Semi-Finals line-up confirmed

By Liam Hogan

The semi-final line-ups in all six divisions of the County Hurling League were as good as confirmed following last weekends final round of games.

It was confirmed last week that there is no promotion and relegation in this year’s leagues with teams at the bottom of the tables in particular given a reprieve, with next years leagues being compiled by a teams’ championship standings later in the year.

DIVISION 1

Group 1

Clonoulty/Rossmore0-22 Thurles Sarsfields 0-19

Clonoulty/Rossmore made sure of a place in the last four when they defeated Thurles Sarsfield in Clonoulty on Friday evening.

Clonoulty led from start to finish. At half time it was 0-12 to 0-11 and the tit for tat continued in the second half before Clonoulty held out for a clash with Toomevara in the semi-final. Jack Ryan was top scorer for the winners with seven points.

Kilruane MacDonaghs0-24 Borris-Ileigh1-21

With Clonoulty/Rossmore already through to the knockout stages following their three-point win over Thurles Sarsfields, forty-eight hours earlier, it was winner takes all for a place in the semi-finals in Cloughjordan last Sunday when Kilruane MacDonaghs took on Borris-Ileigh.

The opening minutes were lively in terms of scores with Kilruane going three-nil in front after just two minutes before Borris-Ileigh fought back to level. Borris-Ileigh’s’ Thomas Fahy struck a goal on the quarter hour, and it continued to be nip and tuck for the remainder of the half with the interval scoreboard reading Borris-Ileigh 1-12 Kilruane MacDonaghs 0-12.

Both sides continued to go head-to-head. Kilruane had a goal disallowed in the 46th minute for a square ball and with Willie Cleary accurate on frees and Paidi Williams supplying four points from play, Kilruane were two points in front with a minute to play. Borris-Ileigh stormed back, and Conor Kenny fired over two late points to level matters.

But the drama didn’t end there as Kilruane came looking for one final throw of the dice before JD Devaney intervened with a last minute hook on Paidi Williams. Borris-Ileigh were through as group winners with Kilruane missing out.

Nenagh Eire Og 1-28 JK Brackens 1-22

Nenagh Eire Og gained their first win in the league as they secured a six-point win over JK Brackens in Nenagh on Sunday.

Nenagh led 1-17 to 0-9 at half time with the goal coming from Killian Gleeson. Brackens stepped up in the second half and cut the margin to three, 1-19 to 1-16, with seventeen minutes remaining. However, Nenagh held out to earn their first win of the campaign.

Group 2

Toomevara 4-22 Loughmore/Castleiney 2-19

Toomevara overcame a slow start to secure a place in the semi-finals with an emphatic win over Loughmore/Castleiney in Toomevara on Sunday.

An early Cian Hennessey goal put the home-side on the backfoot. However, the Greyhounds gradually got to grips with the clash but without pulling away. There were four goals scored in the process with Darren Delaney and Adam Hall raising green flags before Kevin McCarthy grabbed a third with his shot deceiving the Loughmore goalkeeper. Ciaran McCormack grabbed a second goal for Loughmore and at half time a goal separated the team’s 3-8 to 2-8.

The second half was entirely different as an almost full strength Toome side raised the bar with a selection of well-taken points which was complemented by a Ciaran Grace goal leaving no doubt about the destination of the points.

Mullinahone 1-21 Drom & Inch 3-19

A strong second half performance saw Drom & Inch do enough to make sure of a place in the semi-finals when defeating Mullinahone in Mullinahone on Friday evening.

The home-side, led by Eoin Kelly, Sean Curran, and the brilliant Jack Shelly, were quickest out of the traps as they took a 0-6 to 0-2 lead by the first quarter. However, Drom began to take hold and managed to overturn the deficit to lead 0-13 to 0-11 by half time.

Drom were a different story in the second half as they increased their lead with the help of a Jack Lillis goal after 35 minutes. Yet Mullinahone, thanks to accurate free-taking by Eoin Kelly kept in close contact before an Eoin Collins goal from a penalty moved Drom five clear with fifteen minutes remaining. Once again, Mullinahone recovered and hit three points on the run, but Drom finished the stronger and Tommy Nolan’s goal set them apart before Mullinahone hit back with a consolation goal by Eoin O’Dwyer.

Jack Lillis was Drom’s top scorer with 1-7 while Eoin Kelly scored 0-10 from frees for Mullinahone and Jack Shelly five from play.

Kiladangan 3-12 Upperchurch/Drombane 2-27

Upperchurch/Drombane pulled out all the stops to outclass Kiladangan in Puckane last Sunday.

In a near perfect performance, the Mid men were deserving winners, but it took a while as they faced a home side that looked excellent in the opening twenty minutes as they secured three brilliant goals through Bryan McLoughney, Sean Hayes, and Joe Gallagher to take a 3-4 to 0-6 lead after seventeen minutes.

However, Upperchurch got their act together and outscored the home-side 1-7 to 0-2 in the final eleven minutes of the half to give them a 1-13 to 3-6 half time lead.

Padraig Greene, who finished the games top scorer on 1-10 was the goal-scorer in the 30th minute and with the help of a second goal by Paul Shanahan in the 35th minute the game became one-way traffic with Padraig Greene increasing his tally from frees as well as from play while centre back Gavin Ryan increased his tally to four from placed balls with Sean Butler and Colin Ryan also on target which made it nine Upperchurch men getting on the scoresheet.

By the three quarter-way mark, Kiladangan, who were short Barry Hogan, James Quigley and both Paul & Alan Flynn had already emptied the subs bench by which time the points were well and truly on its way to the mid Tipp club.

Division 1 Semi-Finals: Borris-Ileigh v Drom & Inch; Toomevara v Clonoulty/Rossmore

DIVISION 2

Group 1

Killenaule 2-20 Eire Og Annacarty 1-22

Killenaule’s one-point win over Eire Og Annacarty on Sunday keeps their hopes of a place in the last four alive for now.

The win gives Killenaule seven points, one behind group winners Eire Og Annacarty but there is one outstanding game between Moycarkey/Borris and St Marys which was played on Tuesday with no result at the time of going to press. Victory for Moycarkey would help them secure second place and into the last four where, should they win, its Roscrea as their opponents in the semi-final.

Portroe 2-22 Clonakenny 2-15

Portroe secured their second win of the league with a seven-point win over Clonakenny in Portroe to helped them finish in fourth place in the group. Portroe led 1-14 to 2-8 at half time. Ruadhan Mulroney was Portroe’s goal scorer after fourteen minutes while Peadar Byrne replied with two goals coming up to halftime.

Group 2

Gortnahoe/Glengoole 2-15 Cashel King Cormacs 0-15

Ronan Teehan scored two goals in the closing minutes of the first half which helped Gortnahoe get over thirteen-man Cashel King Cormacs in Gortnahoe on Sunday.

The first goal came in the 27th minute when brilliant teamwork provided the foundation for the goal. The second came from a close range free and as a result the home side led 2-8 to 0-9 at half time.

The victory sees Gortnahoe in second place on six points, two ahead of Templederry who were defeated by Roscrea on Tuesday evening and miss out on the semi-finals

Carrick Swan 1-24 Holycross Ballycahill 1-18

Carrick Swan caused an upset when they defeated Holycross/Ballycahill at Carrick-on-Suir on Friday evening.

Division 2 Semi-Finals: Eire Og Annacarty v Gortnahoe/Glengoole; Roscrea or Moycarkey/Borris

DIVISION 3

Group 1

Sean Treacys 1-17 Ballina 0-17

A goal in the opening minutes of the second half helped Sean Treacys came from behind to secure a win over Ballina in Kilcommon in Sunday. Ballina led 0-9 to 0-8 at half time.

In the remaining games, Knockavilla Kickhams were too good for home side Moyne Templetuohy 0-23 to 0-15. The win put the victors in third place on five points but not enough to see them deny group leaders Sean Treacys or Ballina

In the third game Newport defeated Ballinahinch 2-14 to 1-12 at Shallee last Sunday. The winners led 1-8 to 0-5 at half time.

Group 2

Lorrha 2-25 Ballingarry 0-18

Lorrha secured top spot in group 2 and with it a home semi-final after pulling away in the closing fifteen minutes to see off Ballingarry at Tony Reddin Park on Sunday.

The sides were evenly matched in the early going before a Cian Hogan goal on ten minutes put the home side on the front foot. Lorrha led 1-12 to 0-7 at half time with Philip Ivors scoring all bar one of Ballingarry’s scores.

Tipp U20 hurler Colm Fogarty was in fine form for Lorrha with five of his eight points coming from play while his brother Chris also contributed five from play, as the home side went ten points clear before Ballingarry got the upper hand with Ivors and subs Eamon Tuohy and Eoghan Pollard helping the visitors to get back within four on 51 minutes but a Cian Hogan point, part of a 1-4 haul, got Lorrha moving again with Martin Gorman scoring the second goal late on for what in the end was a convincing victory.

Silvermines 2-19 Moneygall 3-15

A late gasp goal ensured Silvermines retained hopes of league success while Moneygall miss out on the semi-finals following an absorbing clash in Dolla on Sunday.

Silvermines started brightly with points from Oisin Murphy and Orrie Quirke (2 frees) before Peter Kennedy added another to fire the home side 0-5 to 0-1 clear. Moneygall hit back with a well-taken goal but the ‘Mines responded with efforts from Orrie Quirke and Conor McKelvey.

The sides were level mid-way through the half before a second Moneygall goal edged the visitors three clear, a lead they extended to five in the closing stages of the half to ensure a 2-9 to 0-10 interval lead.

Moneygall added to that lead in the 43rd minute with their third goal but Silvermines responded in kind with Daniel Keogh rattling the net, 3-10 to 1-14. Orrie Quirke added three pointed frees without reply before Bryan Seymour and Michael Corcoran reduced the deficit further as injury time approached.

Silvermines grabbed the all-important score though with Ciaran Timmons finding the back of the Moneygall net with a late goal to ensure a hard-earned win for the home side.

Lorrha finished first on eight points with Burgess and Silvermines joint-second on seven points and as both sides drew their league clash and with score difference being ruled out because of walkovers received, Burgess and Silvermines will play a playoff next weekend to determine who progresses to the semi-finals

Division 3 Semi-Finals: Sean Treacys v Burgess or Silvermines; Lorrha v Ballina

DIVISION 4

Group 1

Table toppers Skeheenarinky and Moyle Rovers made sure of a place in the semi-finals following victories over Ballybacon/Grange and Ballingarry respectively.

Group 2

Boherlahan-Dualla and Borrisokane were already through to the semi-finals no matter what the outcome of their fifth-round games.

Boherlahan defeated fourteen-man Shannon Rovers 1-24 to 1-14 at Boherlahan while Borrisokane drew with Golden-Kilfeacle 1-19 to 2-16 at Golden. Jack Larkin’s goal helped Borrisokane lead 1-8 to 0-10 at half time. Oisin Larkin got the second goal.

Division 4 Semi-Finals: Skeheenarinky v Borrisokane; Boherlahan-Dualla v Moyle Rovers

DIVISION 5

Semi-Final: Upperchurch/Drombane v Mullinahone, winner v Clonoulty/Rossmore in the final

DIVISION 6

Semi-Finals: Killea v Thurles Gaels; Solohead v Knockshegowna