Castletown Geoghegan 1-25; Thomastown 1-14
As GAA shocks go, this one where a minnow from Westmeath eats a shark from Kilkenny is just about as big as you can get.
Even allowing for the fact that the reigning All Ireland intermediate and Kilkenny senior hurling champions Thomastown lost a man to a red card just after half-time, no one saw Castletown-Geoghegan, a village just outside of Kilbeggan, having the wherewithal not just to hold on for victory but to deliver something of a spanking to their visitors at Cusack Park Mullingar on Sunday.
If the proverbial man from Mars was told one team had won by 11 points, he would have put his money on the Blues yet sensationally it was the team with a black and amber look on their jerseys from the Lake County who ended up as masters of all they surveyed.
They turned over a point down, having given a good account of what they were about in that opening half, trailing by 1-10 to 0-12.
Once visiting midfielder Jonjo Farrell saw red for an off-the-ball incident in the second minute of the second moiety, the home side dominated to the tune that they outscored their much more vaunted opponents by 16 points to four (1-13 to 0-4).
Central to their win was full forward Niall O’Brien who scored 1-13 on the day, 1-3 from play, as he led the Cats’ defense on a merry dance all afternoon.
He began well with a brace of flashing scores but when Thomastown responded from his second score with a John Donnelly inspired and Luke Connellan finished goal, it looked like the old order of hurling would resume.
But the Westmeath men showed character by keeping to their game plan and refused to let the Kilkenny side bury them with an avalanche of scores.
In fact the Castletown Geoghegan boys surprised the big crowd, especially the traveling support in the second quarter, when they outscored their opponents by five points as Liam Varley, David O’Reilly, Aonghus Clarke, O’Brien and Peter Clarke all raised white flag to Thomastown sole point, John Donnelly’s from a free.
A point down at the break, the Westmeath men got a huge psychological boost when the Kilkenny side were reduced to 14 players following Farrell’s sending off. Instead of freezing in the headlights, they took advantage of the situation by playing clever hurling with short, crisp passes which yielded a second glut of five points, but this time without any sort of reply.
Still you wondered when John Donnelly converted a free with 19 minutes left to reduce arrears to two points if the visitors would find a rhythm to put down this unexpected rising.
Faced with a team full of tireless workers and no little invention, it was a tall ask as the hosts found their range from angles all over the pitch to stack up an impressive 0-24 to 1-14 seven-point lead as the hour mark was passed on the clock.
They still refused to take their foot off the pedal and pounced on a mistake in the Thomastown rearguard for MVP O’Brien to round off a great day’s work with a brilliant goal to seal the issue.
They now have this week to reflect on the magnitude of their achievement before coming back down to earth on Saturday when they will face Offaly kingpins Kilcormac-Killoughey who proved too strong for Carlow side St Mullins on Sunday afternoon.
Slaughtneil (Derry) 1-36; Cushendall (Antrim) 3-26
(After extra-time)
A game for the ages and more’s the pity it wasn’t televised live on national television to show the healthy state of Ulster hurling at this level.
The Athletic Grounds hosted a spectacle that had epic written all over it from first minute to last as the Derry boys finally smashed the hoodoo which had seen them fall to the Cushendall tradition down through the years.
Last year, Slaghtneil lost the final to the same opponents, leaving their fans to doubt if there was a curse on them when facing the Antrim side.
They put in a huge shift and looked to have finally broken their duck in normal time only for the red-hot Neil McManus (he scored 3-9 for his side) to find a goal out of nothing and so force extra time.
Just as the winners had begun brilliantly and set the pace for most of the game, they refused to cave in when asked to play extra time and found the momentum to get them over the line by a margin of four points.
Dual star Brendan Rogers was to the fore all through but also when needed at the end and his seven points from play went a long way towards writing a possible new chapter in the hurling history of Slaughtneil.
Na Fianna 3-20; Clough Ballacolla (Laois) 1-15
With Kilkenny now out of the running for the Leinster provincial club title, Dublin representatives Na Fianna will hope it is second time lucky as they seek to go one better than last year when they lost by the narrowest of margins (0-22 to 1-18) to O’Loughlin Gaels in the Leinster Final at Croke Park.
They now face Wexford champions St Martin’s who showed good form in traveling to Newbridge on Sunday and beating a very good Naas side by five points after being pressed to the pin of their collar for long stretches of the game.
The Mobhi Road outfit had no such bother although they will hope to start with more energy than they did against the Laois champions at Parnell Park on Sunday when they take to the field in the same venue this coming weekend.
Although six weeks idle since winning the O’Moore County crown, they were the livelier outfit in the opening quarter as Stephen 'Picky' Maher, shot two early points to give his side a deserved 0-3 to 0-1 lead.
That margin was extended when the midland wizard took advantage of a slip in the home defense after 10 minutes to fire home a goal and give his side a 1-4 to 0-3 advantage.
Just as you wondered if new Dublin manager Niall Ó Ceallachain would have to worry beyond the day on his double role as club and county manager when his team came to life and from there showed their superiority all over the pitch as ultimately they ran out 11-point winners.
The adage that goals win matches was true but even more significant was the fact that when AJ Murphy, who scored 1-4, and then Ciaran and Jonathan Stacey shot to the net, it was like plunging a dagger to the heart of the valiant Laois men.
From a bright start those scores sucked the energy from their limbs and with the accurate free-taker Colin Currie shooting the lights out from placed ball, the visitors’ task became more and more impossible.
This week Ó Ceallachain should find training easy as his charges now see a real chance of avenging last year’s provincial final defeat, knowing that should they overcome the Model representatives in Marino, they will face either the Offaly or Westmeath winners in the final.
Scotstown (Monaghan) 0-19; Erne Gaels (Fermanagh) 0-6
Not quite men versus boys but certainly the gulf in class was evident as the Scotstown brigade had too much big game experience for the new kids on the block at this level during this Ulster Club Football Championship quarter-final in Brewster Park on Saturday.
Winning a Fermanagh title after 43 years was the height of Erne’s glory trail this year because it didn’t take long to realize that this was a mis-match as the Farney boys led by 11 points at half-time - 0-14 to 0-3.
The Gaels only managed a similar amount of scores in the second half and with Scotstown already in cruise control mode, they still outscored the home team by another two points to end up winning by 0-13 in total.
Scotstown are backboned by Monaghan stars such as goalkeeper Rory Beggan, Ryan O’Toole, Damien McArdle, Conor McCarthy, Shane Carey, Kieran Hughes, Darren Hughes and Jack McCarron and will now nurse the ambition of going all the way in the province.
GAA Results
Leinster SH Club quarter-finals
Castletown Geoghegan (Westmeath) 1-25; Thomastown (Kilkenny) 1-14
Na Fianna (Dublin) 3-20; Clough Ballacolla (Laois) 1-15
Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly) 1-17; St Mullins (Carlow) 1-12
St Martin’s (Wexford) 1-15; Naas (Kildare) 0-13
Ulster SH Club semi-finals
Slaughtneil (Derry) 1-36; Cushendall (Antrim) 3-26
(After extra-time)
Ulster SF Club quarter-finals
Scotstown (Monaghan) 0-19; Erne Gaels (Fermanagh) 0-6
Munster SH Club semi-finals
Ballygunner (Waterford) 1-26; Loughmore-Castleiney (Tipperary) 1-16
Sarsfields (Cork) 1-25; Feakle (Clare) 1-17
Leinster SF Club quarter-final
St Loman's (Westmeath) 3-11; Castletown (Wexford) 0-7
Connacht SF Club semi-finals
Padraig Pearses (Roscommon) 0-13; Mohill (Leitrim) 0-3
Coolera-Strandhill (Sligo) 0-9; Ballina Stephenites (Mayo), 0-9
(Coolera-Strandhill win on pens)
Walsh, 33, calls time on Cats career
Giant Kilkenny forward and three-time All-Ireland winner Walter Walsh has hung up his intercounty hurley at the age of 33.
The Tullogher–Rosbercon clubman won Celtic Cross in 2012, 2014 and 2015 while he also holds seven Leinster medals in a star-studded career.
Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng described Walsh as having been a “towering presence” for the county.
“It's been an honor to have worked with Walter,” said Lyng. “His towering presence both on and off the field has inspired many young hurlers and his attitude, drive and leadership has been immense. Walter leaves us with many great memories and I wish him well in his retirement.”
County board chairman PJ Kenny added: “I would like to thank Walter for his commitment and his contributions to Kilkenny hurling over the last 13 years. Throughout his career, Walter represented his club and county with distinction and we wish Walter the very best for the future.”
