The half time score of 1-04 to 1-02 was symptomatic of a game where there were too many mistakes, too many turnovers and lots of misplaced passes. The pleasing aspect was that we were in the ascendancy but in reality should have been much more ahead against a Spa side who were reduced to 14 men in the 6th minute when wing back Rian O'Neill was red carded for an off the ball altercation with Jack Savage.
We started well and had the first score of the game within a minute when Gearóid Savage slotted over after good play from Barry John who found him with a lovely popped pass into his chest with Gazza duly obliging.
We had to wait another 10 minutes for the next score with Barry John finding his range but in between we had wides from both Jake Foley and Ben Hanafin with Ryan Carroll short with another effort.
Spa were finding it hard to adjust to the loss of their defender and we took full advantage when turning them over in midfield with Gazza then winning the race for possession before finding Jack who rounded the keeper for the green flag.
At this stage we were comfortable at the back and with both Ben and Daniel Bowler winning their personal duels we had plenty of possession but failed to make it count on the scoreboard.
Spa replied with a pointed free from keeper Shay O'Meara but our response was quick when Ben Hanafin, a thorn in the opposition's side all night, broke up field for a fine score; Jack quickly added another point but that was to be our last score of the half and we were brought back to earth when a Spa attack saw a ball flicked to the back post where Aidan Cronin was on hand to finish to the net.
The second half was a replica of the first - we had the better of matters but two promising early attacks broke down as the final pass went astray and the play continued like this to the end; however, we were nothing if not resourceful and try as they might Spa could not find an equaliser despite reducing the deficit to one point on more than one occasion. Four points each was the outcome, with Jack and Barry John notching two each - a highlight of the second half was a crucial save by custodian Rob O'Connor who smothered a shot which if goaled could well have resulted in a different outcome.
David Moran made his reappearance in the final quarter and his presence was vital as we saw out the game.
It was not pretty, at times it was sloppy with both sides lacking cohesion but the two points gained gets us off the mark and in good fettle for the trip to Dingle next weekend.
Team: Robert O'Connor, TJ Heaphy, Ross O'Callaghan, Stephen Nix, Ben Hanafin, Darragh McElligott, Daniel Bowler, Tom Hoare, Jake Foley, Ryan Carroll, BJ Keane, Paudie Griffin, Gearóid Savage, Jack Savage, Conor Hayes.
Scorers: Jack 1-03, BJ 0-03, Ben 0-01, Gazza 0-01.
Subs used: David Moran, Jake Hoare, Conor O'Sullivan.
We started well and had the first score of the game within a minute when Gearóid Savage slotted over after good play from Barry John who found him with a lovely popped pass into his chest with Gazza duly obliging.
We had to wait another 10 minutes for the next score with Barry John finding his range but in between we had wides from both Jake Foley and Ben Hanafin with Ryan Carroll short with another effort.
Spa were finding it hard to adjust to the loss of their defender and we took full advantage when turning them over in midfield with Gazza then winning the race for possession before finding Jack who rounded the keeper for the green flag.
At this stage we were comfortable at the back and with both Ben and Daniel Bowler winning their personal duels we had plenty of possession but failed to make it count on the scoreboard.
Spa replied with a pointed free from keeper Shay O'Meara but our response was quick when Ben Hanafin, a thorn in the opposition's side all night, broke up field for a fine score; Jack quickly added another point but that was to be our last score of the half and we were brought back to earth when a Spa attack saw a ball flicked to the back post where Aidan Cronin was on hand to finish to the net.
The second half was a replica of the first - we had the better of matters but two promising early attacks broke down as the final pass went astray and the play continued like this to the end; however, we were nothing if not resourceful and try as they might Spa could not find an equaliser despite reducing the deficit to one point on more than one occasion. Four points each was the outcome, with Jack and Barry John notching two each - a highlight of the second half was a crucial save by custodian Rob O'Connor who smothered a shot which if goaled could well have resulted in a different outcome.
David Moran made his reappearance in the final quarter and his presence was vital as we saw out the game.
It was not pretty, at times it was sloppy with both sides lacking cohesion but the two points gained gets us off the mark and in good fettle for the trip to Dingle next weekend.
Team: Robert O'Connor, TJ Heaphy, Ross O'Callaghan, Stephen Nix, Ben Hanafin, Darragh McElligott, Daniel Bowler, Tom Hoare, Jake Foley, Ryan Carroll, BJ Keane, Paudie Griffin, Gearóid Savage, Jack Savage, Conor Hayes.
Scorers: Jack 1-03, BJ 0-03, Ben 0-01, Gazza 0-01.
Subs used: David Moran, Jake Hoare, Conor O'Sullivan.
