Hertfordshire sank by Scottish 2-4 Blitz
7th June 2015, Old Bedians, Manchester
A magnificent 2nd half performance from a lethal forward line was enough to get Scotland past Hertfordshire in the British Junior County Championship at Old Bedians, Manchester on Sunday. Scotland scored 2-4 in a five minute blitz either side of half time and, whilst Hertfordshire fought back to within 4 points, they never recovered the lead that they held for long periods of the 1st half.
Hertfordshire started brightly with a strong wind at their backs and their endeavours were rewarded with an early point from full-forward Cormac Healy. Four wide’s followed however and this gave Scotland an opportunity to settle into the game with points from Tony Gallagher and Damien Keane. The industrious Eoin Mageean equalised for the Herts men on the 15th minute mark with a fine long range effort. Two quality scores, from midfielders Richard McKenzie (Herts) and James Carroll (Scot), brightened up a rather drab first 20 minutes. Both full forward lines were starting to get the upper hand with Healy and Mark Ryan sharing three for Hertfordshire and Eoin Sheehy scoring three for Scotland before the 25th minute. Stephen Lavery chipped over a point from 30 yards to restore the Hertfordshire lead on the 27th minute but Scotland were starting to find their feet after a slow start. Some strong running from wing back Brian McAteer carved the Hertfordshire back line open on the 28th, but he blazed the ball to the left and wide. The warning bells were ringing though and in-form Sheehy set up full forward Damien Keane who netted for the Scots on the 29th minute. Herts midfielder McKenzie reduced the deficit to the minimum on the stroke of half time to leave the score Scotland 1-6, Hertfordshire 0-08.
Centre-Half forward Alan Ward had a quiet first half for Scotland but remedied that in the first minute of the 2nd half with 1-1 from play. Indeed this was the start of a brilliant second half for Ward who finished the game on 1-4. Damien Keane added a further two points to leave Hertfordshire 7 points adrift on the 35th minute mark. Cormac Healy and Brian McAteer exchanged points before Herts captain Mark Ryan goaled in the 37th minute to leave 4 points between the teams. The Hertfordshire revival was short-lived however as Scotland restored their 7 point lead in 3 minutes with two scores from Ward and one from prowling McAteer. Hertfordshire fought bravely and Ryan, Healy and Mageean pointed over the next ten minutes but Scotland never left the gap fall to more then 6 points with Paul Reen and Ward keeping the score line ticking over. Wing-Back John Dolan scored a fine point in the 55th minute and the last Hertforshire score of the day was scored by Eoin Mageean. A late goal from Scottish full-forward Keane capped off a great victory for Scotland who march onto the quarter-final against Lancashire. Hertfordshire meet Yorkshire in the Shield Final. Final Score: Scotland 3-16, Hertfordshire 1-13.
Hertfordshire: 1. Kevin Morrissey, 2. Michael Nevin, 3. Ken Hayes, 4. Brendan O‘Leary, 5. Brian Phelan, 6. Seamus Hayes, 7. Steven Doran, 8. Richard McKenzie (0-02), 9. Andy Kelly, 10. JP Doyle, 11. Steven Lavery (0-01), 12. Eoin Mageean (0-03), 13. Mark Ryan (1-02), 14. Cormac Healy (0-05), 15. Piers McGlynn. Subs: Gary Connolly for Piers McGlynn (35 mins), Danny Nicholls for M. Nevin (40 mins) Tommy Griffin for JP Doyle (50 mins)
Scotland: 1. Martin Hannah, 2. Paddy Brady, 3. Bryan Russell, 4. Cian Lowney, 5. John Dolan (0-1), 6. Brendan Parsons, 7. Brian McAteer (0-02), 8. Robbie Howe, 9. James Carroll (0-01), 10. Marcus McGinley, 11. Alan Ward (1-4), 12. Tony Gallagher (0-01), 13. Paul Reen (0-01), 14. Damien Keane (2-3), 15. Eoin Sheehy (0-03)
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