Dicksboro 2-12
James Stephens 0-14
It was a city derby with little on the line, but both teams applied themselves brilliantly to put on an excellent spectacle for the supporters that were present in UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday afternoon in the final round of the St Canice’s Credit Union Kilkenny Senior Hurling League.
Despite the best efforts of a brave James Stephens team with only one victory to their name to this point, it was Dicksboro who marginally came out on top thanks to two Bill Sheehan goals.
It was the perfect start for Dicksboro as Sheehan ran through the heart of the James Stephens defence to fire to the back of the net after 40 seconds.
They thought they had scored a second goal in as many minutes soon after but Andrew Gaffney’s effort was ruled out for a foul in the build up by a Dicksboro forward.
Eoin Guilfoyle got James Stephens up and running with a free before Gaffney got a free and ’65 of his own to give his side an early 1-02 to 0-01 lead.
The first point from play of the game came through Mark Nolan as Dicksboro continued to dominate proceedings before corner back Alan Phelan added another.
Luke Scanlon, Tadhg O’Dwyer and Cian Kenny responded for James Stephens but Bill Sheehan put a dent in their comeback efforts with ten minutes remaining in the first half as he bundled in his second goal of the game to make it Dicksboro 2-04 to 0-06 James Stephens.
Aidan Nolan maintained the charge for Dicksboro and Michael Walsh’s side went into the half-time break with a 2-08 to 0-09 advantage.
The Village started the second half strongly with Scanlon continuing to cause havoc, but the third quarter was a low scoring period as the Boro held a slender three-point lead going into the final 15 minutes.
Alan Phelan and the ever-reliable Guilfoyle traded scores as the game moved closer to its conclusion and Timmy Clifford and Sheehan notched on crucial scores to put an end to James Stephens’ challenge.
Dicksboro have a shield final to look forward to in two weeks time, while James Stephens have a relegation semi-final to prepare for.
