Kilruane march into quarter finals unbeaten

Kilruane MacDonaghs 3-19

Roscrea 2-18

Report: Thomas Conway in Toomevara

With Kilruane ensured of a quarter-final berth and Roscrea condemned to a relegation battle, this clash on Sunday seemed like a game of little consequence, and yet, it probably produced more excitement than the other fixture in Group 4, with the outcome hanging in the balance right up until Tomás Hogan’s decisive goal in stoppage time.

Prior to that, Roscrea had shown a degree of consistency which had probably been lacking in their two previous outings. With Lee Cashin flawlessly accurate from placed-balls and Dan Ryan powering over long-distance scores, they had the look of a side intent on making amends for the defeats they suffered against Nenagh Éire Óg and Borris-Ileigh respectively.

And they achieved that, but just couldn’t find that little bit extra required to pull them through, eventually succumbing to an understrength Kilruane side which, despite being without several key players, still had plenty of big-guns scattered across their starting fifteen.

Within minutes, two of those big-guns had already found the target, Craig Morgan breaking forward from centre-back and splitting the posts from distance, before Jerome Cahill sent a sharp strike zipping over from a similar range. Cashin responded with the first of numerous frees, and within seconds Roscrea had pulled back level courtesy of Alan Tynan.

Kilruane’s first goal arrived in the seventh minute, Thomas Cleary sliding the ball off the turf into the bottom right-hand corner.

If there was a moment at which Kilruane might have been expected to steam ahead, it probably came in the fourteenth minute. The force of Séamus Hennessy’s penalty looked so strong that it seemed pointless even having a keeper to stand in front of it.

Come the water-break, it was 2-4 to 0-5, but this was when Roscrea’s determination became most visible. They kept plugging away, Cashin clipping over the frees, Dan Ryan letting fly from distance - never allowing MacDonaghs to pull too far ahead.

A 2-9 to 0-12 half-time scoreline created some intrigue amongst spectators - a bit of Sunday evening entertainment which was far less predictable than the golf, but similarly hard-hitting. Cashin and Cleary quickly traded frees, but then, five minutes in, Tynan used his pace to burst through before sending a rocket into the bottom-right corner.

Having seized the momentum, Roscrea were now in a purple-patch, which they had to make use of. They did so, albeit with the help of the upright, as another long-range effort from Dan Ryan pinged off the upper post and fell straight down into the path of Shane Fletcher, whose quick instincts allowed him to whisk the ball home and give Roscrea a four-point advantage. They deserved their good fortune, but Kilruane still had every intention of finishing Group 4 with a 100 per-cent record, with Hennessy now really showing his class.

Entering the final stretch, Kilruane had pulled the deficit back to one, which Cleary then cancelled out in the 58th minute. By the sixtieth they had pushed ahead, Eoin Hogan with a brilliant score on the back foot, before Tomás Hogan used strength and coordination to redirect a high ball into the net with a clever one-handed flick. Points on either side followed, but Tomas Hogan’s goal had sealed it.

Player of the Match: Séamus Hennessy (Kilruane MacDonaghs)

Kilruane MacDonaghs: Conor Doheny (7), James Cleary (7), Jack Peters (7), Aaron Morgan (7), Kieran Cahill (7), Craig Morgan (0-1, 8), Eanna Hogan (0-1, 7), Seán McAdams (0-2, 7), Robert Austin (7), Willie Cleary (0-9, 8f) 8), Tomás Hogan (1-0, 7), Kian O’Kelly (7), Thomas Cleary (1-1, 8), Séamus Hennessy (1-1, 1-0 pen) 8), Jerome Cahill (0-3, 8).

Sub: Eoin Hogan (0-1, 8) for T Cleary (39).

Roscrea: Daryl Ryan (7), James Synott (6), Michael Campion (6), Keith McMahon (7), Glen Loughnane (7), Shane Davis (8), Dan Ryan (0-3, 8), Darragh Tynan (0-1, 7), Evan Fitzpatrick (8), Conor Booth (7), Alan Tynan (1-5, 8), Conor Sheedy (7), Luke Cashin (0-8, 5f 1 ’65) 8), Sam Conlon (7), Shane Fletcher (1-1, 8).

Subs: Jason Fitzpatrick (0-1, 7) for Sheedy (HT); Luke Seacy (6) for Loughnane (46).

Referee: John Lillis (Thurles Sarsfields).