Captains Pre Throw In: Liam Gilbride (Warwickshire) and Johnny McGee (Herts)
The second meeting in three weeks between Hertfordshire and Warwickshire saw the Rams come out on top again to book their place in the Junior Provincial Championship Football final in very warm conditions in Watford.
Having been given the walkover in the quarter final against Lancashire following defeat at Páirc na hÉireann in Round Two, Hertfordshire came out of the blocks quickly with two well struck points from Stephen Lavery, who continued his scoring streak.
However, it did not take long for Warwickshire to respond, with five different scorer’s clinically kicking the next five points for the visitors as they gained a three point lead.
The hosts then rattled the woodwork following a well worked move and from here, much like the previous meeting between the teams, the game adopted a very even pattern with a high standard of football being played and points exchanged at either end.
Hertfordshire were quick to rectify the earlier missed opportunity for a goal, Conor Feeney capitalising on a goalkeeping mishap to make up the margin the visitors had managed to build. The half time whistle went with the scores tied at 1-04 to 0-07.
The sides were level on a further three separate occasions as the second half progressed, with three well taken points for Hertfordshire from Gary Connolly, Conor Carney and Chris Griffin being matched individually by Warwickshire’s Conal Dowling. Combined with impressive saves from both goalkeepers, the match had become end to end and it seemed there wouldn’t be much to separate the sides.
But as the match entered the last ten minutes, the hosts tired, leading to some poor decision making on the ball. Warwickshire were sure to punish this, turning the screw with points from Liam Gilbride, Aodhan Hillen, and two more from the excellent Conal Dowling making it four points in a row which would go unanswered. The visitors saw the remainder of the match out, retaining the ball sensibly and leaving Hertfordshire frustrated in the hot conditions.
The championship journey comes to an end for Hertfordshire with the last ten minutes making the difference, Warwickshire will now await the winners of next weekends’ matchup between Kilkenny and Scotland in Glasgow.
Hertfordshire: Gary McGwyne, Chris O’Hare, Noel Burke, Michael Nevin, Mark Hayes, Johnny McGee, Marcus De Cogan, Nathan Hannon, Sean McGonagale (0-01), Conor Dillon, Chris Griffin (0-03), Stephen Lavery (0-02), Conor Carney, Oisin Cooney, Conor Feeney (1-00) Gary Connolly (0-01)
Warwickshire: Macauley Felgate, Eamon Culliney, Shane Keogh, Liam Gilbride (0-01), Cianan Folan, Michael Mannion, Paddy Kilkenny, Niall Gilbride, Ryan Bennett, Conal Dowling (0-07), Mark O’ Hare, Kevin Ryan (0-01), Daniel Kennedy (0-01), Joe Owens (0-02), Michael Harrigan (0-01) Aodhan Hillen (0-01)
There are no events to show yet.