Sarsfields relegate Celbridge with vital Senior B Championship win

Senior ‘B’ Hurling Championship

Sarsfields 2-13

Celbridge 1-14

Sarsfields have relegated Celbridge with a narrow victory to maintain their own senior hurling status for next year. A huge relief for any team and it’ll be a free bar on the night for Sash goalkeeper Denis O'Callaghan and corner-
forward Niall O’Connor. The latter of which got 2-8 of his sides 2-13 total and was the only Sash scorer in the last 20 minutes of this game as they sought to hold onto their lead.

It became almost a joke in the press box between reporters as O’Callaghan, the man they called ‘Rasher’, blocked countless efforts towards his goal. He won this game for his team and was near unbeatable on the day, only beaten by a brilliant Oisin Lynam effort five minutes before the half.

Both these teams entered this game with no wins from their three group games and it made this one a pseudo relegation play-off. This was always going to be a tense game given the implications and so it proved early on.

The first big action that broke the chain of the sides trading scores was Sarsfields’ Niall O’Connor as he found himself with a goal chance from a breaking ball. Instead of gathering the ball the corner-forward swept it into the bottom corner to give his side the lead for the first time in this game after 22 minutes.

Just three minutes later it was Celbridge’s turn to have a green flag raised in their name. When Oisin Lynam got his brilliant effort past O’Callaghan to restore his side’s advantage.

There was one more goalbound effort towards the end of the opening half and it fell to Sarsfields as Sean Cunningham found himself through on goal but put his effort wide of the mark. The miss meant the Sash entered half time trailing, 1-6 to 1-4.
The first O’Callaghan save of the second half would prove to be an even more pivotal moment than originally thought. The Sash number one blocked with his feet, kicking up clouds of dust from the dry Hawkfield pitch. He emerged from the dust cloud like John Wayne in an old school western sending the ball up the field.

One pass later, a long ball was sent on top of the Celbridge keeper with two players around him bringing about the most unlikely of goals as the ball appeared to hit all three men at different stages to find its way in.

The goal will be attributed to Sarsfields’ Niall O’Connor, and with no dubious goals panel in place within Kildare GAA, it will stay that way. Although maybe not even the three men involved know who touched it last.

The sides battled hard to find their first and most crucial win of the season as Sarsfields tried to hold off the Celbridge surge late on.

O’Callaghan kept the goals out for the Sash and Niall O’Connor kept the scoreboard ticking over down the other end. And that was enough for their side to win this one and stay in this division for another year.

Scorers

Sarsfields, Niall O'Connor 2-8, Sean Cunningham 0-2, Ross Maycock 0-1, Colm Galvin 0-1, James Carroll 0-1.

Celbridge, Oisin Lynam 1-7, Ross Maycock 0-2, Sean Holmes 0-1, Sean Gleeson 0-1, Ben Elliot 0-1, Chris Horan 0-1, Liam Dillon 0-1.

SARSFIELDS: Denis O'Callaghan; Conor O'Dwyer, David Breslin, Sean Molloy; Dan Donoghue, Chris Horan, Kevin Barry; Stephen Foley, Kevin Shaw; James Carroll, Sean Cunningham, Colm Galvin; Niall O'Connor, Emmet Carroll, Kevin Healy. Subs: Conor O'Mahoney on for Kevin Healy (39 minutes).

CELBRIDGE: Cormac Kelly; Harry Lyons, Jack O'Brien, Eoghan Lynch; Dave Kirwan, Kieran Rubotham, David Daly; Sean Gleeson, Ben Elliot; Liam Dillon, Kevin Gorman, Alan Lawlor; Oisin Lynam, Sean Holmes, Ross Maycock.

Referee: Eamon Kellyv