Gleeson magic sends Mount Sion into the last eight
De La Salle's Jack Twomey is tackled by Mount Sion's Jack Byrne and Jamie Gleeson during their JJ Kavanagh & Sons. Co. SHC clash in Walsh Park on Sunday night. Photos: Maurice Hennebry.
A last gasp Austin Gleeson free from his own ‘65 settled a cracking city derby on a warm Sunday evening and sent Mount Sion through to the quarter finals as Group B winners.
The match finished in a welter of excitement. Sion trailed by two points with five minutes left before Gleeson blasted in a free to the right of the 21 yard line. The 2016 Hurler of the Year tried his luck from almost the exact same position two minutes later but saw his effort blocked on the line. A point from Martin ‘Blondie’ O’Neill made it 2-15 to 1-16 heading into injury time. De La Salle weren’t done yet as Jack Fagan jumped into clouds and sent substitute Eddie Meaney away for the lead goal. Donal Power levelled almost immediately. Another Salle sub Tom Moran then took too many steps and Gleeson rifled over the winner two minutes into added time. A grand total of 1-11 for Aussie, one better than the previous week against Passage. It felt like knockout hurling as Salle launched one last attack but Stephen O’Neill made a mighty fetch to seal victory for the Monastery men.
With wind assistance, Salle led by four points with 39 minutes on the clock. Top scorer Reuben Halloran hit 1-8 but missed two crucial dead balls in the second half. A dozen wides proved costly for Ian Flynn’s charges. Moving PJ Fanning onto Jack Twomey for the last quarter also stopped Salle’s momentum. Twomey shot three points from play before that and Ian O’Regan denied him a second half goal.
While Gleeson emerged as the Mount Sion hero, Adam Regan rivalled him for man of the match. On just his second senior start, the teenager rifled a shot to the roof of the net in the first half and won four scoreable frees. Amazingly, Regan is still only seventeen. Manager Jamie O’Meara revealed afterwards that he is only a day overage for the minor grade.
Sion defenders showed the same commitment O’Meara did as a player. Hurleys and helmets went flying on the edge of the square as Mikey Daykin and Thomas Douglas faced off. The Sion captain held Douglas to a point from play.
The glorious July sunshine encouraged supporters through the turnstiles after the All-Ireland football final. Jake Dillon tagged Austin Gleeson and stuck to him doggedly all evening. In the second minute, Jack Fagan fed Reuben Halloran. Mount Sion screamed for steps but Halloran drove on and fired the ball to the far corner. The lead changed hands nine minutes later as Martin ‘Blondie’ O’Neill picked out Evan Curran with a crossfield pass. He found Adam Regan who billowed the net (1-3 to 1-2).
The number eighteen won two frees which Gleeson converted as Sion moved three points clear. Aussie opened the shoulders and landed a wonder score from under the main stand. He created two more points from short frees. Four Halloran frees and two Jack Twomey points saw Salle stay in touch. An injury time effort from Cormac Dawson left them two down at the break (1-11 to 1-9).
The Under 8s from both clubs took the field at half time. A welcome addition to this year’s championship. Six unanswered points from Salle, with the breeze behind them, looked like the perfect platform for victory. Jack Fagan and Halloran tied the game within 45 seconds of the resumption. Twomey’s pace became a real problem for the Sion defence. The Waterford Under 20 forward added another point to his tally and won two frees. The number ten also forced Ian O’Regan into a save as he soloed through with Thomas Douglas and Mikey Daykin tangling off the ball. Tadhg Tobin brought it back for a free and Halloran put four points between the teams (1-15 to 1-11). Halloran then missed a free to extend that advantage.
A sideline cut from Gleeson on 43 minutes settled Sion. Owen Whelan entered the fray and PJ Fanning tracked the troublesome Twomey. Shaun O’Brien saved brilliantly from Regan but John Kennedy got a point out of the move. Douglas and Gleeson traded singles before Stephen O’Neill blocked down Twomey. O’Brien batted away a Jamie Gleeson point attempt and Regan engineered a free on the 21. With the ball to the right of the posts and four Salle players on the line, Gleeson thumped it home (2-14 to 1-16). A grandstand finish followed.
Austin Gleeson sneaks it from Adam Regan.
Aussie’s late, late free into the Keane’s Road End against the breeze.
The entertainment. Game of the weekend by a mile.
Mount Sion advance to the quarters while De La Salle and Passage will dispute second place on Friday night.
Austin Gleeson 1-11 (1-8fs, 1 sideline), Adam Regan 1-0, Martin O’Neill 0-2, PJ Fanning, Martin F O’Neill, John Kennedy, Donal Power 0-1 each.
Reuben Halloran 1-8 (7fs), Eddie Meaney 1-0, Jack Twomey 0-3, Lorcan Dwyer, Cormac Dawson, Eddie Barrett, Jack Fagan, Thomas Douglas 0-1 each.
Ian O'Regan; Jack Byrne, Mikey Daykin, Martin F O’Neill; Ben Frisby, Stephen O’Neill, PJ Fanning; Jamie Gleeson, Donal Power; Evan Curran, Austin Gleeson, Martin O’Neill; John Kennedy, Adam Regan, Alan Kirwan. Owen Whelan for Byrne (44), Jack Kirwan for Alan Kirwan (59).
Shaun O’Brien; Ryan Duke, Adam Farrell, Daniel Lalor; Mikey Costigan, Jake Dillon, Lorcan Dwyer; Eddie Barrett, Conor Keane; Cormac Dawson, Reuben Halloran, Brian Cunningham; Jack Fagan, Thomas Douglas, Jack Twomey. Tom Moran for Lalor (52), Eddie Meaney for Dawson (55), Kevin Moran for Cunningham (55).
Tadhg Tobin.
