Leinster B Senior Hurling League
By Mr N . Ryan
MEC - 1-14 Naas CBS - 2-9
On the wintery Moyglare Tundra , the MEC senior hurlers secured another milestone in capturing a Leinster Hurling League title , against a star-studded Naas CBS side . Hosted the day after Halloween , a plethora of spent fireworks had to be cleared from the pitch before action could commence . More Legia Warsaw than Leinster League . Once the referee blew his whistle , the pitch-clearing proved futile as fireworks erupted all over , with MEC thundering into the game ! Darragh Power , Ciarán Flanagan and Cian O ' Neill opened our accounts to establish an early lead , one we were loath to relinquish from that point on .
The heavy conditions lent itself to a draining , physical encounter , one which peerless athletes like Flanagan , Sean Mahon and Dan O ' Meara relished and the early squeeze we put on the Naas middle third , yielded several frees , all of which were promptly dispatched by Darragh ' The ' Power ( be a bit more inventive with the nickname Darragh ) from close range and Cian O ' Neill , from somewhere around his sitting room in Moyglare ! It wouldn ' t be unheard of for Cian to be found in his sitting room when the rest of the lads are on the pitch , but he rarely left his post at centre back here and turned in a storming performance on the ever-dangerous Cian Boran . A fortunate goal from a shot richocheting off the upright kept Naas in touch , but the poacher supreme , James Dolan , capitalised on a spilled ball in the Naas goalmouth to restore a lead we worked so hard for . The half time score saw us a mere 2 points ahead , despite long spells of forward pressure .
The second half became a chess match , punctuated by bouts of mud wrestling , and questionable line ball decisions ... if that can be imagined . Where the lung busting efforts of Mahon , Flano and Dan kept us in the ascendancy throughout the third quarter , the finer touches of David ' Not so Useless ' Eustace , released from his wing back berth , kept the scoreboard ticking over , with a jinking run through the heart of the Naas rearguard and a tidy flick finish for a point . Further mettle-testing free conversions from Power further edged us ahead putting a win in our sights .
Naas had other ideas , and tacked together an impressive 10 minutes where their stats aligned and laid siege to our goal . A well worked goal off the shoulder from midfielder Ryan Sinkey drew them back within striking distance and Cian Boran pulled them level . With momentum seemingly turning against us , Jack Murnane decided to put his stamp all over the game , as he ' s known to do ! Busier than a bee in your britches and 10 times more of a best , Murnane harried , corralled and conducted proceedings from midfield with aplomb , dictating the pace of play , winning frees and pulling the strings from between the 45s . His vision , intelligence and game awareness baffled the behemoths of the Naas midfield and got the mini maestro out of trouble time and time again .
Late scores from the newly profilic Dan O ' Meara and another spirit-crushing dart from Darragh Power gave us the cushion we sorely needed and clever play from Rory ' Bionic Leg ' Byrden , Billy ' L ' Oreal ' Coonan and Keeper , Pearse McKeever kept our noses in front until the referee sounded the final whistle . Kevin McNeill collected the trophy on behalf of the entire team and , for once , was almost lost for words . Much to the disappointment of the thousands gathered .
A huge well done to all the players on the win today . After a year and a half of school sport lost , it ' s fantastic to be back in action and today was a super experience as we experienced the deeper waters Leinster Hurling offers us . Many players have overcome serious injuries , illness , surgery and more over the past year and it ' s a testament to these young men that they produced such a hard working , fearless performance after so long away from from schools scene . We march on and look forward to a long campaign ... almost as long as this ridiculous testimonial we hope !
Team : Pearse McKeever , Kevin McNeill Rory Byrden , Aidan Coonan , Sean Mahon , Cian O ' Neill , Davy Eustace , Jack Murnane , Dan O ' Meara , Conor McBrearty , Ciarán Flanagan , Luke Jennings , Darragh Power , Daire McNickle , James Dolan , Mikey Dunphy , Billy Coonan , Luke McKenna , Sean Nolan , Eoghan Flood , Daragh Leonard , Conor Bradley , Conor O ' Grady , Jack Gilligan , Micheal McIver