Match Reports >
Match Reports 2013
Senior Hurling League (Round 2) vs. Kilburn Gaels
8th June, 2013 Robert Emmetts: 1-15 Kilburn Gaels: 0-8 Following a comfortable win over Brothers Pearse in Round 1, our hurlers travelled to Greenford to face a tougher test against our rivals Kilburn  Gaels who had recently defeated us in the Collins Cup. Kilburn, playing against a stiff breeze, took the lead first and went three points to one ahead following a long range point and two frees against our solitary free. Robert Emmetts got the break we needed after 15 minutes though when, after good work by our inside forward line, Kevin McMullan stepped up to take a free just outside the 21 and to the right of the goal. While everyone on the field expected a 'tap-over' Kevin caught the Kilburn players off-guard and stuck the sliotar in the bottom corner of the net. This served to inject some real pace into the game as Robert Emmetts pushed hard to make the most of the advantage. However, the action boiled over a number of times during these close exchanges and after two different incidents two Robert Emmetts players and one Kilburn Gaels men were sent to the line. However, our lads didn't panic and continued to work hard until half time and were rewarded by going achieving a 5 point lead.Facing the breeze and man down at the start of the sescond half it seemed like it would be a very difficult task to win the game. However, the  Emmetts lads upped their work-rate even more and brought the fight to Kilburn. In midfield Paddy Breen worked tirelessly alongside Fergus McMahon frustrating Kilburn's efforts to supply good quality ball to their forwards. Despite a lot of positional switches and movement by the Kilburn attack our backs stood firm and were well marshalled by David Healy and Paul Horkan, who got a fine score himself after breaking through midfield. As we began to sense victory Kilburn appeared to panic and began dropping in some testing high balls into the goalmouth. Darren Russell in goal was equal to the task though and made several authoritative catches on his line and found an Emmetts man with every clearance. Kevin McMullan continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with frees while Tom Abernathy made a big impact when introduced with 15 minutes to go, cracking over a couple of lovely scores including a spectacular effort from the sideline after robbing his man of possession. The Emmetts had weathered the Kilburn storm and eased to victory then with further scores from Fergus McMahon and sub Eoin O'Sullivan. It was a good day for Robert Emmetts and the whole team can be proud of a hard-earned victory that gives us some good momentum as the championship approaches. |
Senior Hurling Championship R3: Brothers Pearse
27th July 2013 Our senior hurlers took on Brothers Pearse in the third round of the senior hurling championship in Ruislip on Saturday evening, July 27th. With two drawn games in the opening round of the championship both teams knew that a win could put them in pole position for qualification for the knock-out stages. Prior to the match there was a minute's silence in honour of Robert Emmetts clubman Sean Quinn who tragically passed away recently at a young age. As a player he distinguished himself on the field with club and county, winning every honour in the game including London and national titles. He was uppermost in the minds of many of his former teammates as we took to the field. After a tense first 10 minutes that had the score at one point apiece we seemed to settle and when Fergus McMahon put over a '65' we were 3-1 up. Although we were starting to enjoy a lot of possession we missed a number of chances from play and from frees. Brothers Pearse then began to find their own rhythm though over the next 15 minutes, making economical use of their possession and converting all of their chances to push five points clear. As half-time approached, Damian O'Halloran scored a neat point off his left from a very difficult angle to keep us in touch but the score read 8 points to 4 in favour of Brothers Pearse. Although behind we were encouraged by the fact that we were creating chances and defending well. Jonathan Hanley was especially impressive at full-back, claiming any high ball that came his way and delivering long clearances. The half-back line of Aidan Ryan, Paul Horkan and Ciaran Fitzpatrick was solid throughout, frustrating the Pearses' attack and, along with Paddy Breen, delivering a steady supply of ball to our forwards. The opening 15 minutes of the second half proved to be just as tight as the first in open play, but Pearses were managing to hold us at arm's length maintaining their lead as we traded points. Scores were now proving very difficult to come by and we were still behind by four after 20 minutes. However, we got a real boost when full-forward Niall Higgins gathered a ball between the '21' and '45' and ran at goal. As a defender was drawn to him he spotted Rory Costello in space just outside the '21'. 'Nips' let a quick handpass in to Rory who turned and drilled the sliotar hard off his left into the bottom corner of the goal. The Pearses were rattled and we attacked again from the puckout, winning a free on the '45' to the left of goal. When Kevin McMullan calmly knocked it over the bar to level the scores it seemed like all the momentum was with us. However, the Pearses rallied and, as the light faded and the rain moved in, won an easy free a couple of minutes later. That was followed by another score from a placed ball which seemed to knock the wind out of our sails. As we searched for a goal Pearses finished strongly getting the last two points to win by four at the finish. We now face Sean Treacys in a must-win battle on August 11th. |
1-2 of 2