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Club GAA

Carlow's Mount Leinster shock Oulart to win first Leinster senior title

The Wexford club paid the price for eight first-half wides.

Mount Leinster Rangers 0-11
Oulart-The-Ballagh 0-8

DENIS MURPHY LED the line superbly as Mount Leinster Rangers ended a tumultuous hurling year with another seismic championship shock.

The free-taker shot eight points in total as the raging underdogs claimed a first ever provincial club title for the county.

In fact, it was the first time a Carlow club side had ever contested a Leinster final and an impressive 7,200 crowd at Nowlan Park reflected the unique occasion.

But it was heartbreak for Oulart who have now slumped to their fourth provincial final loss on the trot having entered the game as massive favourites.

The Wexford champions led at half-time but were outfought and out hurled in the second-half as Rangers secured a famous victory.

At the end of a hurling year that has yielded breakthroughs for Clare, Dublin, Limerick and Antrim, it’s a major shot in the arm for Carlow hurling.

Martin Storey’s Oulart looked burdened by nerves throughout as they chased their own piece of history.

They led 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time but wasted so many good chances early on.

They hit eight wides in the half and dropped four efforts for points short into the goalkeeper’s hand. The misses kept the Carlow men in a game they really should have been chasing.

Tom Mullally’s side didn’t score a single point from open play in the first-half and relied on three converted frees from Murphy.

They were wasteful in attack too, failing to put together any meaningful goal opportunities and belting five wides. But the second-half was all about the industry and ability of the raging underdogs.

They outscored Oulart by eight points to three and opened up with their best hurling in the final 10 minutes when the pressure was on.

Murphy was the star man, hitting their first four points of the second-half to put them ahead, 0-7 to 0-6, with 20 minutes left.

It was a lead they would impressively build on by full-time with further points from Paul Coady and Derek Byrne.

Scorers for Mount Leinster Rangers: Denis Murphy 0-8 (0-6f), Paul Coady, Diarmuid Byrne (0-1 s/l), Derek Byrne 0-1 each.

Scorers for Oulart-The Ballagh: Rory Jacob (0-1f), Des Mythen 0-2 each, Conor O’Leary, David Redmond, Eoin Moore (0-1f), Darren Nolan 0-1 each.

Mount Leinster Rangers: Frank Foley; Michael Doyle, Garry Doyle, Gary Kelly; Diarmuid Byrne, Richard Coady, Edward Coady; Derek Byrne, Padraig Nolan; David Phelan, Paul Coady, Edward Byrne; Eoin Doyle, John Coady, Denis Murphy.
Subs.: Hugh Patrick O’Byrne for John Coady 46, James Hickey for Eoin Doyle 53, Willie Hickey for Paul Coady 61.

Oulart-The Ballagh: Ben O’Connor; Eoin Moore, Keith Rossiter, Barry Kehoe; Conor Goff, Paul Roche, Lar Prendergast; Michael Jacob, Shaun Murphy; Darren Nolan, Des Mythen, David Redmond; Garrett Sinnott, Rory Jacob, Conor O’Leary.

Subs.: Darren Stamp for Goff (blood) 4-7, Nicky Kirwan for O’Leary 45, Stamp for Murphy 57.
Referee: J Keenan (Wicklow).

Snapshot: Hurling breaks new ground as full-back wears leggings

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