Report By Martin Delahunty – Walton’s Wonder Saves
Graigue Ballycallan went the short journey to Danesfort on Thursday evening to play their Hurling League Round 5 in a top of the table clash. Both teams had managed four wins from four up to this so they locked horns to see who would gain the local bragging rights.
The game certainly lived up to its billing with a titanic battle played out in front of a decent turnout on cold evening. Graigue Ballycallan were lively early doers with two smart scores from the hurl of Oisín Egan and at the 15 min mark held a 4 point to 2 point advantage. Scores were hard to come by and the challenges were getting tasty but no one backed down and the referee was happy to let the game flow. The Graigue boys held a narrow 8 point to 7 point lead at half time and knew they were going to be up against it in the second half into a stiff breeze and the bench empty from injuries.
But on the lads soldiered into the second 30 and absolutely emptied the tank despite only registering the one score they held their own all over the park and eventually lost out on a score line of 13 points to 9. The defence and star goalie Jack Walton, who pulled off 3 wonder saves, were immense. These lads can certainly hold their heads high as they were unfortunate to lose 3 key players to injury in the days leading up to this fixture but looked for no excuses and ran this talented Danesfort outfit to a few scores and will certainly give them all plenty of confidence going forward. So the mentors now have a few days to brush them down and prepare for the last league fixture on Bank Holiday Monday in Mullinavat.
Impressive on the night were Jack Walton, Eoin Delahunty, Simon O’Dwyer and Stephen Keoghan.
Panel for match: Jack Walton, JJ Ryan, Eoin Delahunty, Dan Cahill, Craig Lawlor, Stephen Keoghan, Jason O’Brien, Simon O’Dwyer, Daniel Lawlor, Scott Lawlor, Oisín Egan, Tom Brennan, Euan Mc Loughlin, Bill Jackson, John Muldowney, Jack Butler, Finn Lanigan.