Hospital Herbertstown’s late push dismisses Griffins
With four minutes left Griffins were holding on to a one-point advantage, but veteran PJ Garvey put smiles back on Hospital faces when he took a pass from Bob Fenton to beat keeper Tom Ambrose.
That goal really sparked the team into life, and they then added three further points from Fenton, O’Connor and Garvey.
Midway through the first half, the West Limerick side held a commanding 0-4 to 0-1 lead, but Hospital Herbertstown clawed their way back through Ross Donovan and Michael Fitzgerald to level. Dave Noonan and Owen Curtin combined to send Gerald Griffins in at half time at 0-7 to 0-5.
The free-scoring Fenton and Garvey turned it the other way, but back bounced Griffins for Sean Cummane, Noonan and Sean Lynch to put them back in the driving seat. Needing a win to keep their championship hopes alive, Hospital Herbertstown upped the tempo, and inspired by Garvey’s 58th-minute goal, they went on to take the honours.
Scorers - Hospital Herbertstown: B. Fenton 0-8, PJ Garvey 1-2, J. O'Connor 0-3, R. Donovan 0-2.
Gerald Griffins: D. Noonan 0-5, S. Lynch 0-3, O. Curtin 0-2, S. Cummane, D. Reidy, P. Cummane 0-1 each.
HOSPITAL HERBERTSTOWN: K. Higgins; M. Fitzgerald, G. Wright, J. O’Shea, P. Reale, D. Reale, P. Dooley; C. O’Donoghue, A. Burke; R. Morrissey, I. McCaffrey, B. Fenton, R. Donovan, J. O'Connor, P. Garvey
GERALD GRIFFINS: T. Ambrose; D. Hayes, D. Reidy, V. Mullane, P. O’Brien, M. Cummane, W. Reidy; D. Reidy, P. Murnane; S. Cummane, O. Curtin, S. Lynch, D. Noonan, P. Cummane, B. Herbert.
Referee: M. Mann (Ballybrowne).
