Carlow SHC: Strong first half helps Mount Leinster Rangers regain crown

MAN OF THE MATCH: Carlow star Chris Nolan scored 1-9. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher

Carlow SHC final

Mount Leinster Rangers 3-19 St Mullins 1-17

Mount Leinster Rangers unseated the reigning champions in the Carlow senior hurling final at Netwatch Cullen Park on Sunday. With both sides dripping with players from the successful Joe McDonagh Cup winning team this year a close contest was expected. It didn’t turn out that way.

Jack Kavanagh pushed St Mullins into an early lead with a quality point and it looked as if the large crowd were going to be treated to a classic.

The eventual winners, who had stored up 12 months of hurt, quickly took control with two points from Chris Nolan and one from Donagh Murphy.

The first goal arrived when Dean Tobin raided down the left before firing home on 11 minutes. At one stage, Rangers were leading by six points but St Mullins hit back to only trail by three. It was as good as it was going to be for a side who never got going.

The final ten minutes of the half belonged to Rangers. Nolan beat his marker down the right and finished to the net with a rocket. With the first half going into seven minutes of injury time, Fiachra Fitzpatrick picked up a loose clearance and drilled the ball to the St Mullins net.

With Rangers leading 3-9 to 0-10 at the interval the crown, which had been taken from them last year, was set to change heads yet again.

At no stage in the second half did St Mullins look as if they were capable of rescuing the game. At the end of the third quarter, Jason O’Neill did find the Rangers net but it was never going to be enough. Seamus Murphy also scored two points from play for the losing side.

The champions in waiting kept the scoreboard ticking over with Nolan clinching his fourth Man of the Match award in Carlow county finals. Winning supporters in the stand were celebrating long before the end. This was a sweet one for them. Consensus was that St Mullins were going to successfully defend their title and enjoy a long period in the ascendancy.

Talking point at the end was the successful comeback by veteran goalkeeper Frank Foley, who had featured on the Rangers team who won the Leinster senior hurling club title in 2013 and had come out of retirement to win yet another county medal. On the other side of that, in Donagh Murphy, Dean Tobin, Ciaran Kavanagh and Sean Joyce, the winners had four players who were playing in their first ever senior final.

Scorers for Mount Leinster Rangers: C Nolan 1-9 (4fs), D Murphy, C Kavanagh 0-3 each, F Fitzpatrick, D Tobin 1-0 each, J Nolan 0-2, T Joyce, T Brennan 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Mullins: M Kavanagh 0-9 (2 65s 4fs), J O Neill 1-1, J Kavanagh 0-2, S Murphy 0-2 each, C Kehoe, E Doyle, J Doyle 0-1 each.

Mount Leinster Rangers: F Foley, M Doyle, D Byrne, S Joyce, G Lawlor, K McDonald, R Coady, F Fitzpatrick, T Joyce, D Tobin, J Nolan, C Nolan, D Murphy, E Byrne, C Kavanagh. 

Subs: T Lawlor for G Lawlor (18), E Kealy for T Lawlor (24), P Coady for Murphy (53), T Brennan for Tobin (53).

St Mullins: K Kehoe, J Doran, P Doyle, M Walsh, P O’Shea, P Kehoe, E O’Shea, J Kavanagh, J Doyle, M Kavanagh, J Doyle, C Kehoe, J O’Neill, P Boland, P Connors. 

Subs: S Murphy for Connors (h/t), G Coady for O’Shea (h/t), E Doyle for John Doyle (53), O Ryan for O’Shea (53).

Referee: S Doyle.