Kilruane MacDonaghs hold out against Toomevara to claim spot in the last four

FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Kilruane MacDonaghs 2-17

Toomevara 2-15

Kilruane MacDonaghs just about had enough in reserve as they edged out neighbours and north rivals Toomevara in a helter skelter senior hurling championship quarter final in FBD Semple Stadium earlier this evening.

It was the old guard that gave the Cloughjordan club the edge in the second half, as Seamus Hennessy and Brian O'Meara came off the bench to great effect, notching 1-2 between them in a game that ebbed and flowed throughout.

In truth, Kilruane's shot selection for a lot of the game probably had a lot to do with the tightness of the contest for so long, as if they had converted in half of them in the 60 minutes, it might have made it a little less tense as they clocked up 17 wides in the game.

But they probably deserved the win overall, as Toome managed to hang in there for large parts of the second half despite playing well below their best.

The initial passages of the game didn’t indicate that there would be much of a free flowing manner to the game, with both teams looking fairly cagey, but the game’s first score came in excellent fashion from an Alan Ryan field from a puckout before turning for goal and slotting over off his right.

The response was instantaneous from Kilruane, with Mark O’Neill firing over from some 30 yards out a minute later, but it was Toome who regained the lead not long after with Kenny Ryan latching onto a breaking ball in midfield before striking a beauty over to give Toome back the lead.

Toome had a golden chance to stretch that lead out early in the half in the 7th minute when Alan Ryan ran clear from the inline to look down the eyes of Paidi Williams in the Kilruane goal, but his batted effort skewed off the boss of his hurley to hit the side netting to let the magpies off the hook.

Kilruane were creating space themselves, and in the next few minutes, with the movement of Aaron Morgan and Cian Darcy finding space, the latter got his first of the day after being sent clear by Thomas Cleary to put the MacDonaghs ahead.

The game went into a lull of sorts in the next few minutes, with stoppages and some poor wides - particularly from Kilruane - killing the contest, but they did find the target next in the 16th minute through Jerry Cahill to make it a two point advantage.

Toome were really struggling to win primary possession in their forward line, but they were hanging in there through two Mark McCarthy frees either of a Willie Cleary free, but they nearly had a green flag raised from a Mark O’Neill chance close to goal, but was brilliantly denied by a diving Rory Brislane save.

An injury to Paidi WIlliams led to a significant stoppage in the final ten minutes, and it led to Toome’s goal in the 27th minute, when Conor Doheny (who came on temporarily for Williams) dropped a ball coming out of his goal which led to David Young pouncing to drill a low shot to an empty net.

That gave Toome a lead and it was a lead they held into halftime as two points from Robbie Quirke beefed out their lead to two points as a tight second half was in store with the Greyhounds ahead 1-7 to 0-8.

Kilruane were poor in that first half, but they came out of the blocks very fast at the start of the half, scoring 1-2 in five minutes with Willie Cleary (free), Conor Austin, and a Kian O’Kelly goal set up by Jerry Cahill gave them a big boost.

Toome settled after that though, with Mark McCarthy pointing another free a minute later, before Jack Delaney got his first of the day with a lovely strike to bring the game back to a single point.

Still, it was Kilruane that were finding far more in terms of their attacking play, and they had the lead stretched back out to three by the 42nd minute with points from Willie Cleary (free), and two booming efforts from substitute Seamus Hennessy.

However, Toome weren’t going to go away and a very well taken point from Kevin McCarthy soon after kept them going, another Mark McCarthy free along with a savage second point for Jack Delaney kept them in touch.

It looked like a big moment came in the 57th minute when a brilliant link up starting with a dissecting run from James Cleary, who fed Jerry Cahill who proceeded to lob a beautiful pass to substitute Brian O’Meara to double to the net and put daylight between the teams for the first time at 2-15 to 1-14 with three minutes of normal time.

Things improved even more when Cian Darcy bagged a major from distance to extended the lead further, but Toome wouldn’t go away, and Kevin McCarthy was the provider for Toome as he ran in past the 21 before flicking a nice ball over the top for Jack Delaney to move onto and unleash a rasper to bring the game back into the melting pot.

Toome had it back to the point again when Kevin McCarthy slotted a close range free, but it wasn’t going to be enough, and a late Willie Cleary free sealed victory for the MacDonaghs as they claimed a semi-final berth in a few weeks time.

Scorers: Kilruane MacDonaghs: Willie Cleary 0-5f, Kian O’Kelly 1-2, Brian O’Meara 1-0, Cian Darcy 0-3, Seamus Hennessy 0-2, Niall O’Meara 0-1f, Mark O’Neill, Sean McAdams, Conor Austin, Jerry Cahill all 0-1 each.

Toomevara: Mark McCarthy 0-5f, Jack Delaney 1-2, Kevin McCarthy (0-3, 0-2f), David Young 1-0, Robbie Quirke 0-2, Kenny Ryan, Adam Hall, Alan Ryan all 0-1 each.

Kilruane MacDonaghs: Paidi Williams; James Cleary, Jack Peters, Kieran Cahill; Conor Austin, Niall O’Meara, Eoin Hogan; Sean McAdams, Mark O’Neill; Willie Cleary, Jerome Cahill, Aaron Morgan; Thomas Cleary, Kian O’Kelly, Cian Darcy.

Subs: Conor Doheny for P Williams (25, reversed after 30); Seamus Hennessy for Austin (40); Brian O’Meara for K Cahill (51).

Toomevara: Rory Brislane; Jake Ryan, Andrew Ryan, Liam Ryan; Jason Ryan, Joey McLoughney, Josh McCarthy; Jack Ryan, Kevin McCarthy; Kenny Ryan; Jack Delaney, Robbie Quirke, David Young; Alan Ryan, Mark McCarthy.

Subs: Adam Hall for Young (39); Conor O’Meara for Jack Ryan (45); David Nolan for M McCarthy (56); Colm Canning for A Ryan (60).

Referee: Alan Tierney (Shannon Rovers)