Glenquin Gaels celebrate exciting Limerick minor 'A' hurling final win over Adare

“THE WORK was done in the first half but we needed that lead to hold out against the tide after the break,” was mentor Joe Kelliher's take on Glenquin Gaels 1-17 to 1-15 victory over Adare in the Limerick minor hurling 'A' final in Kevin Long Park, Feenagh on Sunday.

A commanding performance in the middle third before the break set the West Limerick combination of Killeedy, Monagea and Tournafulla on course for what looked like being a comfortable victory only for them to be stretched to the pin of their collars by a relentless Adare recovery once they found their shape within sight of the posts.

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Indeed, going into the closing stretch, it looked as if Glenquin Gaels were about to be reeled in as their lead was steadily eroded. However, once the gap came within the range of a single score, they recaptured the composure that they had shown before the break.

Once the scoring rate began to slow down and the clock to wind down, Adare were forced to go for the quick score rather than steadily ramp up the pressure to get them over the line.

Glenquin almost had the dream start when possession won at the throw-in found Dylan Kennedy but his shot was stopped by Donal Ryan on the line for a '65' which Conor Hough converted.

Although Gavin Dorgan added to their lead, they missed two other chances before Éamonn O'Sullivan got the Maiguesiders off the mark with a point. However, once they flexed their muscles again up the middle, the West Limerick combination built themselves a significant cushion by the quarter hour mark as Hough's pointed free and scores from Odhran Kelliher, Seán Lee, another Hough free, Diarmuid Mullaney and Hough again increased their tally.

Adare's ability to respond was held in check by tight Glenquin defending and by a few missed frees before they suffered another setback when Conor Ryan's long free floated into the net only to be called back for a square ball.

Then Hough converted another free at the other end before Conor Fitzpatrick broke the sequence. With Glenquin continuing to dominate primary possession, Dorgan and Hough pointed before a speculative shot from Jack Collins dropped from the sky into the top corner of the Adare net. The goal was followed by a Hough pointed free to stretch the gap out to 13 points.

But just as it looked as if the scoreboard, the clock and the gods were all lined up against them, Adare found a burst of energy in the two added minutes for Ryan and Patrick Kearney to punish and cut Glenquin's lead to 1-12 to 0-4 at half-time.

Adare pressed early on the restart but were held out as Jack Collins picked off the first score of the second period before their steadily increasing presence in the middle third yielded a pair of frees for Kearney to send over.

However, it wasn't until O'Sullivan sent over their first point from play that the scoring rate increased and, when that was followed by scores from Jack Doran and two Kearney frees to make it six unanswered scores going into the final quarter, the prospect of an improbable recovery began to grow legs.

In fact, the gap might have been closer had Doran's shot on goal not been stopped on the line and, when Kearney pointed a free and Doran sent a clearance back between the posts after O'Sullivan's goal attempt had been saved, the Maiguesiders looked to be on the brink of snatching the lead.

Hough's pointed free for Glenquin Gaels broke the sequnece, but the gap was back to a single goal following O'Sullivan's point on the turn and Kearney's pointed free with eight regulation minutes to go. However, that proved to be the point where the fightback faltered.

With stoppages breaking up the play, Glenquin got a chance to draw breath and then ease the pressure through Hough's pointed free and Dorgan from a tight angle out left.

Forced to go for the goal, Adare saw their efforts smothered by the opposing defence. They hit back with Kearney's point when one of their efforts was deflected for a ''65' before Hough's relieving free for Glenquin Gaels at the other end left them needing two goals to take the lead for the first time.

One of them came when sub Liam Kennedy pounced on the reboud off Kearney's fierce drive but there was no time left to grab another as referee Paddy Lyons then called time.

SCORERS: GLENQUIN GAELS: Conor Hough 0-10 (7 frees, 1 '65'), Jack Collins 1-1, Gavin Dorgan 0-3, Odhran Kelliher, Seán Lee, Diarmuid Mullaney 0-1 each; ADARE: Patrick Kearney 0-8 (6 frees, 1 '65'), Éamonn O'Sullivan 0-3, Liam Kennedy 1-0, Jack Doran 0-2, Conor Fitzpatrick, Conor Ryan 0-1 each.

GLENQUIN GAELS: Cormac Kelly (Monagea); Cathal Kiely (Tournafulla), Liam O'Connor (Monagea), Luke Rowsome (Monagea); Dylan Browne (Monagea), Odhran Kelliher (Killeedy), Jack Collins (Monagea); Diarmuid Mullaney (Killeedy), Paul Collins (Tournafulla); Conor Hough (Monagea), Gavin Dorgan (Monagea), Seán Lee (Monagea)' Dylan Kennedy (Tournafulla), Ryan Rooney (Monagea), Kevin Collins (Tournafulla). SUBS: Brendan Meehan (Killeedy) for Ryan Rooney (40 minutes), Patrick O'Sullivan for Kevin Collins (58 minutes).

ADARE: Donal Ryan; Conor Schasser, Éamonn Heffernan, Nikolas O'Brien; Charlie McCarthy, James Canty, Rowan Collins; Conor Ryan, Jack Doran; Hugh Kearney, Patrick Kearney, Conor Fitzpatrick; Éamonn O'Sullivan, Jordan O'Donoghue, Alfie Fitzpatrick. SUB: Liam Kennedy for Jordan O'Donoghue (40 minutes).

REFEREE: Paddy Lyons (Staker Wallaces).