Silvermines fade to St Mary’s

GAA: FBD Insurance County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Quarter Final

St Mary’s 1-18

Silvermines 1-11

Report: Michael Brophy in Holycross

St Mary’s displayed an intense determination in the second half against Silvermines that the North side struggled to match as the Clonmel side secured a place in the last four of the County Premier Intermediate Championship on Sunday.

Trailing by a point but with the breeze to hit their backs in the second half, Silvermines would have been pleased with how the game was going. But St Mary’s limited their usually free-scoring opponents to just four Jason Forde frees in the second half.

St Mary’s outscored the ‘Mines 0-8 to 0-1 in the final quarter, with Tipperary under 20 star Peter McGarry exerting a greater influence in that period. The Clonmel defence was well on top also, and a series of well-taken scores at the other end put the game out of reach for Silvermines.

The expectation going through the gates of Holycross on Sunday was that Seamus Kennedy would pick up his county teammate Jason Forde, but instead James Morris was tasked with marking the Silvermines sharpshooter. While Forde was still highly influential, Morris did an excellent job limiting Forde to one point from play.

St Mary’s started the brighter and when Cathal Deely laid the ball off to the incoming Peter McGarry, he made no mistake in burying the ball past David Shanahan in the sixth minute.

Two Jason Forde points cut the gap to two by the tenth minute, before St Mary’s keeper Enda Dunphy used the breeze to his advantage by belting over the first of two frees from inside his own 45.

Andy Hayden’s point cut the gap again, before Silvermines were awarded a seventeenth minute penalty. Conor McKelvey was dragged down in the square, but Jason Forde’s low strike went to the left of the post.

The ‘Mines would raise a green flag in the 25th minute, however. Luke O’Brien’s pointed effort struck the post, and Conor McKelvey reacted first to the breaking ball before surging through and putting it past Dunphy.

An Orrie Quirke point put Silvermines ahead briefly before Sam Ryan and Ruairi Leahy converted for St Mary’s to secure them a one-point half time lead, 1-8 to 1-7.

Facing the breeze after the interval, St Mary’s tried to offset that Silvermines advantage with greater aggression. Only five frees were scored in the third quarter, three for Forde and two for Sean Kennedy, leaving both sides level at 1-10 apiece.

St Mary’s would hit the next six in a row to put the game out of reach. Two scores from Josh Ryan were followed by a long-range effort from Peter McGarry which hung in the air from the left side-line before falling inches over David Shanahan’s crossbar.

A Forde free closed the gap to five points with five minutes left, but Cathal Deely almost sealed the game shortly afterwards but for a goal bound block by Shanahan.

Silvermines needed goals to rescue the game, but they were getting nothing easy from a Clonmel defence lead powerfully by Jamie Peters and Seamus Kennedy. On three occasions, the ‘Mines were awarded frees near the 21-metre line. All three Forde efforts were blocked and cleared, two by the excellent Dunphy in the St Mary’s goal.

Despite spending most the day anchoring the St Mary’s half-back line, Seamus Kennedy would enjoy one last surge forward to score from midfield and end any doubt about the outcome. The season ends for Silvermines, but for St Mary’s and particularly their football contingent, they still have hope of a county title double.

Player of the Match: Enda Dunphy (St Mary’s)

St Mary’s: Enda Dunphy (0-2f, 8); Joe Gunne (8), Jamie Peters (8), Matt Barlow (7); Tadhg Condon (6), Seamus Kennedy (0-2, 7), James Morris (8); Jason Lonergan (0-1, 7), Sam Ryan (0-1, 6); Gavin Ryan (0-1, 8), Peter McGarry (1-2, 8), Sean Kennedy (0-6f, 7); Cathal Deely (6), Ruairi Leahy (0-1, 6), Josh Ryan (0-2, 7).

Subs: Ross Peters (7) for Leahy (HT); Dean Cagney (6) for G Ryan (53); Richie Gunne (NA) for Barlow (60); Paraic Bond (NA) for J Peters (60+2).

Silvermines: David Shanahan (6); Edward Ryan (7), Ronan Sherlock (8), Tiernan Flynn (6); Luke O’Brien (6), Darragh Nolan (7), Darragh McKelvey (6); Patrick Leamy (6), Michael Corcoran (6); Jason Forde (0-9, 8f) 7), Colin O’Brien (6), Oisin Murphy (7); Andy Hayden (0-1, 7), Conor McKelvey (1-0, 7), Orrie Quirke (0-1, 6).

Subs: Bryan Seymour (6) for Flynn (22); William Keogh (6) for Leamy (45); Noel Quirke (6) for Darragh McKelvey (53); Gerard Leamy (NR) for Murphy (60).

Referee: Peter Carroll (Burgess).