Hurlers suffer narrow defeat to Warwickshire
ALLIANZ HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION 3A.
Warwickshire 2-17, Monaghan 3-13.
Warwickshire kept up their 100% record in division 3A of the Allianz hurling league, practically assuring themselves of a place in the final, with one round to go, when they held out for the narrowest of victories against a resurgent Monaghan in this entertaining contest that built to a nerve tingling finish in Pairc na hEeireann, Birmingham on Saturday afternoon.
Warwickshire led at half-time by 2-8 to 1-6, after the sides had been level at 1-1 apiece after 12 minutes. In the 3rd quarter Warwickshire took a firmer foothold and with 10 minutes of normal time remaining they had opened a 6 points lead, 2-15 to 2-9 but Monaghan battled back to outscore the home side by 1-4 to 0-2, in the closing stages but just could not close the gap completely and that one point defeat effectively ends Monaghan’s interest in the latter stages of Division 3A.
Scorers: Warwickshire: Niall McKenna (1-4, 2f); Donal Nugent (1-2, 1f); Kelvin Magee (0-3); John Collins (0-2); Shane Caulfield (0-2);; Paul Hoban (0-1); Niall Kennedy (0-1); Peadar Scally (0-1); Ian Dwyer (0-1).
Monaghan: Fergal Rafter (0-11, 8f, 2’65); Eamonn Collins (1-2); Padraic McGahon (1-0); Mark Treanor (1-0).
Teams: Warwickshire: Conor Robbins; Dean Bruen, Adrian Downey, Michael O’Regan; John Collins, Paul Hoban, Donncha Kennedy; Paul Uniacke, Shane Caulfield; Niall McKenna, Niall Kennedy, Peadar Scally; Ian Dwyer, Donal Nugent, Gary Lennon. Subs: Kelvin Magee (for Lennon 35); Breen Fallon (for Dwyer 51).
Monaghan: Patrick Bermingham; Jamie Guinan, Kevin Crawley, Brian Flanagan; Niall Garland, Patrick Finnegan, Martin Murphy; Mark Treanor, Peter Treanor; Fergal Rafter, Aaron Kenny, Conor Flynn; Padraic McGahon, Eamonn Collins, Brian McGuigan. Subs:
