Three red cards late on as Upperchurch Drombane down Burgess in an ill-tempered affair

FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship - Group 3 - Round 2

Upperchurch Drombane 1-24

Burgess 0-16

Three late red cards turned this round 2 clash in the FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship sour after what was mostly a dour affair as Upperchurch Drombane coasted to victory in the second half over a poor Burgess performance.

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Eoin Hogan and Ronan Tucker for Burgess, and Colm Ryan for Upperchurch Drombane, all received straight red cards from match referee Brian Tyrell in the final five minutes of the contest, where the frustration of the second half performance got the better of Burgess, who will be without two important players ahead of a crucial round 3 clash with Moneygall in two weeks.

Unfortunately for the spectators in situ in Toomevara on Saturday, the late flourishing of the carta dearg was probably the biggest highlight of what was a pretty drab affair, with both sides in desperate need of the full complement of points.

Without key players in the form of Donagh Maher and Keith Nealon, who were absent through injury, Burgess really didn’t have enough to deal with a more evenly balanced Upperchurch Drombane side, who managed to gradually pull away from early on in the second half, with the placed ball scoring of Luke Shanahan and Gavin Ryan their main weapon on the day.

The first half was forgettable, and it was mostly a back-and-forth free-throwing contest from Luke Shanahan and Stephen Murray, accounting for most of their team's scores as Upperchurch led by 0-11 to 0-10 at the interval.

In the second half, Upperchurch took a stranglehold of the game through scores from Luke and Paul Shanahan, Padraig Greene to outscore their opponents 1-12 to 0-5 in the half with club stalwart Pat Shortt bagging a late clinching goal late on after the flurry of dismissals, in what was an easy win for the ‘Church come the wind up.

Scorers: Upperchurch Drombane: Luke Shanahan (0-14, 0-12f), Gavin Ryan 0-3f, Pat Shortt 1-0, Paul Shanahan 0-2, Paul Ryan, Aaron Ryan, Niall Grant, Paddy Phelan, Padraig Greene all 0-1 each.

Burgess: Stephen Murray (0-12, 0-8f), Eoin Grace 0-2, David Nealon, Bill O’Flaherty 0-1 each.

Upperchurch Drombane: Ciaran Shortt; Mikey Lavery, Keith Ryan, Dean Carew; Niall Grant, Gavin Ryan, Toby Corbett; Diarmuid Grant, Aaron Ryan; Conor Fahey, Paul Ryan, Paul Shanahan; Paddy Phelan, Luke Shanahan, Pat Ryan.

Subs used: Padraig Greene for Corbett (HT); Sean Ryan for P Ryan (52); Colm Ryan for Phelan (59); Pat Shortt for Fahey (60).

Burgess: Ronan Tucker; Aidan O’Dwyer, Bryan Quinn, Daire Hogan; Tony Dunne, Micheál Ryan, Johnny Mulqueen; Kieran Ryan, Kieran Grace; Stephen Kirwan, Eoin Grace, Diarmaid O’Donoghue; David Nealon, Bill O’Flaherty, Stephen Murray.

Subs used: Eoin Hogan for Nealon (48); Jack O’Flaherty for Dunne (51); 

Referee: Brian Tyrell (St Mary’s)

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