Reigning Senior Hurling Champions Coolderry were well and truly beaten by last years beaten finalists St Rynagh’s in St Brendan’s Pk this afternoon, while Kinnitty staged a remarkable comeback to edge past Shinrone in the opening quarter-final at Birr.
Kinnitty 2-20 Shinrone 2-18
Playing with the aid of a gale Shinrone dominated the early exchanges and thanks to a Jason Sampson goal were 1-5 to 0-0 ahead after 15 minutes. Colm Coughlan kept Kinnitty in touch with some good scores, but by half time Shinrone had built up an 11 point lead 1-14 to 0-6.
On the resumption Kinnitty hit four unanswered points in as many minutes to cut the deficit to seven. Both sides then swapped points before John Paul Cleary rattled the Kinnitty net to leave his side 2-15 to 0-11 with sixteen minutes to play. Kinnitty refused to die however, and thanks mainly to the accuracy of Colm Coughlan had the deficit down to three points 2-17 to 0-20 as the game entered the 60th minute. The Shane Kinsella goaled to level matters and extra time looked a distinct possibility. Shinrone then edged back in front in the 61st minute, but a minute later Willie Molloy got on the end of high delivery and deflated the ball to the Shinrone net to give Kinnitty a first semi-final spot since 2010.
Kinnitty: Kevin O’Connor, Keith Bergin 0-1, Paddy Rigney, Patrick Delaney, Brian Coughlan 0-2, James Dempsey, Willie Molloy 1-0, Bryan Donnelly, Matthew McRedmond, Shane Kinsella 1-1, Liam Bergin, Aodán Kealey, Seanie Carroll, Colm Coughlan 0-13 (0-10f), Odhrán Kealey 0-1 Subs: James Hardiman 0-1 for McRedmond, Christopher Leonard for Bryan Donnelly, John Molloy for Liam Bergin
Shinrone: Shane Sampson, Mark Morkan, Daniel Doughan, Denis Coonan, Shane McKelvey, Conor Doughan 0-5 (0-4f, 0-1 65’), Michael Cleary, Joe Cleary 0-1, Michael Cordial 0-1 (sideline), Donal Morkan 0-4(f), Declan Cleary, Sean Cleary 0-3, Adrian Cleary 0-2, John Paul Cleary 1-1, Jason Sampson 1-0 Subs: Ciaran Cleary 0-1 for Declan Cleary, Eoin Carroll for Shane McKelvey, Darren Crean for Adrian Cleary
Ref: Shane Guinan (Drumcullen)
St Rynagh’s 0-27 Coolderry 0-17
A late flurry from Coolderry twelve months ago saw them wrestle the county final from St Rynagh’s, but today there was only one team in it as St Rynagh’s breezed past the Champions into the semi-final. Coolderry had the wind the opening half and were 0-4 to 0-1 ahead after seven minutes. But that was as good as it got for the holders of The Sean Robbins as St Rynagh’s gradually took control of the game and dominated in most positions. The writing was on the wall at half time as St Rynagh’s went in leading 0-12 to 0-10 with wind advantage to come.
On the resumption St Rynagh’s always looked in control, although to their credit Coolderry never threw in the towel. There was still only five points in it with 15 minutes to go 0-20 to 0-15, but Rynagh’s, for whom 11 different players scored, piled on the pressure to outscore Coolderry 0-7 to 0-2 in the final quarter. In the final act of the game Conor Clancy saved a Brian Carroll penalty.
St Rynagh’s: Conor Clancy, Daniel Maloney 0-1, Dermott Shortt, Sean Kenny, Ben Conneely, Aidan Treacy 0-3 (0-2f, 0-1 65’), Pat Camon 0-2, Joseph O’Connor 0-1, Gary Kelly 0-1, Paul Quirke 0-3, Garry Conneely 0-1, Ronan Hughes 0-1, Niall Wynne, Sean Dolan 0-2, Matthew Maloney 0-11 (0-7f) Subs: Ger Scales 0-1 for Quirke, Nigel White for Ronan Hughes
Coolderry: Stephen Corcoran, Brendan O’Meara, Trevor Corcoran, Kevin Teehan, Alan Corcoran, Kevin Brady, Mark Bergin, David King 0-1, Barry Teehan 0-1, Eoin Ryan, Brian Carroll 0-9 (f), William Malone, Kevin Connolly 0-3, Joe Brady 0-1, Daniel Miller 0-2 Subs: Stephen Connolly for B O’Meara, Martin Corcoran for Malone, Andy Connolly for Miller, Declan Parlon for T Corcoran
Ref: Kieran Dooley (Drumcullen)
By Offaly PRO Sun 11th Sep
