Clean sweep for North clubs in senior hurling quarter finals
By Shane Brophy
Borris-Ileigh and Kilruane MacDonaghs joined Kiladangan and Nenagh Eire Og in making it a clean sweep for North division teams in the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship quarter finals.
In today’s second set of quarter finals, Borris-Ileigh accounted for near neighbours Drom & Inch 3-11 to 0-18 in Holycross.
The victors were sluggish out of the blocks with Drom scoring the first five points, four from the stick of Seamus Callanan who was on fire early on. A Kieran Maher goal on twelve minutes ignited Borris-Ileigh into action as the sides went score for score for much of a intense first half, which ended with the maroons 2-6 to 0-10 in front, James Devaney finding the net on the half hour punishing some sloppy Drom defending.
A second Devaney goal on 46 minutes put Borris-Ileigh in a strong seven point lead but they wouldn’t score again, but not for the want of trying as they missed three superb goal chances to put the game to bed as Drom hit five unanswered points with Callanan finishing with twelve points, four from play, but in end the end his side came up short.
Borris-Ileigh will meet Kilruane MacDonaghs in the semi-final after Liam O’Shea’s charges ended Clonoulty/Rossmore’s reign as champions with a dominant 1-23 to 1-10 success in Templetuohy.
The tie of the round failed to live up to its billing as it took a full thirteen minutes for either side to register a score but when Kilruane did get up and running, they rattled off nine in a row before Timmy Hammersley opened Clonolty’s account on 24 minutes. The West side wouldn’t score from play in the first half as Justin Cahill, Ray McLoughney and Thomas Cleary landed good scores to give MacDonaghs a 0-13 to 0-2 half time lead.
Clonoulty found some life after the break but any hope of a fightback looked to have been snuffed out by a Cian Darcy goal on 40 minutes. Sean Maher responded with one for Clonoulty three minutes later as the holders managed to get within eight at one stage but Kilruane pulled away late to be convincing winners.
However, they suffered a double-blow ahead of the semi-final with county men Jerome Cahill limping out in the first half with a recurrence of a hamstring injury time, while Niall O’Meara was red carded in injury time, along with Timmy Hammersley and Sean Maher for Clonoulty/Rossmore, and looks set to be suspended for the clash with Borris-Ileigh next Sunday with Kiladangan and Nenagh Eire Og meeting in the second semi-final with both games expected to be held at Semple Stadium.