O’Loughlin Gaels 1-21
James Stephens 2-15
Despite Brian Cody making a return to the sidelines with James Stephens during Saturday’s clash with O’Loughlin Gaels, it was last year’s beaten finalists who got the better of the Village men in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams came into this much-anticipated encounter with one victory each and in desperate need of a result to ignite their seasons.
It was James Stephens who began the game with increased intensity from their past showing as wing forward Niall Brassil and trusty free taker Eoin Guilfoyle opened the scoring in an idyllic setting for hurling.
O’Loughlin’s, playing into the Town End, responded with two points of their own through Kilkenny intercounty star Mikey Butler and a first free of the day from Mark Bergin.
The men in green and white continued their charge as Conor Kelly’s goal scoring opportunity ultimately ended with a point, while Luke Hogan extended their lead out to 0-04 to 0-02.
Cian Kenny and Mark Bergin exchanged scores midway through an underwhelming first half before Paddy Deegan made it a five-point game.
Both sides continued to remain wasteful and sluggish but a Matthew Ruth goal towards the end of the half kept James Stephens within touching distance of their old foes at the break with O’Loughlin Gaels taking a 0-12 to 1-06 advantage into the interval.
The second half started with Eoin Guilfoyle and Mark Bergin pointing frees as neither side ever got into their flow in a disappointing affair.
Bergin’s efficiency from dead ball situations were decisive as he took advantage of James Stephens’ ill-discipline to make it 0-16 to 1-08 with 20 minutes remaining.
The crucial moment in the game came as Seán Bolger found the back of the net for O’Loughlin’s first goal of the game which sparked a minor physical confrontation between both teams.
Substitute Ross Whelan made a big impact upon his introduction for Seamus Dwyer’s side before a Luke Scanlon goal left a surprise grand-stand finish in store for the supporters who made the short trip to the iconic stadium.
Conor Heary and his namesake Kelly eventually wrapped up a deserved victory for a side that seemed to have slightly more purpose to their game throughout.
With James Stephens and O’Loughlin’s both in double digits in the wide count (19 to 12), there is a lot of room for improvement for both teams as championship looms.
