AIB Leinster Club SHC: Ballyhale battle past KK

AIB Leinster Club SHC Quarter-Final

BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS 0-25 KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY 1-18

By Kevin Egan at UPMC Nowlan Park

Shamrocks Ballyhale, Ireland’s most successful hurling club, is back on the hunt for honours in the AIB club championships after they got up and running with a hard-fought win over Kilcormac-Killoughey this afternoon.

Henry Shefflin’s troops were tested to the full by the visiting Offaly club, who brought a ferocious tempo to the game for the first half and shackled most of the Shamrocks forwards, with only Eoin Cody making a strong impression at that end of the field.

The intensity and physicality of the game was reflected in the fact that both clubs had seven first half wides and a handful of efforts dropped short into the bargain, with Charlie Mitchell firing over some excellent points in front the covered stand for Kilcormac-Killoughey.

In the main however, the stars at both ends were defenders, most notably Joey Holden and Jordan Quinn on the edge of the two squares. Quinn held his own against TJ Reid while Holden stood tall in the face of Kilcormac-Killoughey’s bid to try and exploit the aerial ability of Conor Mahon and James Gorman close to goal, also making a superb block to deny Gorman when the full forward was set up by a pinpoint lateral pass from Colin Spain.

Kilcormac-Killoughey did make their breakthrough shortly before the interval when Mahon’s hurl was held by Brian Butler and Adam Screeney despatched the penalty inside Dean Mason’s right-hand post.

Shamrocks hit back with the next two points from Cody and a Reid free, but Gorman’s point with the last puck of the half left it 1-10 to 0-10 at the interval, with no wind advantage to speak of.

The third quarter was a Shamrocks masterclass. They raised their own intensity levels and with that extra yard of space and more judicious shot selection, the inaccuracy that plagued them in the first half faded away. At one stage ten consecutive attempts on goal sailed between the uprights, Adrian and Paddy Mullen now finding their way into the contest with four second half points between them.

Kilcormac-Killoughey struggled to get the type of chances that they fed on for the opening 30 minutes and went 12 minutes into the second half before Daniel Hand won a free that Adam Screeney converted.

By the midway point of the second half Shamrocks had outscored Kilcormac-Killoughey by 0-8 to 0-1 to take a commanding lead and while the remainder of the game was a point-for-point battle, Henry Shefflin’s troops always had that little bit to spare, Conor Slevin keeping Kilcormac-Killoughey hanging on with an outstanding display of freetaking from distance.

Thomas Geraghty and Leigh Kavanagh both came off the bench to strike late points for the midlanders but even then, Ballyhale continued to have the better of things in the middle third, earning the frees that saw TJ Reid bring his tally up to a dozen points by the end.

Scorers for Shamrocks Ballyhale: TJ Reid 0-12 (0-11f), Eoin Cody 0-5, Adrian Mullen 0-3, Paddy Mullen 0-2, Niall Shortall 0-1, Eoin Kenneally 0-1, Ronan Corcoran 0-1.

Scorers for Kilcormac-Killoughey: Adam Screeney 1-5 (1-0 pen, 0-3f), Conor Slevin 0-4f, Charlie Mitchell 0-3, Daniel Hand 0-1, Jack Screeney 0-1, James Gorman 0-1, Conor Mahon 0-1, Leigh Kavanagh 0-1, Thomas Geraghty 0-1.

SHAMROCKS BALLYHALE: Dean Mason; Killian Corcoran, Joey Holden, Brian Butler; Eoin Kenneally, Richie Reid, Evan Shefflin; Liam Barron, Ronan Corcoran; Brian Cody, Eoin Cody, Adrian Mullen; Niall Shortall, TJ Reid, Paddy Mullen.

Subs: Dara Mason for Butler (43), John Fitzpatrick for B Cody (53), Finnian Shefflin for P Mullen (59), Conor Walsh for Barron (60+1), Luke Donnelly for Corcoran (60+3).

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY: Conor Slevin; Tom Spain, Jordan Quinn, James Mahon; Enda Grogan, Cillian Kiely, Brecon Kavanagh; Colin Spain, Damien Kilmartin; Jack Screeney, Adam Screeney, Daniel Hand; Charlie Mitchell, James Gorman, Conor Mahon.

Subs: Alex Kavanagh for Gorman (39), Ter Guinan for Kilmartin (49), Leigh Kavanagh for Hand (55), Thomas Geraghty for Mahon (59), Peter Geraghty for Spain (60+1).

Referee: Pádraig Dunne (Colt GAA, Laois).