Sometimes in sport, it’s the smallest of margins that get you over the line – it’s just the nature of the game.
Hurling is no different and on Wednesday evening there was little enough to separate St. Lachtains and Emeralds at the MW Hire Centre in the final of this year’s Kilkenny Honda Centre Minor C hurling championship.
With both teams having high-scoring sem-final wins – Freshford posting 2-17 against Dicksboro last Sunday in Ballycallan while Emeralds hit 5-15 past Conahy at home – you would be forgiven for thinking this was going to be a more open affair, the game instead turning into one of opportunity and perseverance.
Emeralds started the brighter of the sides, knocking over four points without reply inside the first ten minutes of play. St. Lachtains found the back of the net soon after and would cut the gap to a single score at the break, Emeralds leading 0-08 to 0-07.
The second half was a much tighter affair, St. Lachtains drawing level soon after the restart and the sides staying that way up to the end of normal time, forcing an extra 20 minutes. The first half of extra time saw Emeralds reclaim the lead, opening things out to a two-point game four minutes into additional time, Freshford again keeping in touch to trail by a point at the break.
Again, St. Lachtains hit first after the restart to level the game at 13 points apiece before finding the game-winning score and closing proceedings out 1-11 to 0-13.
There’s more to look forward to at Pairc Laichtain this weekend with Kilkenny senior camogie stars Aoife Prendergast, Miriam Walsh, Miriam Bambrick and Mary O’Connell hosting an elite camogie training day in aid of Kilkenny Camogie for players aged 8-14 years.
The O’Duffy Cup (likely now side-by-side with the Minor C trophy) will be on display too this Saturday morning from 9am to 12.30pm.
