Old power stirring again as Athenry win tenth U-21 title

TYNAGH/ ABBEY-DUNIRY 0-10

THE day might have had an arctic hue to it but the final contest for this county under-21 hurling A championship at Duggan Park on Sunday was red hot, as an Athenry side – calling in all the old virtues of spirit and resilience – eventually prevailed after a gripping encounter.

A sticky sod, a bitingly cold wind and some vicious showers did not present the ideal setting for this county final, but both sides still managed to produce some flowing passages of play at a quite frantic pace for this time of the year.

The entertainment rating was high for the crowd of around 1,500 but if this match had been played on the dusty sod of a September day, it surely would have been one of the hurling spectacles of the year on the domestic scene.

Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry entered the contest as slight favourites given the overall balance of their team, but once Athenry corner forward Aidan Higgins fired home their first goal after six minutes, Billy Caulfield’s charges were never again to lose that lead.

Goals in tight matches are like hot Cognacs hitting cold bellies and by the time referee Eoin Shaughnessy sounded the final whistle shortly before 3.30, those two major scores had been enough to see Athenry over the line.

Like all losing finalists in tight games, Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry will have their regrets as they look back on how this encounter unfolded with their biggest sighs of despair probably concentrated on the closing minutes of the match when they spurned at least three decent point scoring opportunities.

Chances taken and chances missed . . . on such thin lines are county finals won and lost, but Athenry’s nose for goal and some mightily determined defending, made them deserving winners of a contest that was always precariously balanced.

Athenry played with the first half wind at their backs and there was a whiff of danger about their early attacks with Darragh Rohan, Michael Mullings and Aidan Higgins looking lively and impish.

After Cathal Keane and Shane Moloney had shared two early points from frees, the first big breakthrough came in the 6th minute when Aidan Higgins finished low to Mike Fahy’s net after a scything left wing run from Darragh Rohan.

The general consensus was that Athenry would need a six or seven point deposit in the bank to see them through the second half and although Cathal Keane with two frees, Michael Mullins (two excellent efforts from play) and Damian Fahy hit the target, the combination side just wouldn’t go away.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.