AHL 3 vs Erin’s Isle
Saturday, 24th May 2014

Result: 4 16 to 3 11

Ballyboden Senior B hurlers travelled to Finglas on Saturday 24th May 2014 to play their Round 4 League fixture against Erin’s Isle. The teams had played recently in the championship when Boden prevailed. However, the team knew they would face a strong challenge from the Finglas team on their own ground. Points were traded at the start of the game. Two notable features of the first quarter were a superb shoulder charge by centre back Paddy Ryan that put a stop to a promising Isle’s move – this is skill of the game that is not seen often enough and demands perfect timing. Later in the quarter, the ball broke to Finn McDonagh on the 45, who ran into space before unleashing a blistering shot that raised the first green flag of the day. It was a physical game, with a few frees awarded. Paul Doherty quickly found his range and put over five frees before the short whistle. Stephen Casey responded in similar fashion from the placed ball for Erin’s Isle.  Having led at the quarter, Boden conceded a pair of close range goals from Isle’s corner forward Paul Murray, but hit back quickly with a second goal – this time from full forward Brendan Treacy. A key moment at the end of the first half was a fine catch by Kenneth Wigglesworth in midfield. Again, finding himself in space, he drifted forward and fired over a fine point. This capped a fine first half for the Boden half-back line of Kenneth, Paddy and Dónal Butler. Half time score Boden 2-9 to Erin’s Isle 2-6.

The home team started strongly in the second half and a pair of points had them within one of Boden. The Firhouse Road team regained their composure with Adam Jermyn and Ronan Cleary in particular winning great ball in the middle of the field. Points by Chris Lambert and Doherty again put some daylight between the teams. As some positional switches by manager Ciarán Maguire began to work, another finely executed shoulder by corner forward Jonathon O’Driscoll regained valuable possession and a subsequent score for Boden. As Isle’s tired a little, Boden took full advantage in the final quarter and a second goal by Treacy as well as a late Doherty strike meant Boden prevailed on a scoreline of 4-15 to 3-11. Boden now move to four points from four games in this competitive division.

Report by Joe Roche