Senior hurling V Arklow Rocks

21 August, 2011

After a successful league stage of the championship Bray began the knockout stage with a game against Arklow Rocks in Aughrim on Sunday. Having beaten them recently and with some of our key players back hopes were high that we would progress to the next stage. Even though we were playing with a fresh breeze we started very slowly in this game and Arklow went into an early lead. However gradually as the game went on Bray got back into the game and at half time the scores were level. This was so in spite of a soft goal for Arklow. While we were not playing nearly as well as we can there was signs that the initiative was back with Bray. However the second half became a bit of a dogfight with Arklow seeming to want victory more and used all their opportunities, whether from frees or play very well. While we had sufficient possession to win comfortably, many chances went astray through seeking goals or wides. There were some good performances however. The back line played solidly, apart from some lapses, with John Henderson playing to his usual high standard at half-back, Ronan O'Brien at full-back and Peter Kiely at centre half keeping the centre well. The midfield of Aaron Murphy and Karl Lacey worked hard while up front Jackie Moorehouse had his usual tally of scores, Darragh Moloney performed well while  Willie Keane worked his heart out. The final score was Bray Emmets 1-12, Arklow Rocks 3-10. While this was a major disappointment there was strong evidence that  there is sufficient ability in this squad to go much farther. However it will require a lot of hard work in training throughout the year by the full squad.

Lineout: D Masterson, E. Brazil, R OBrien, C OMaolmhuaidh, H Stephenson, P Kiely, J Henderson, A Murphy(0-1), K Lacey(0-1), W Keane(0-1), C Moorehouse(0-6), D Moloney, M Lee(0-1), L Kenny(1-0), G OMurchu(0-2)