Knockout stages set after final round of County Hurling League

By Liam Hogan

Division 1

Group 1

Borris-Ileigh 1-23 Nenagh Eire Og 1-23

In a contest where the winners would make the final, it was Borris-Ileigh who prevailed over Nenagh Eire Og despite being held to draw in Borrisoleigh on Sunday.

Very little separated the teams from start to finish. Borris-Ileigh went 0-4 to 0-3 in front after ten minutes and approaching half time Nenagh took a two point lead thanks to a Ben West goal. Borris came back quickly with Jerry Kelly finding the net and the teams were level at half time, 1-11 each.

After the break Borris-Ileigh took the initiative in the opening minutes before the game entered a lull for ten minutes or so. Then the final ten minutes produced a flurry of scores with Nenagh taking a three point advantage, but Borris-Ileigh finished strongly in added time as Patrick Ryan scored from placed balls including the equaliser on full time.

Clonoulty/Rossmore 1-15 Drom & Inch 0-23

Drom & Inch produced the goods in the second half to register their second win of the league when defeating Clonoulty/Rossmore at Dillon Quirke Park on Sunday.

Clonoulty led at half time 1-9 to 0-11 thanks to a goal by Jimmy Maher in the 20th minute. After the break, Drom took control with David Collins 0-10 (6f), Tony Cahill 0-3 and David Butler (0-3) the chief architects of their win. Stephen Ferncombe scored 0-7 (5f) for Clonoulty.

The Thurles Sarsfields v Kilruane MacDonaghs game was postponed.

Group 2

Moycarkey/Borris 0-17 Toomevara 3-24

Mark McCarthy scored 1-7 (0-5f), Alan Ryan 2-2 with Kevin McCarthy and Austin Duff scoring three points each as Toomevara turned the second half into a procession in emphatically beating Moycarkey/Borris in Littleton on Friday.

Toomevara led 1-11 to 0-10 at half time with McCarthy scoring the goal. The second half was one sided and Toome’s best performance in the league as they won twice and drew once to finish third in the group. Kyle Shelly was Moycarkey’s top scorer with five points from frees while Pat Molloy and Kieran Cummins scored 0-3 each.

Lorrha 2-16 JK Brackens 0-26

JK Brackens emerged from the winner-takes-all clash with Lorrha at Tony Reddin Park on Sunday to finish top of group 2 and progress to the semi-final.

In a well-contested game between two sides that will meet in the county championship group stage later in the year, Lorrha shaded the opening half, leading 0-11 to 0-10 at the break. Eoin McIntyre was to the fore early, but injury curtailed him after a bright start and Lorrha missed his pace through the middle, but his brother Niall and well as Colm Fogarty were to the fore for the hosts while JK Brackens were lively with their quick passing with Conor Cadell, Ciaran O’Shea and Paddy Cadell landing good scores.

Lorrha began the second half brightly as a Donnacha O’Meara whizzed a shot over the bar as the home side carried the greater goal threat whereas Brackens pointed their way to victory with Shane Doyle top-scoring with twelve points (10 frees) while Stephen Cahill and Eanna McBride were also influential as eleven different scorers got on the scoresheet for the visitors.

Brackens had forged eight clear, but Lorrha finally scored the goals they were threatening in the 54th & 59th minutes from Colm Fogarty (1-10, 0-7f) and Niall McIntyre (1-1) which brought them back within two points. Lorrha needed to win to progress to the semi-final, however, Brackens held their nerve to score two late points to seal the win.

Roscrea 1-21 Kiladangan 2-23

Fielding a much stronger team than in previous rounds, Kiladangan produced their best display of the league when defeating Roscrea at St Cronan’s Park on Sunday.

Never more than three points separated the teams in the opening half with the sides level on seven occasions.

Jason Gilmartin’s goal in the fourth minute brought parity for the first time before points by Shane Fletcher, Evan Fitzpatrick and Darragh Tynan had Roscrea three clear by the tenth minute.

The lead lasted no length as Dan O’Meara levelled with Kiladangan’s first goal and they went two clear, 1-6 to 1-4, on the quarter hour. Scores were coming fast as lead changed hands frequently but reaching half time it was 1-12 each.

Scores were level for the eighth time after Conor Sheedy matched Joe Gallagher in the third minute of the second half before Kiladangan took the initiative when taking a three point lead on two occasions, the second in the 47th minute when Conor Byrne made it 1-20 to 1-17.

Leigh Loughnane brought the margin back to two before Conor Culhane struck a goal and there was no way back for Roscrea. Kiladangan had ten scorers with Byrne hitting 0-6 (4f). Both Neil Cahalan and Paul Flynn scored 0-4 each while Dara O’Dwyer picked up 0-3. Roscrea had eleven scorers including Luke Cashin 0-7 (6f), Dan Ryan 0-3.

Group 3

Cashel King Cormacs 2-23 CJ Kickhams Mullinahone 1-16

Cashel King Cormacs closed out their final game of the league with a good win over Mullinahone at sun soaked Leahy Park, on Sunday.

A prelude to a championship meeting between the sides in a few months’ time, it produced a high scoring encounter mixed with a few fractious moments at times. Half time saw Cashel in control 1-15 to 1-6.

The second half was much the same as Cashel were finding the target with ease putting up an impressive tally of 2-23 with Devon Ryan top scoring with 1-6.

Elsewhere, Holycross/Ballycahill confirmed top spot in the group and progress to a semi-final when they defeated neighbours Upperchurch/Drombane on Friday evening, while on the same day, Carrick Swan edged out Loughmore/Castleiney by a point.

Borris-Ileigh progress to the final, awaiting the winners of the semi-final between JK Brackens and Holycross/Ballycahill.

Division 2

Group 1

Burgess 4-25 Templederry Kenyons 1-23

Burgess completed their league campaign with an eleven point win over Templederry Kenyons in Kilcoleman on Sunday.

Burgess started well with Sean Dunne hitting the net after fifteen minutes followed by David Nealon goal two minutes later. On twenty minutes it was the turn of Eoin Hogan for goal number three, but Templederry fought back with a goal in the 28th minute to leave the half time score, 3-10 to 1-13.

Sean Dunne scored his second goal seven minutes into the second half and some well scored frees from Eoin Grace sealed the deal.

Ballina 0-21 Killenaule 1-21

A late flurry of scores helped Killenaule reach the semi-finals when defeating Ballina at Ballina on Sunday.

Both teams were neck and neck throughout with a Tom Stakelum goal for the visitors the difference between the sides at half time, 1-13 to 0-13. Ballina took the initiative in the third quarter, but Killenaule finished the stronger scoring four points in the last six minutes to see them finish second in the group behind Gortnahoe/Glengoole and a place in the semi-finals.

Ballina had eight different scorers including Matthew Power on 0-8 (7f) and Paddy Bradley scoring three points before Killenaule pulled away in the end.

Group 2

Moneygall 5-19 Eire Og Annacarty/D 1-21

Moneygall beat Eire Og Annacarty in the last round of the County League in Moneygall on Friday evening.

Paddy Fogarty’s goal in the opening minutes gave Moneygall a slight advantage and by half time they led 1-11 to 1-10. Annacarty took the lead after half time and held the advantage for much of the third quarter before Moneygall pulled away thanks to goals by Cian Ryan and Adam Hogan (penalty). Moneygall were to the fore now and late goals by Tadgh Whyte and Niall Maher gave the black & red a convincing win and finish with five points and third spot in the group.

Silvermines 0-20 Moyne-Templetuohy 1-21

A goal by Tipperary’s Conor Bowe in the 38th minute helped Moyne-Templetuohy overcome Silvermines in a dead-rubber round five encounter in Dolla on Sunday.

Silvermines found themselves behind in the early stages but three points (two frees) from Conor McKelvey brought them to within one point by the 12th minute. The visitors, who had a full complement of players including Bowe and Gearoid O’Connor, kicked on again to open three-point gap but back came the ‘Mines to restore parity on 28 minutes with a Bryan Seymour point, before adding three further points to lead at the break 0-11 to 0-9. The sides went score for score in the opening minutes of the second half before Moyne-Templetuohy seized the initiative with the game’s only goal in the 38th minute.

Silvermines pegged the deficit back to just a solitary point on a number of occasions in the closing quarter but two late points in injury time copper-fastened a hard-fought win for the Mid side.

Boherlahan-Dualla 0-17 St Mary’s 0-14

Boherlahan-Dualla secured top spot in group 2 after edging out previously unbeaten St Mary’s in Boherlahan on Sunday, however both teams progress to the semi-finals where Boherlahan-Dualla will host Killenaule while St Mary’s travel to Gortnahoe/Glengoole.

Division 3

Group 1

Sean Treacys 1-15 Ballingarry 3-17

Ballingarry travelled to Kilcommon and came away with not only two valuable league points but a place in the semi-finals along with Thurles Sarsfields who routed Cappawhite.

Group 2

Newport 2-24 Knockavilla-D Kickhams 1-18

Newport made sure of a place in the semi-finals when they defeated Knockavilla Kickhams in their fifth round encounter at Lacken Park on Sunday. It was Kickhams who started best with Stephen Browne scoring a goal. Both sides exchanged scores before a goal by Colin Floyd gave the home side a 1-13 to 1-12 lead at half time.

Newport continued on the front foot with seven points from frees by Cillian Collins and two each from Pa Ryan, Callum Poole, and Pa Ryan. Shane Buckley replied with five points from play to bring Kickhams back in contention before Newport doubled their goal count when Oran Connors finished to the net to seal the win.

Borrisokane 1-17 Shannon Rovers 0-18

With nine players on the scoresheet, Borrisokane did enough to win their second league win when defeating near neighbours Shannon Rovers in a dead rubber game at sunny Gardiner Park, Borrisokane last Sunday.

This was in contrast to Shannon Rovers who had Conal Moran in brilliant form scoring 0-17 (14f, 1’65) and his accuracy had the Reds 0-4 to 0-1 lead after six minutes. However, Borrisokane won the next twenty minutes 1-7 to 0-4 with Gordon Harding’s goal in the fourteenth minute helping the home side take a 1-9 to 0-10 lead at half time. Scores were level for the fourth and last time, 0-12 to 1-9 with 35 minutes gone, before four unanswered points by Jack Larkin, Seosamh Cleary and two frees from Garry Ryan (top scorer, 0-6, 5f) gave Borrisokane some breathing space.

Yet, Rovers refused to yield as Moran continued his remarkable return, but Michael Heenan kept Borris in front with his third point as Borris led by a point 1-16 to 0-18 and seven minutes remaining before Philip Austin raised one last white flag to give the home-side the league points.

Elsewhere, Portroe, already qualified as group winners, received a walkover from Moyle Rovers. Portroe will host Ballingarry in a semi-final while Newport travel to Thurles Sarsfields in the other.

Division 4

The outstanding game between Holycross/Ballycahill v St Patrick’s this Friday will determine the final group standings and which team goes straight to the final and the two teams who will contest the semi-final.

Division 5

Kilruane MacDonaghs wrapped up their County League campaign with their third victory when they got the better of Boherlahan-Dualla in MacDonagh Park 3-21 to 2-17.

Two goals in the first quarter from Niall Shinners and Michael Cleary helped the home side into a 2-12 to 1-7 interval lead. A third goal from Conor Doheny in the 42nd minute put them in control, and the visitors couldn't bridge the gap in the final quarter.

Cahir were winners of group 1 and go straight to the final while Carrick Swan will play Ballingarry in the semi-final.

Division 6

Rosegreen and Knockshegowna continued their dominant campaigns so far with big wins at the weekend and look in good shape to reach a final.