Cumann Pheadaír Naofa 2-11
Ballygalget 2-15
Monday night may have marked the end of the Blues weekend in the town, but for the senior hurlers Monday night’s game saw the return of the Down Div1 league fixtures, with a home game at Páirc Liam Uí Ir. To most of the spectators who came out to watch this enthralling clash they wouldn’t have thought a win was possible and if asked their thoughts, would have given Warrenpoint very little hope of getting a result, after having suffered some demoralising defeats at the hands Liatroim and Portaferry in their previous matches. But massive credit must be given to the management setup and backroom staff of Brian Murphy, Martin Houlihan, Aileen Freer who had the boys in top form and well prepared to take on such a stiff challenge as posed by the Ards men.
The hurling played in the first 30 minutes was intense, hard stuff and saw the blues go in with a two-point half-time advantage. When you consider that this was done without the services of some key players namely Matthew Teague, Chris Rooney and Conor Kennan it spoke volumes for the guys on the field who at this stage are pushing for championship places. From the throw-in a fast low ball was doubled on and out of pure freak misfortune, half back James McParland took the full impact of the sliotar to the helmet and as a precautionary measure was removed from the field of play. A few switches in defence saw the introduction of Darryl Freer to the Forward line and within a minute Ballygalget grabbed the initiative to take the lead, but a John O’Kane free equalled things up. Having played some fantastic hurling all over the park it was only too right that the blues went in leading at half time 1-7 to 1-5.
At the start of the second half things went from good to great, when Warrenpoint forged further ahead with a sixty metre pointed free thanks to Joker and seconds later Darryl Freer pounced on a high ball into the square and he deftly flicked the dropping sliotar past the advancing keeper. Cumann Pheadaír Naofa were now six points up and looking good. Within the next ten minutes the blues fortunes changed drastically as Ballygalget eventually took the bull by the horns and made some tactical switches in their half forward line and as a result started to chip back at the lead. The blues were now facing a real battle as the tempo of the game started to rise higher by the minute. Desperately eager to get back into the game, Ballygalget manged to score a goal and four points without reply. The highlight of that ten-minute period came when Tom Daly faced down Ballygalgets main scoring threat one on one and when he pulled the trigger Daly somehow managed to deflect the sliotar out to the wing for Mark Murtagh to confidently clear his wings and thus snuff out the danger. Ballygalget were now one point up and looking dangerous. Having struggled for that ten-minute period the blues took inspiration from an Antoin Magill cross field pass straight into the outstretched palm of Cathal Fagan, within a heartbeat he turned his marker and slot over the bar to square things up. A Joker free tipped the game in Warrenpoint favour once more, but the Ards men came back again with two more points, before O’Kane drove over the bar from forty metres out. Ballygalget replied again to score the last two points of the match and were now four points ahead with time almost up.
When Ref Davy Carr blew his whistle everyone scrambled to find out what was the final score, such was the intensity, tempo and standard of hurling on show on a clear sunny evening that most had forgotten to keep track of the scores.
This has to have been Cumann Pheadaír Naofa best performance of the year and when you take stock that it was done with several figures absent and that five of the team are just out of minor it speaks volumes of the spirit, believe and passion instilled into the team over the last few weeks as Championship starts to loom closer.
Scorers: John (Joker) O’Kane 0-7, Darryl Freer 1-0, James O’Hare 1-1, Cathal Fagan 0-2, Shane Rooney 0-1
