O'Hanrahan digs deep to seal Ratoath victory

It wasn't until the last 10 minutes that Ratoath actually looked like they could come out on top

Ratoath 2-18

Longwood 1-20

Tom Gannon

Ratoath continued their unbeaten run in this year’s Meath SHC by defeating Longwood on Saturday in Pairc Tailteann. Mickey Cole’s side were warm favourites going into the clash but they were made to work hard for the victory.

Ratoath opened the scoring in the contest but did not hit the front again until the 50th minute. A superb second-half showing from Podge O’Hanrahan made all the difference as Ratoath stayed on track for automatic qualification for the SHC semi-final.

Despite a fantastic showing, Longwood will certainly be rueing some of their missed chances especially early on in the game. Aaron Ennis’ side hit seven wides inside the opening 20 minutes.

Niall McLarnon got the scoring underway within the first minute before Longwood rattled off three points courtesy of Sean Coloe, Ryan Moore and Billy Hogan. Podge O’Hanrahan had his scope dialled in from early on and 10 minutes in he sent a sideline cut sailing over the bar. Moore and O’Hanrahan traded scores before Jack McGowan levelled proceedings with a well-taken point.

Longwood then began to hit their stride and they hit six of the next seven scores, four of which were secured by Captain Coloe. Darragh Kelly settled the ship for Ratoath with a long-range effort.

Longwood got a great boost close to half-time when a long ball sent into the mixer by Damien Healy found the hurl of Ryan Moore. Moore who was tearing Ratoath apart in the opening 30 minutes got the crucial touch to direct the ball to the back of the Ratoath net and give Longwood a six-point advantage.

Niall McLarnon pulled one back for Ratoath deep into injury time as the sides went in at the break with Longwood leading 1-11 to 0-8.

The opening exchanges of the second-half were cagey and the sides traded two points apiece before Anthony Healy regained Longwood’s lead of six points. Against the run of play, Ratoath seized a massive opportunity when O’Hanrahan picked out Cian Rogers who finished to the back of the Longwood net.

The next five minutes turned into a shootout between the two free-takers O’Hanrahan and Healy. The opposing pair accounted for seven of the next eight scores in the contest. During this period Ratoath outscored Longwood by five points to three as they reduced the gap back to one.

O’Hanrahan then broke through the Longwood defence and his effort on goal was well blocked but Tom Fadden was on hand to pick up the pieces and he finished to the net to give Ratoath the lead by two points with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Longwood drew back level when Coloe and Billy Hogan added points but O’Hanrahan secured two crucial scores before goal scorer Cian Rogers put Ratoath three to the good in the final minute of normal time. Injury time saw Ratoath reduced to 14 men when Cathal Byrne was sent off for a second yellow.

Longwood only managed one more point though and Ratoath held on for a crucial victory in the race with Kiltale for the top spot in Group B.

Ratoath – Colm O’Riordan; Cian Kelly, Ben McGowan, Cormac Butler; Jack Lanigan, Darragh Kelly (0-2 one free), Niall McLarnon (0-2); Liam Kelly, Ciaran O’Hanrahan; Padraig O'Hanrahan (0-10 eight frees, one sideline cut), Padraig Byrne, Jack McGowan (0-2); Ronan Byrne, Cian Rogers, Sean Corbett. Subs - Tom Fadden (1-0) for R Byrne 27m, Cathal Byrne for Corbett 40m, Oisin Cunningham for P Byrne 57m.

Longwood – Mark Kennedy; Adam Lacey, Damien Healy, Joey Stenson; Brian Stagg, Mickey Burke, Ross Kerrigan; Billy Hogan (0-3), Conor Dixon; Bob Maguire, Karl Ennis, Ben McLoughlin; Anthony Healy (0-4 two frees), Ryan Moore (1-6), Sean Coloe (0-7 two frees). Subs – Adam Peacock for Stagg 42m.

Referee – Mick Murtagh (Westmeath)