Draw sees both sides finish as winners in tight group

Sarsfields 1-13

Sarsfields booked their place in the quarter finals of the senior hurling championship as a Noel Kelly goal late in the second-half helped them secure a draw which sees them go through as Group 2 winners.

Having trailed for much of the contest, Kelly’s goal on 51 minutes would put Cathal Murray’s troops ahead for the first time in almost half an hour. However, Cappataggle would fight back late on and score in the final moments to salvage a point to bag a spot in the preliminary quarter-finals.

On a perfect afternoon for hurling, it was the 2015 champions that got the first score of the game, Darren Morrissey winning the throw-in and teeing-up Niall Morrissey who duly pointed from range before tapping over a free to give his side an early two-point lead.

Alan Dolan got his team off the mark on six minutes through a free before Eanna Garvey would rise highest to take the sliotar out of the sky from an opposition puck out to set up Dolan in the corner to quickly level the tie.

Throughout the first-half, the midfield pairing of Daniel Nevin and Damien Joyce was impressing, sweeping up all that came near them in a dominant aerial performance. It was a different story on the ground, however, with Sarsfields usually coming out on top in the battle for the breaking ball.

This would be crucial for the New Inn-based side as it was winning frees from these breaks that was keeping them in the contest, the rest of their first-half tally coming from frees in a half where they would rack up eight wides from play.

Three frees from Morrissey put them back in front, however from here it was one was one-way traffic as Cappataggle took full control of the match, Nevin wonderfully pointing from his own half and then catching the resulting puck out to double his tally.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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