Harps Hurlers claim spoils in local derby

AHL4 League 

Skerries Harps: 2-20 (26)   St Maurs 1-10 (13) 

Our AHL 4 squad returned to winning ways last Saturday with a decisive, if not utterly convincing, 13-point victory against neighbours St Maurs. Having suffered defeat against table toppers Crokes and Crumlin in their last two games the Harps were looking to regain momentum and started this game with real purpose.  

Early points from captain Matt Dooley, David Graham and Aidan Kehoe complemented excellent work from a dominant half back line. In the twelfth minute further strong defence from Daire Finnegan started a move which led to Sean Graham setting Kehoe up to finish smartly to the Maurs net. Continued pressure from the home team was drawing fouls from the visitor’s defence which David Graham consistently punished. Young corner forward Julian Kearney was unlucky to be pulled for steps when having a goal chalked off. Whilst both teams were struggling to win their own puckouts the Harps were more efficient from their scoring efforts. 

Some sloppy play from the Harps late in the half resulted in the concession of frees which allowed Maurs close the gap to 1-10 to 0-6 at the interval. 

The home team started the second half brightly and consolidated their advantage when after a strong run Dooley’s neat pass found Kehoe who again shook the net. The Harps were stung when goalkeeper Jamie Crowe, who had performed well up to that, received a straight red following an entanglement with a Maurs attacker. However, the response was positive, and the Graham brothers and Dooley added points to maintain the gap. Strong defence from Euan Walsh and Ian Furlong was restricting the Maurs attack who scored their only goal in the final minutes of the half. The Harps finished strongly with a four-point burst in the last five minutes including a neat score from debutant Daire Geoghegan who was introduced in the second half. 

Overall, a satisfactory result for the Harps but with championship looming there is much work to be done on aspects like puck out retention and the rate of concession of frees. 

Scorers for Skerries; David Graham 0-11 (6f, 1’65), Aidan Kehoe 2-1, Matt Dooley 0-4, Sean Graham 0-3, Daire Geoghegan 0-1. 

Full photo gallery courtesy of Michael Donoghue