Junior C Hurling Final: Worcester v Barley House Wolves

Worcester 3-8 Barley House Wolves 1-10

Worcester Captain Dan Swetland is presented
with the trophy.

The Worcester and Barley House Wolves teams and supporters traveled from central Massachusetts and Concord NH respectively to contest the junior C hurling final at the Irish Cultural Center.  It was an intensely contested, hard hitting affair with Worcester coming out on top.  Three first half goals and some great defensive work carried the day for the Worcester men to win back to back championships.

BHW 's Sean Naughton strikes the ball.
Naughton is an example of the many
highly skilled American hurlers. 

Playing with the benefit of a fairly stiff breeze, Worcester went in at the break five points to the good on the back of three goals.  Two came from the dangerous Liam Kelly at corner forward, the third from Kyle Connor just after the New Hampshire men had tied the game.  Dan Swetland’s free taking was assured for Worcester, the center back tallied three points from the dead ball.  Sean Naughton was also on the mark for the New Hampshire men with points from play and frees.  After Jay Abramowicz had netted for the Granite State side with a goal, Will Mullen tallied a fantastic point to level matters.  Connor’s goal came minutes afterwards, a sequence that left two Worcester men prone and needing treatment following the intensity of the challenges leading to the score. 

Worcester kept up the intensity level in the second half, blocking at every opportunity and allowing little room to their opponents.  There were no easy opportunities for the Wolves.  The scores did not come so easy at the other end either.  Swetland and Kelly each tallied points and Worcester tallied a decent number of wides.  The Barley House Wolves worked hard to try and put a dent in the two goal difference and had a number of chances that went awry.  Two Sean Naughton frees were the fruits of their second half labors.  The Concord men went after a momentum changing goal with decent time still left to play, but it was not to be as Worcester establish themselves as the divisional champions for the second time running.  Now it is on to the finals and on home turf where Worcester be hoping to improve on last year’s outing in Cleveland.

Towards the end of the game there was a lengthy delay after, Dan Hanna, of the Barley House Wolves suffered a serious neck injury.  Wishing Dan a full and speedy recovery.

Worcester:  Aidan O’Shea, Luke Lagorsse, Matt Dufresna, John Donoghue, Dan Swetland, Ian Geraghty, Sean Shaughnessy, Cian Clifford, Timmy Jackson, Tom Lind, Kyle Connor, Liam Kelly, Mike O’Connor.  BHW:  Denis Trainor, Alec Foley, Michael Gregoire, Matt Palomeno, Dan Pawloski, Dan Hanna, Sean Naughton, Ryan Nickerson, Dean Williams, Will Mullen, Jay Abramowicz, Ruairi O’Mahoney, Darragh Madden.

By Rory O'Donnell