Junior C Hurling: Portland v Worcester

Portland 5-8 Worcester 3-8

Portland made a major statement with the defeat of the North American Junior C Champions at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton.  A blistering first half performance saw Portland open a substantial lead to have their opponents chasing the game.  Worcester made somewhat of a comeback in the second half and threatened to make a run on a couple of occasions, but some good defending and timely scores kept Portland ahead till the final whistle.

Portland Held the Cards Sunday afternoon at the ICC.

At the break it was a double digit lead for the men from Maine.  Portland had hammered in four goals, three from Bryon Williams and one from Alan McGrath.  While Worcester kept pace in the points column they would have a lot of work to do to make ground up on the goals side as the Mass. Pike men found it hard to breach the Portland back line where it hurt most.

The central Mass men did get a lift with a goal from Derek Byrne and followed with a Tom Lind point to get the second half going.  At this point they had their tail between their legs and a run at that Portland lead looked possible, however, and handful of good scoring chances drifted wide of the posts and that difference remained eight points.

Worcester's Tom Lind clears as Dan Flanagan moves in.

Portland recovered from the brief shock and re asserted themselves on the game with scores from Alan McGrath and Matt Anderson.  After a brief stoppage due to an injury to Worcester goalkeeper, Mike Dufault, the ball was in the back of the Portland net a second time with a Seamus O’Shaughnessy long range effort and there was life in Worcester again.

Portland dampened any hope of a second half comeback with a fourth goal from Williams.  As Worcester pressed for a couple of goals Joel Wezowicz and JJ Twohig provided good protection for the keeper, and cleared from inside their own penalty area on several occasions.  With the win Portland are in a good place to be there when August rolls around.

Portland:  JJ Twohig, J. Wezowicz, M. Delahunty, E. Burns, T. Schneider, D. Adams, C. Boyle, L. Maher, D. Flanagan, B. Williams, A. McGrath, S. Matthews, M. Anderson.  Worcester:  M. Dufault, M. Dufresne, S. O’Mahoney, D. Smith, Sean O’Shaughnessy, J. McCaty, Seamus O’Shaughnessy, P. Mannion, M. O’Connor, T. Lind, J. Dorr, J. Goery, D. Byrne.

By Rory O'Donnell