Waterford 1-30 Tipperary 3-15
The dropping evening temperatures and occasional showers did little to dampen the zeal when these senior hurling teams engaged each other on Father’s Day. Waterford, the defending champions, sent out a clear notice that they will not be easily deposed. Tipperary had a very impressive tally, enough to win most games, but still came up short. [For Ireland GAA action, click here.]
In this high scoring game, two hurlers in particular stood out, that would be center forward Donal Parr and full forward Ciaran Kirwan, who between them accounted for 1-21 of the total. They also had a great supporting cast.
Meanwhile Waterford were quickly out of the blocks as Parr scored two frees and his counterpart Conor Hammersley did likewise at the other end. Waterford went ahead courtesy of three unanswered points, a brace from Parr and a single from Owen Hunt. Indeed they might have gone further ahead had not keeper Keith Robinson pulled off a brilliant save. Tipp were staying in touch as Hammersley added a brace and Pat Ryan chipped in as well. However midway Waterford were ahead by double scores, 0-5 to 0-10 as Parr, Kirwan and Emmett Hunter were on target. Tipp’s cause got a boost when a good pass from Pat Ryan set up Mark Caulfield for a goal. However Waterford always seemed to have an extra gear when the pressure came as they outscored their opponents by 7pts to 2 pts for the remainder of the period, to lead by 0-17 to 1-7 at the break.
Upon resumption Rudhan Mulrooney entered the fray for Tipp and had an immediate impact as he landed two fine points. However for the third quarter it was very much back to the Waterford script as they hit over 7pts while limiting Tipp to just two. Then a great individual vignette of play by Ryan set up Mulrooney for a goal to break temporarily Waterford’s momentum. The Tipp rally was short-lived as prolific scorer Kirwan sent over a long range point before crashing in a goal. Goals now seemed to be on the menu as Ryan, Tipp’s most powerful forward, sliced his way for a third goal. Once again Waterford stepped up production to finish strongly despite the best efforts of Tipp.
Waterford: John Joe Joyce, Mick Ward, Colin Foley, Peter Gallagher, James Bermingham, Darren O’Donoghue, Emmett Hunt, John Power, Willy Brazil, Owen Hunt, Donal Parr, Martin Cullen, Conor Lynch, Ciaran Kirwan, Aiden O’Gara. Subs Nollag Brophy, James Bolger, Cormac Condon, Joe McBride, Conor O’Kane, Conor Higgins, Bryan Mullins, James Breen,
Tipperary: Keith Robinson, Colin O’Brien, Darragh Hynes, Johnny Burns, Henry Keyes, Bill Maher, Frankie Kennedy, James Keyes, Tom O’Meara, Kevin Bulfin, Conor Hammersley, Tommy Kavanagh, AJ Willis, Mark Caulfield, Pat Ryan. Subs Rudhman Mulrooney, Brian Power, Michael Sheedy, James Woods, Liam Donovan, Caoileann Conroy, Ross Butler, Eoin Stapleton, James McCormack, David Pond, Joey Grace, Mickey Sullivan. Player of Match Ciaran Kirwan, Referee Chris Dalton.
Kerry coast to win
Kerry 0-17 Mayo 0-6
In this intermediate game Mayo seemed to start strongly while it took Kerry a while to settle and find their groove. Mayo snapped up possession from the throw-in and nearly had the ball in the net before a Kerry player touched it. The ball was eventually scrambled from the danger zone for a “45”. Big Tom Flynn drove the resultant kick with relative ease over the black spot. In the early goings Kerry were winning plenty of possession, but had multiple wides.
Conor Keaney eventually got them on the scoreboard and Martin Stack followed with a pointed free. When play switched to the other end a strong run by Mathew Queenan ended in a foul, but the resultant free was wide. However midfielder Flynn soon had the sides level as he cut through the Kingdom’s defense to fire over a fine point with his left foot.
For the remainder of the period Kerry were very dominant as they would add five points while Mayo were stuck on two. Keith Quinn set up Conor Keaney for a point. Mayo didn’t have much luck as a highball was well fielded in defense but the resultant clearance was intercepted by Niall McCarthy and he easily slotted it over the bar. The same player quickly followed with another point. Kerry continued to attack as Niall Collins, James Walsh and Liam Kearney were a tour de force down the middle and became the springboard for Kerry’s attacks. They were unlucky not to goal before James Walsh kicked a long range point. Niall McCarthy kicked the last point of the half, helping his team to lead by 0-7 to 0-2 at the short whistle.
On resumption Kerry’s dominance appeared to continue though they missed a bone fide goal opportunity before Martin Stack pointed a free. Mayo then proceeded to enjoy their most productive spell. Dan Enright began a mini scoring spree as they put three unanswered points on the board. Enright soloed up from defense to get the first one. Ollie McLean was now operating very effectively on the “forty” and was the launching pad for two well-taken points by Shane McNeilis. When play switched to the other end Conor Keaney fired over from an acute angle. McNeilis was keeping the Kerry defense focused as a penetrating run drew a free which McLean pointed. Well that was as good as it got for Mayo as Kerry coasted confidently to the finish line in the last quarter to put seven points on the board. The flag-raisers were Martin Stack(3), Niall McCarthy, James Walsh, Liam Keaney, and Conor Keaney. In fairness to Mayo though trailing badly, they battled to the end. Kingdom’s keeper Keven Dwyer executed a spectacular save from McLean after Flynn supplied the pass. At this stage Kerry looked strong favorites to return to the senior division next year. After all I think that’s their more natural habitat.
Kerry: Kevin Dwyer, Hugh McDonald, Niall Collins, Mike Cronin, David Langan, James Walsh, Rob O’Sullivan, Liam Kearney, Shane Hennessey, Niall McCarthy, Colm Logue, Keith Quinn, Conor Keaney, Martin Stack, Conor Lynch. Subs Sean Flavin, Conan Maguire, Ed Myers, Kenneth Quirke, Sean Liddy, Cillian Courtney, Padraig McCrea, Darren Higgins, Creagh Courtney
Mayo: Conor Tinney, Sean McEvoy, Conor Hogan, James Kilgarrif, Roy Holian, Matthew Queenan, Dan Enright, Johnny Power, Tom Flynn, Eddie Hogan, Ollie McLean, Eamon Brannigan, Shane McNeilis, Shane Slattery, Michael Lundy. Subs David Pond, Sean Staunton, Cormac Condon, Tom Brown, Jack Feeney, Seamus Carolan. Player of Match Liam Kearney Referee Peter McCormack
Defenders dominate
Brooklyn Shamrocks 2-5 Donegal 0-8
This senior championship clash was a low scoring, hard-fought battle where defenses tended to dominate. Scores were hard to come by as the marking was tight, which was amply illustrated with well-timed block-downs.
Donegal were doing most of the pressing early on as Niall O’Donnell curled in a beauty from close to the corner for the opening score. Then half-forwards AJ Willis and John Brennan added two more while Brooklyn had just a few wides to show for their attacks. That changed around the ten minute mark as they capitalized the most from a Donegal error. Donegal were deprived of possession for passing back to the goalkeeper without the ball having travelled the requisite distance. From the throw-in Dan Ciborm knocked the ball into the net to tie the game.
Both sides squandered chances before the next score arrived, a Brooklyn goal. Keith Quinn entered the fray and he directed a long high ball into the direction of the Donegal square. Several players rose high in an effort to catch or control the ball, but apparently Aiden Lawlor’s fist knocked it over the line for a goal. Quinn was also instrumental in generating the next score as he was fouled on a penetrating run. Keeper Mick Cunningham came forward to kick the 45 yds free over the bar. Then the keeper had just about returned to mind his net when he dived full length to deny a goal-bound effort from Niall O’Donnell. The deflected shot was eventually sent over the bar by Kyle Higgins, to leave the score at 2-1 for Brooklyn to 0-4 for Donegal at the short whistle.
On resumption Brooklyn increased their lead with a pointed free from speedster Niall Courtney. Then another foul on Kevin Hannigan set the scene for Dan Ciborm to extend the lead. Donegal were eagerly hunting for scores and a forced turnover and foul set the stage for their keeper to point. Kyle Higgins was also making his presence felt with some fine fetches and a nice movement between Cian Deane and John Brennan ended with another fine save from keeper Cunningham. Midway in the second period, both “forty” men added scores for their teams. Niall Madine was a late arrival but scored a valuable point when he came on board. Donegal were throwing everything forward in search of a badly needed goal as time was ticking away. Cian Deane, Kyle Higgins and Niall O’Donnell made sorties through the middle, but they had to settle for a brace of points. Brooklyn played the possession stakes to the hilt thus depriving Donegal any opportunity of seizing victory from the ever-closing jaws of defeat.
Mick Cunningham, Ethan Lennon, Alan Campbell, Redmond Hanna, Shane Bolger, Aaron Nolan, Aaron McCormick, Andrew McGowan, Padraic Patton, Richard O’Rourke, Dan Cibomr, Kevin Hannigan, Nial Courtney, Aidan Lawlor, Brian O’Hanlon. Subs Ryan Corrigan, Michael Dorgan, Keith Quinn, Shane Gillespie, Niall Madine, Mark Barrett, Kevin Mackin, Conor Connolly. John McSorley,
Donegal: Jack Callinan, Eoghan Doyle, Tommy Carpenter, Pat Devlin, Colm Doherty, Cian Deane, Rory Mulligan, Alex Harvey, Kyle Higgins, AJ Willis, Niall O’Donnell, John Brennan, Stephen O’Quigley, Paddy Doherty, Sam Meade, Subs Conor Tinney, Eoin Curry, Tiernan McLoughlin, Peter McNeilis, Keelan Walsh, Thomas Shalvey, Steven Mulhall, Brian Givney. Player of Match Nial Courtney, Referee Ken Quirke.
