Calry St Josephs, the kingpins of Sligo club hurling for
much of the last decade got their 2023 Davis and Yeats Tavern Sligo senior
championship campaign off to the best possible start with a hard earned victory
over Western Gaels at Hazelwood on Monday afternoon.
It was a classic game of two halves with the west Sligo side
having the upper hand early on to lead at half time but the home side then
dominating in the second period to prevail by three points in the end.
The warm conditions made for a pleasant day for spectators
but made for difficulty playing conditions with water breaks allowed in both halves.
The visitors had the first score on the board with a point
from play by Alan Cawley in the first move of the game, but Calry equalised
within a minute when centre forward Conor Griffin pointed a free.
The visitors were dominating the exchanges around the centre
of the park over the following ten minutes and had Calry under pressure for an
extended period before Darragh Flynn got a fine point from long range after 13
minutes to reflect that dominance on the score board.
That was quickly followed by the first goal of the game as
Flynn again got on the end of a move involving Tomas Cawley and Michael
Connolly to find the net to give Western Gaels a four-point lead.
Conor Griffin immediately responded with a point for Calry
to leave the score at a 1-2 to 0-2 at the water break.
In the period immediately after the water break the sides
swapped points as Calry came more into the game with the visitor’s goalkeeper
Simon Wade called on to keep his goal intact.
Ciaran Keenan added two points for Western Gaels with Conor Griffin
responding for Calry to leave a margin of four, 1-5 to 0-4, between the sides
at the break, the Gaels ahead.
The home side immediately reduced that margin to three
within a minute of the resumption and although Keenan again pointed for Western
Gaels, the momentum was very much with Calry. Points from Griffin again and a
pointed free by goalkeeper Declan Reidy narrowed the gap further and by the
time the second water break was called there was just a point between the sides
1-6 to 0-8,
Calry continued with that momentum on the resumption and got
their big breakthrough when Mark Anderson found the net in the 17th
minute of the half to put them ahead for the first time in the game.
Keenan immediately pulled one back with a 65 but Griffin
restored the home side’s two-point advantage as the game entered its last ten
minutes. Ronan Cox then added to that
with a booming point froim inside his own half to put them three ahead.
Both sides were tiring at this point but Western Gaels piled
on the pressure in an attempt to pull the game back. It wasn’t to be however
and although there was a final exchange of points, Calry finished with a three-point
margin of victory 1-11 to 1-8 to get the perfect start to their championship
campaign.
Calry St Joseph’s: Declan Reidy (0-2); Sean Hynes,
David Colleary, Marc Gray; Thomas Kelly, Niall McDermott, Adan Kenna; Brian
Shannon, Ronan Cox (0-1); Darragh Cox, Conor Griffin (0-8), Matthew Hunt (1-0); Mark Anderson, Michael O’Callaghan, Ciaran Maguire Sub: Geoff Hynes
Western Gaels: Simon Wade; Michael Connolly, Lee
Gilmartin, Tomas Cawley; Eoghan Durkan, Darragh Bourke, Aidan Morrison; Alan
Cawley (0-1), Feargal Riain; Daniel Kirby (0-1), Niall Crean, Colm Naughton;
Ciaran Keenan (0-5, 3f, 1 65), Darach O’Boyle; Darragh Flynn (1-1). Subs: Jack Byron for Crean (38m)