Pictured, from left, are Séamus Birch of Waterford, Vinnie O'Grady of Kilkenny Black, Aidan O'Brien of Kilkenny Amber, Paul Nolan of Tipperary Gold, Liam Kiernan of Cork City and Noel Cahill of Cork East at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge 2019 at the EPIC Museum, CHQ Building in Dublin.
Cork City continued their winning streak in Group C of the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge this week as they overcame Tipperary Gold in Golden.
Meanwhile, Kilkenny Black returned to winning ways with a strong victory over Waterford.
In the group's final game of the week, East Cork came over Kilkenny Amber on a scoreline of 1-18 to 2-12.
Read our round-up from Group E below.
Cork City 1-17 Tipperary Gold 1-13
By Fergus McGrath
Cork City enjoyed a well-deserved away win over Tipperary Gold in this fourth round Celtic Challenge game in Golden on Wednesday night. Although the home side took an early lead the visitors were quick to settle and thanks in the main to the accuracy of Dylan Long from frees they went into a lead that they were not to relinquish.
The Tipperary Gold forwards were finding it difficult to penetrate the Cork City defence in the first half and on the occasions that they did Kieran Lyons, David Barry, Christy McDonagh raised white flags from play as did the midfield duo of Francis Delaney and Brian Óg O’ Dwyer to leave the half time score Cork City 0-09 Tipperary Gold 0-08.
Further Cork City points early in the second half from Dylan Long and a goal from their centre forward extended the Cork lead. A purple patch from Tipperary Gold which consisted of strong defensive play from Cathal O’ Mahony and Dara Ryan and scores from Dan Moloney (1-01), Jamie Holloway (0-01) and Christy McDonagh (0-01) then brought the Tipp lads right back into contention. A swift response which resulted in points from the Cork City forwards put the Cork lads back in the driving seat again.
Now five points down and with time running out Tipperary Gold came looking for a goal. Despite piling on a lot of pressure the home side could not get through to raise the green flag that they needed and instead had to settle for a point from the hard-working Sean Leahy. Cork City ultimately held out to claim the spoils by a margin of four points. Cathal O’ Mahony was awarded the Best & Fairest award for Tipperary Gold.
KILKENNY BLACK 2-12 WATERFORD 0-13
By Ciarán Boyle
Kilkenny took the spoils this time round in what was a closely fought encounter for much of the game. It was Ciarán Phelan who would prove the difference between the sides with a superb display from corner forward.
The Nore-siders were quickest out of the blocks in the early stages when their best and fairest Ciarán Phelan netted a goal for the opening score of the game. Waterford did eventually settle with points from Nioclás Breathnach and Lee Hearne making it 0-02 to 1-01.
Phelan’s early goal was the difference between the two sides at half-time with the Cats leading 1-05 to 0-05 at the break. After the break, Waterford were rejuvenated and significantly upped their work-rate. Both sides exchanged points in the opening minutes with the Kilkenny men leading 1-07 to 0-06. Waterford would then score four unanswered points to level proceedings.
The game was score for score heading into the last ten minutes. With everyone in the crowd on the edge of their seats at this point, Waterford went into the lead by a point and for the first time in the game were ahead from a Padraig Hynes free. However, the rampant speedster, Ciarán Phelan, broke Waterford hearts netting a second goal to shift the momentum in his side’s favour. Kilkenny went on to add another three points without reply in the closing stages winning by a margin of five points.
Kilkenny Black: Michael Kirwan, Naoise Dempsey; Liam Lacey; Adam O’ Connor; Sean O’ Keefe (0-1); Ruaidhri Delaney; Sean O’ Dwyer; Charlie Nolan; Padraig Lennon; Rory O’Connor (0-6, 5f); Brendan Wheeler (0-1); Darragh Mason (0-1); Ciarán Phelan (2-2); Eoin O’Brien; Evan Buggy. Subs: Jimmy O’ Neill; Neil Moriarty; George O’ Connor; Tom Brennan (0-1); Cathal Norton
Waterford: Fionn O’ Gorman; Mike Halley; Conor Howard; Tom Dalton; David O’ Connor; Colin Foley; Jack Byrne; Archie Walsh (Capt.); Cian Carroll; Nioclás Breathnach (0-1); Tireoghan Flynn (0-1); Cathal Daly; Padraig Hynes (0-6, 4f); Mark Dalton (0-1); Lee Hearne (0-3, 2f).Subs Conor Phelan (0-1); Brendan Flynn; Ely Cullen; Cormac Rooney; Cormac Dawson; William Beresford; Phelim Jennings; Oisin Jennings
Pictured, from left, Jamie Behan of Carlow, Shane Browne of Wicklow Blue, Evan O'Brien of Kildare Lilywhites, Drew Hamilton of Meath and Eamon Cunneen of Westmeath at the launch of the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge 2019 at the EPIC Museum, CHQ Building in Dublin.
The Bank Of Ireland Celtic Challenge saw just one game occur in Group D this week as Westmeath made it two wins from three with a victory over Kildare Lilywhites.
WESTMEATH 4-20 KILDARE LILYWHITES 0-5
By Michael Lawlor
Westmeath produced another fine display to see off Kildare Lilywhites in the fourth round of Group D in the Celtic Challenge competition.
Westmeath got off to a bright start and early scores from Eamon Cunneen, Michael Moffatt and Aaron Ready set the tone for the afternoon.
Kildare responded with some well-taken scores from their lively corner forward Evan O’Brien and the hard-working Daithí Martin.
The game was tenacious in nature and the work rate of both sides was a joy to watch with alot of hooking, blocking and good tackling evident.
Westmeath grabbed a foothold on this hard-fought encounter when corner forward Olly McClair pounced for the games opening goal in the 21st minute to put the Lake-men 1-5 to 0-2 to the good.
This was followed by well-worked scores from Cunneen and Moffatt again, Michael Cunningham, Warric Kirby and Oisín Murray. Kildare finished out the half well and responded with two points of their own from Daithí Martin again. The half-time score was Westmeath 1-10 Kildare Lilywhites 0-4.
Westmeath powered into the second half and another well-taken goal by McClair left Westmeath in driving seat until the end. Sub Brian McGrath found the net in the 56th minute to complete the goal scoring and this score was preceded by some excellent point taking from the Westmeath forwards and midfield.
The Westmeath defence, anchored by Michael Lynam and David Weir, were in fine form and produced a great collective effort to keep the Kildare men at bay. David Weir collected the Best and Fairest Award after his outstanding contribution.
The scoreline did not reflect the game as a whole and it was competitive in nature for large parts with Westmeath being quite efficient in front of goal.
Both teams will look forward to the last round of games before the Quarter Finals start on Saturday 15th June.
Westmeath: Oisín Loughlin; Peter Dalton, Michael Lynam, Jamie Reilly; Donal Mulvihill, David Weir, Cian McCarthy; Warric Kirby, Mark Cunningham; Oisín Murray, Michael Moffatt, Eamon Cunneen; Oliver McClair, Mark Cully, Aaron Ready. Subs used: Ryan Boyne for McCarthy (45), Brian McGrath for Ready (47), Liam Maxwell for Cunneen (53), Luke Smith for Reilly (56).
Kildare Lilywhites: Cian Cullen; Cormac Byrne, Sean Hodgins, Jack McGovern; Michael Browne, Finn Tierney, Eamon Little; Padraig Cribben, Harry Whelan; Sam Murphy, Cormac Vizzard, Daithí Martin; Evan O’Brien, Jake Delmer, Fiachra Mooney. Subs used: Adam Delmer for Hodgins (inj., 2), Luke Redmond for McGovern (h-t), Daniel Maher for Mooney (h-t).
