It was a long distance away day to the scenic setting of Timoleague on April 1st, where we took on Argideen Rangers in the third round of the Red FM Hurling League.
With Argideen the only other team playing Premier Junior Championship, there was a greater interest than usual with a fine following of Rovers supporters travelling. One such supporter who didn’t have to travel as far was the now Ballinascarty based Derek Crowley who of course gave many stellar performances for the Rovers down through the years.
Albeit a fine day for hurling, heavy pitch conditions made it difficult for both teams. Despite having a huge amount of early possession Rovers couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard as they hit 6 wides within the first 10 minutes. Argideen settled and took a 4-1 advantage half way through the first half. Rovers shooting did improve as Shane O’Donovan finished nicely and Luke Duggan Murray added a couple of frees. As we approached the short whistle, two sloppy frees gave Argideen a greater lead than perhaps they deserved based on the balance of play. Nevertheless plenty of learning for Rovers to take.
With Cormac Aherne introduced at half time, joining Ciaran Sheehan and Fintan Murray in the full forward line, Rovers had target men to hit. Good work from Ciaran led to a point from Kieran Walsh to narrow the gap to two, and a James Kennefick effort split the posts after brilliant play from Pierce Cummins at wing back. The momentum was now with Rovers but again wayward shooting was to be our downfall as we never managed to take the lead during the dominant spells. Argideen sensed an opportunity to win as they hit 5 points in the last 10 minutes leaving Rovers with too much to do.
On what was ultimately a frustrating day, there was plenty takeaways and this early in the year perhaps it’s not the worse thing that could happen. Other positives was the return of Kevin Moynihan from injury for his first appearance of the season. Next up in this league is the current Premier Junior and All Ireland Champions Ballygiblin, who we welcome to Shanagarry on April 16th.
Final Score: Argideen Rangers 0-16 Russell Rovers 0-13
On a separate note, congratulations to Donnacha O’Donovan who completed the Brighton Marathon over the weekend.
Panel:
Ross Walsh, Kevin Tattan, Paul Lane, James Ahern, Pierce Cummins, Eoghan O’Sullivan, Kevin Ivers, Daniel Moynihan, James Kennefick, Luke Duggan Murray, Kieran Walsh, Jack McGrath, Shane O’Donovan, Ciaran Sheehan, Fintan Murray. Subs: Cormac Aherne, Eoghan Devaney, Sean Devaney, Tom Morrison, Sam Walsh, Jack Beausang, Donnacha O’Donovan, Kevin Roche, Kiaran Aherne, Stephen Walsh, Kevin Moynihan, Aidan Beausang, Jamie Scannell, Brian Hartnett, Kevin O’Brien, Josh Beausang, Dan Ruddy, Ruairi Cummins, Shane O’Neill, Mark O’Dwyer
