Round Tower Senior hurlers had the honour of gracing the Monastery Road playing pitch prior to the Dublin v Galway senior football intercounty challenge to mark the official opening of the new state-of-the-art playing facilities, writes Mick McGlynn. Niall Connaughton captured the action and you can see his pictures here and those of Mick Byrne here. You can also view Stephen Findlater of the Clondalkin Gazette’s pictures here.
It was an ideal precursor for the intercounty challenge: tough championship hurling laced with excitement, skill and passion. It finished level: Round Tower 2-14 v Naomh Olaf 1-17. Alex Darbey struck a suberb equalising point from a tight angle to earn Towers a deserved replay. Moments earlier it was substitute Brian Shields who was the hero when his touch did enough to deny an Olaf’s forward a clean strike on goal and from the resulting play, Darbey claimed possession to drive a point over from a tight angle to the right. With four minutes remaining Towers were four down, but they displayed great resolve and composure to bring themselves back into the game. It was fitting such pride was on display for the weekend that was in it and it was appreciated by the huge crowd that turned out to watch the hurlers. Four down, a 21-metre free presented Towers with the opportunity to narrow the gap to just a point. Finn’s quick free to the net was disallowed by referee Tony Lambe but Eoin Ryan stepped forward to strike low and raise a green flag. The direct running of Finn and Eoin Moran at the Naomh Olaf defence played a key role in allowing Towers stage a late revival.
Towers led at half-time 1-7 v 0-7, with Eoin Ryan finding the back of the net from a Barry Finn pass. A superb point from Moran minutes before half-time was fitting for the occasion. Eoin Walsh won posession in the half-backs and played a short strike pass to Eoghan Young whose incisive pass was superbly controlled by Ryan in the full-forward line, with two defenders surrounding. After displaying superb close control his handpass found Moran 30 metres out and he pulled on it first time to strike it over the bar. Ryan scored a superb point himself before half-time when he found space in the corner from an accurate Darbey pass. Our full forward gathered possesion and turned to strike a point from a tight angle.
However Olaf’s rallied in the second half and when a mix-up in the Tower defence led to a goal, they edged three points ahead. Towers would have been immensly frustrated if they had lost this game. They were persistently penalised and there were 15 minutes remaining when Olaf’s pointed first from play. Points were hard earned and it was terrific scores from Finn (x 2), Darbey and Moran that allowed Towers stage their late flourish.
Round Tower: Stephen Chapman, Shane Byrne, Craig Curtis, Kevin Scott, Padraic McGeever, Eoin Walsh, Jack Whelan, Alex Darbey, Eoghan Young, Barry Finn, Eoin Moran, Barry Keogh, Gary Quinlivan, Eoin Ryan, Aidan Smith. Used Sub: Brian Shields for Byrne
