigid’s ‘keeper then repeated that in response to James Goonery’s strike.

Niall Cully’s delivery was flicked to the net by Brian Brophy and that made it 2-11 to 1-7 - a lead that was substantial in the worsening conditions. Raharney never waned and Mullen’s ‘65’ had the lead down to five points before Aaron Ready set up substitute Dean Core, who just failed to connect with his attempted strike when a goal was on.

Carroll made a telling save from Jamie Carr on 52 minutes as Raharney applied further pressure and that was arguably the key moment. Four minutes later, Alan Farrell booted home St Brigid’s third major, following fine work by Eoin Gallagher and Evan Gorman and that made it 3-12 to 1-10.

Raharney pressed again and were rewarded with a second goal from Jamie Carr, whose low strike was partially saved by Carroll but just crept in on the wet sod. In the third minute of added time, Kieran Geraghty had to intervene to clear the danger with Ready lurking in the square and St Brigid’s could finally draw a breath. Victory put the Dalystown side on six points and firmly in contention for a place in the knock-out stages, while Raharney are now certainly out of the race.

Scorers – St Brigid’s: C Slevin 1-4 (all frees), P Carroll 0-4 (4f), B Brophy 1-1, A Farrell 1-0, N Cully 0-2, S Quinn 0-1.

Raharney: D Mullen 0-5 (4f; 1 ‘65’), J Carr 1-2, A Ready 1-0, C Weir, R Coyne, B Smyth and J Goonery 0-1 each.

St Brigid’s: Paddy Carroll; Kieran Geraghty, Seamus Faulkner, Cormac Eighan; Sean Deegan, Joe Hyland, Conor Gavin; Stephen Quinn, Sam Duncan; Aaron O’Brien, Niall Cully, Conor Slevin; Brian Brophy, Evan Gorman, Conal Dunne. Subs: Alan Farrell for Slevin (inj., 43), Eoin Gallagher for Deegan (46), Christopher Daly for Quinn (57).

Raharney: Darragh Weir; Cian O’Connor, Pierce Byrne Colgan, Matt Shaw; Calum McKeogh, Pearse Weir, Eoin Weir; Cian Weir, Jack Larkin; Robbie Coyne, Brian Smyth, James Goonery; Aaron Ready, Jamie Carr, Donie Mullen. Subs: Dean Core for P B Colgan (h-t).

Ref: Gary Hurley.