County Hurling League Round 4 Review

By Liam Hogan

DIVISION 1

Group 1

Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-24 Thurles Sarsfields 0-19

Clonoulty Rossmore did enough to stake two valuable league points when they defeated Thurles Sarsfields at Dillon Quirke Park last Wednesday.

An even first half saw Clonoulty take a 0-14 to 0-10 half time lead. Scores remained close in the third quarter before Clonoulty took the initiative thanks to a Michael Ryan (W) goal after a well-worked move from the backline. Ryan went on to score 1-4 before coming off injured with a hand injury. Stephen Ferncombe was top scorer on 0-10 (7f) with Cathal Bourke scoring 0-4 as Sean O’Connor, Jack Ryan, Tommy Ryan, Danny Slattery, and Nathan Slattery each scored.

Tommy Doyle picked up three points from play for Thurles while Stephen Cahill, Liam McCormack, Paddy Creedon, Eoin Purcell, and Jack Lanigan (frees) each scored for the mid men.

Nenagh Eire Og 1-26 Kilruane MacDonaghs 1-23

In a North Championship dress-rehearsal, Nenagh Eire Og got the better of Kilruane MacDonaghs in Nenagh on Friday evening.

Nenagh came out all guns blazing and led 0-12 to 1-1 after twelve minutes with seven different players on the scoresheet. Kilruane’s goal came courtesy of Thomas Cleary after five minutes. After the early blitz, Kilruane, with the help of a couple of frees, managed to come within four points of the leaders at half time, 1-11 to 0-18.

Kilruane opened the second half scoring with a point from a free, but Adam Carey replied with a goal. Kilruane then found their groove and scored six unanswered points making it 1-18 apiece. By the 48th minute Kilruane had edged out in front, but Nenagh made several substitutions, and they made an impact with Jamie Cottrell getting two points with further points by Sean Phelan, Mason Cawley along with Mikey Heffernan’s accuracy on the frees.

With Nenagh holding a three point advantage a close range free by Willie Cleary was saved as Nenagh held on to win by three.

Borris-Ileigh 1-25 Drom & Inch 1-16

Paddy Ryan scored 1-10 (0-8 frees) as Borris-Ileigh produced the goods in the second half when defeating rivals Drom & Inch in Borrisoleigh on Saturday.

The winners remain unbeaten with full points from four games.

They didn’t have things all their way and were level at half time, 0-10 each. In the second half, they ran away with Ryan on song as he scored their only goal. Jerry Kelly was in fine form also as he raised seven white flags with Sean McCormack adding three.

David Collins was Drom’s top scorer on 0-10 (9f) as they could only muster six points in the second half with Joey Maher grabbing a late consolation goal.

Group 2

Kiladangan 1-10 Lorrha 5-16

Lorrha recorded an emphatic victory over Kiladangan in a one-sided clash at a wet Puckane on Thursday.

The hosts were very much short-handed, as on top of their three Tipperary panellists with Alan Flynn, Joe Gallagher, Sean Hayes, and David Sweeney among those missing from the line-up. Despite this they created good goal chances early, including Conor Culhane who was denied by Michael Kennedy.

Lorrha’s first goal came on thirteen minutes from Eoin McIntyre, but Culhane cancelled it out a minute later. Colm Fogarty scored Lorrha’s second goal on nineteen minutes as the visitors took complete control up to half time with Fogarty scoring a superb second goal on 21 minutes before playing in Donnacha O’Meara for their fourth on 26 minutes to help them to a 4-10 to 1-6 half time lead.

The game petered out as a contest in the second half as Kiladangan managed just four points while Lorrha added a modest 1-6 with O’Meara getting his second goal with Colm Fogarty bringing his tally to 2-6 (0-6 frees), as well as shooting six wides. Niall McIntyre (0-3) and Conor Hogan were others to impress for Lorrha.

Moycarkey/Borris 0-19 Roscrea 0-14

A strong second half performance helped Moycarkey/Borris to a five point win over Roscrea at a wet Littleton on Friday.

Roscrea started the better against the breeze and scored four points inside two minutes with Kenny Lee, Dan Ryan, Leigh Loughnane and Conor Dooley on target. However, Moycarkey got into the game and Kyle Shelly’s accuracy from frees helped bring them level at half time at 0-10 each.

Moycarkey continued to hold a grip on the game as Kyle Shelly continued with accuracy from frees 0-12 (10 frees) while Bill Flanagan, Joe Doran, and Jack Hayes who finished with three points were also on target.

Such was their dominance that Roscrea were restricted to just four points from frees with Lee Cashin on song. Cashin scored 0-6 in total including 0-5 frees and a sideline ball.

Elsewhere, JK Brackens defeated Toomevara 1-22 to 0-20 in Toomevara on Friday with Brackens and Lorrha set for a winner-takes-all clash in round 5 to progress to the semi-final.

Group 3

Cashel King Cormacs 1-25 Holycross/Ballycahill 1-28

A more experienced Holycross/Ballycahill pulled away in the final ten minutes to see them win by three points over Cashel King Cormacs in Leahy Park on Friday and take pole position at the top of group 3.

The sides went toe to toe in the opening half with Cashel taking a 1-14 to 1-13 half time lead thanks to a splendid Devon Ryan (1-8) goal from a free.

The second half was more of the same until Holycross used their experience in pulling ahead close to the end. Cashel now rest in second place and meet Mullinahone in their final game. Holycross face Loughmore/Castleiney.

DIVISION 2

Group 1

Templederry Kenyons 4-12 Gortnahoe/Glengoole 4-33

The umpires had a busy evening at a sunny Kenyon Park on Saturday as Gortnahoe/Glengoole inflicted a nineteen-point win over the home side.

Templederry’s Colm Murray opened the scoring, but the visitors scored 2-7 without reply in the twelve minutes. Keane Hayes who was the winners top scorer with 1-12 (0-5f) scoring the first goal with Darragh Maher the second.

Templederry began their recovery and goals by Colm Murray (free) and Tom Ryan before half time with Gortnahoe taking a 2-21 to 2-8 lead to the break.

Templederry began the second half on a positive note, but Gortnahoe hit 1-4 with Jack Moore scoring the goal. An Eanna Murray goal from a close range free sparked a brief revival as Templederry got their fourth goal through substitute John Kennedy to leave them trailing by thirteen. However, Gortnahoe were the masters and their fourth goal by Darragh Maher in the 57th minute meant they stay top of the table and on course for a semi-final.

Ballina 2-20 Burgess 3-16

Ballina came from behind to beat neighbours Burgess by the narrowest of margins in Ballina on Saturday.

The visitors started brightest with two early goals, but Ballina soon hit back with goals by Luke Power (1-1) and Matthew Power (1-9) to help take a half time lead of 2-9 to 2-6.

An early second half goal brought Burgess level and the teams went point for point and approaching the end it was Burgess who led by the narrowest of margins before Ballina emerged winners thanks to back to back points by Jack Collins and Matthew Power from a free.

Ballina will meet Killenaule in their final game with the winners taking outright second and a place in the semi-finals.

Killenaule 3-32 Clonakenny 1-13

Killenaule easily defeated Clonakenny in Killenaule on Saturday.

The winners boasted nine different scorers and led 1-13 to 0-8 at half time with all bar one of the scores coming from play. Gus Browne was the goal-scorer. The one-way traffic continued in the second half with Mark Stakelum scoring two more goals which brought his tally to 2-4 from play and his team’s top scorer.

Group 2

Moneygall 0-20 Moyne-Templetuohy 2-14

Moneygall and Moyne-Templetuohy played out an exciting draw in Moneygall on April 15th last.

Moneygall led 0-8 to 0-2 after fifteen minutes with Eoghan Doughan prominent. A goal for the visitors halved the deficit on fifteen minutes but the teams added six points each in the second quarter to leave the half time score at 0-14 to 1-11.

A Paul Maher goal early in the second half brought the sides level. Moneygall, with Adam Hogan on frees plus Eoghan Doughan scoring from play, worked themselves a three point advantage by the 50th minute. However, Moyne clawed the deficit back and the sides were level on the hour. Both teams had further chances in injury time with Moneygall needing Cathal Greene to save a 65 near the crossbar to secure the draw.

Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill 1-16 Boherlahan-Dualla 2-13

Eire Og Annacarty and Boherlahan-Dualla played out an exciting draw in Annacarty on Saturday.

With the two teams due to face off in the county championship, it served as an appetiser for what will happen later in the year. The home side were poor in the opening twenty minutes and a goal by James Kirby helped Boherlahan ease into the lead, 1-8 to 0-4. A Daragh Kelly goal on 25 minutes brought Eire Og back into the game as Boherlahan held on to lead 1-11 to 1-7 at half time.

On the resumption, Eire Og were the busier and were level at 1-11 each by the 42nd minute thanks to Aidan Griffin frees and Dinny Crosse from play. Each side took turns in taking the lead in the closing stages with Martin Paul grabbing another Boherlahan goal before points by Paidi Bradshaw and Paul Downey ensured a point for the home side.

Moyne-Templetuohy 0-17 St Mary’s 1-28

Moyne-Templetuohy were in action again last Saturday when their injury hit side were no match for a very confident St Marys side in Templetuohy.

The home side made an impressive start in the first half but by half time the margin was down to the minimum – 0-9 to 0-10. The visitors got on top early in second half and looked comfortable thereafter with Peter McGarry leading the way and a goal, late on, confirmed their superiority.

DIVISION 3

Group 1

Sean Treacys upset the formbook when they defeated Golden Kilfeacle 1-17 to 1-16 at Golden last Thursday.

Meanwhile, Cappawhite gave themselves a chance of a knockout spot when they defeated Ballingarry 1-17 to 1-15 on Cappawhite on Saturday.

Three games remain and each of the five teams in the group has an outside chance of making the top two.

Group 2

Shannon Rovers 4-16 Moyle Rovers 0-16

Shannon Rovers maintained their one hundred percent winning run at home and their second win in total as they were too good for Moyle Rovers in Ballinderry on Saturday.

After a scrappy first half, Rovers, while playing with the breeze, managed to take a 1-8 to 0-5 lead at half time with Andy Byrne scoring the goal.

Scoring chances remained difficult in the windy conditions but Shannon Rovers slowly took command as goals by Andy Loughnane and Matt Tierney gave the home side breathing room with an injury time goal by Eamon Hough concluding the scoring.

Portroe took first place after defeating Knockavilla Kickhams in Portroe on April 18th while last Saturday, Newport defeated Borrisokane 2-19 to 2-18 at Gardiner Park.

Two points separate the top four teams going into the final round with Portroe, Newport, Shannon Rovers and Knockavilla Kickhams in contention for the two knockout positions.

Division 5

Kilruane MacDonaghs lost 0-25 to 4-9 against Cahir at Tomas MacDonagh Park on Saturday.

Kilruane trailed 0-10 to 1-3 at the break with Michael Hennelly scoring the goal in the tenth minute. Despite second-half goals from Páidí Williams (two frees) and Kevin Shinners, the visitors emerged deserving winners.

Division 6

Knockshegowna had a good win over Thurles Gaels in Ballingarry last Saturday. They led 4-5 to 1-2 at half time and continued in their ascendency by adding eleven points to win 4-16 to 1-9. They face Clerihan in their next game before the semi-finals.