Intermediate Hurling Championship Round-up

By Liam Hogan

Group 1: Cappawhite 0-31 Portroe 3-17

Cappawhite amassed a massive total of 31 points in getting past Portroe in a high scoring contest in Newport on Friday evening.

The West champions played with the wind in the first half but struggled to find their range with a number of wides early on. After fifteen minutes the scores were tied at 0-6 each.

Cappa settled and scored three points in as many minutes, but Portroe hit their first goal when Mark Gennery played in John Sheedy to score. Cappawhite responded well with four on the bounce and would lead by three at the break, 0-16 to 1-10.

Portroe won the throw-in and wing back Colm Gleeson went straight through the Cappawhite defence for a goal to level things up. Portroe were dealt a blow when Mark Gennery was sent off for an off the ball incident. Cappawhite went into a four point lead after this through Brendan Murphy, Conor Martin, and Sam Carmody but Portroe won a 21 yard free which John Sheedy hammered to the back of the net and there was only one in it with 22 minutes to play.

Tipp under 20 star Martin led the way with nine points from play. Dara McCarthy did well while a point by Willie Barry helped move Cappawhite five up. Portroe though were sticky and hung on but Cappawhite with nine players making the scoresheet hung on by five finishing strongly.

Elsewhere in group 1, Skeheenarinky were 2-20 to 0-17 point winners over Moyle Rovers.

Cappawhite scorers: Conor Martin 0-9; Willie Barry 0-7 (4 frees); David Buckley 0-4; Dara McCarthy 0-3; Cian O’Carroll, Sam Carmody, Brendan Murphy 0-2 each; Gearoid Lennon, Ben White 0-1 each.

Portroe scorers: John Sheedy 2-8 (1-6 frees), Conor O'Brien 0-3; Colm Gleeson 1-0; Robert Byrne 0-2; Sam Madden, Kevin O'Halloran (free), Oisin O'Connor, Cian Hogan 0-1 each.

Group 3: Borrisokane 2-20 Arravale Rovers 1-21

Gary Ryan scored 1-1 in injury time to see Borrisokane over the line to defeat Arravale Rovers in Templederry on Saturday evening.

The centre forward had just moved to the edge of the square before taking hold of the game and giving Borris two valuable points.

The winners enjoyed a 1-13 to 0-10 half time lead with Philip Austin the goal-scorer. Michael Heenan and Oisin Larkin were well on target from general play. But with Tipp star Johnny Ryan doing well on the Arravale half back line the fightback began and the accuracy of Orrin Jones 0-13 (9 frees) was to good effect and a goal by Conal Donovan in the 49th minute had the West-men in a good position until Ryan won the game for the Northmen.

In the other Group 3 game, Newport were upset 3-20 to 1-23 by Carrick Davins in Golden on Sunday evening, with Newport now facing a must-win clash with Arravale Rovers in round 2.

Group 4: Kilsheelan/Kilcash 5-17 Shannon Rovers 2-13

It was a game of two halves with South champions Kilsheelan/Kilcash taking over in the second half to defeat North champions Shannon Rovers in Templetuohy on Saturday evening.

The Rovers dominated the opening seventeen minutes as goals by Austin Tierney (7th) and Alan Hogan (17th) helped them to a 2-5 to 0-5 lead. Alan Hogan would score 1-1 in that sequence as John O’Meara, Eamon Hough, Marcus Esmonde, and Conal Moran (free) enhanced the total with five white flags.

Kilsheelan’s Tommy O’Conner had kept the South champions in the frame as he chipped in with three frees while Mickey McGuire and the excellent Jamie Roche adding a point from play.

However, the ten minutes approaching half time saw Kilsheelan slowly eat into the deficit with O’Connor unerring from placed balls, including a 65, after Rover’s keeper Vincent Mulvihill had produced a great save, 2-6 to 0-9 at the break.

The second half was just twenty seconds old when the towering Michael Freaney found the back of the Rovers net. They took the lead through Liam Freaney, but Rovers responded with three points from Alan Hogan, Eamon Hough, and Austin Tierney.

In the 37th minute, Kilsheelan regained the lead after Senan Butler sped through the Rovers cover to score a goal. Conal Moran levelled with a free before Liam Freaney edged Kilsheelan in front before they had their third goal after Jamie Roche fired home in the 42nd minute.

Kilsheelan were edging away and the lead stretched to six after another O’Connor free plus two Liam Freaney points from play inter-mingled with a Conal Moran free.

The Rovers battled on, but scores were coming much easier at the other end and goals by Liam Freaney (52nd) and Jamie Roche on the hour mark put clear daylight between the teams/

Kilsheelan looked ahead to their next game when taking on Golden Kilfeacle who secured a 3-25 to 0-15 win over Ballybacon/Grange who will be Shannon Rovers next opponents.

Kilsheelan/Kilcash scorers: Tommy O’Connor 0-9 (7 frees, 1’65); Jamie Roche 2-2; Liam Freaney 1-4; Michael Freaney 1-1; Senan Butler 1-0; Michael McGuire 0-1.

Shannon Rovers scorers: Conal Moran 0-6 (3 frees, 2’65); Alan Hogan 1-2; Austin Tierney 1-1; Eamon Hough 0-2; John O’Meara, Marcus Esmonde 0-1 each.