All-Ireland Club IHC final: Rower win epic

February 08, 2014

Kilnadeema-Leitrim's Aiden Spaight and Sean Lyster of Rower Inistioge.
©INPHO/Tommy Grealy
Rower Inistioge 1-16
Kilnadeema-Leitrim 1-9 (After-extra-time)

Rower Inistioge came good in extra-time, as they became the fourth Kilkenny club to capture the AIB All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling title at Croke Park tonight.

Gerard Morrissey's charges dug deep when required most, with substitute Paul Sheehan and goalkeeper Liam Tierney among those impressive in extra-time as they delivered their first All-Ireland silverware.

Rower-Inistioge led by 0-4 to 0-3 at half-time in normal time, following a Michael Grace point, but they could have been firmly out of sight at this stage, with 11 wides amassed in the opening 30 minutes.

Goal chances also went amiss in the first half for the eventual winners, with Ciaran Ryan misfiring in the 17th minute, while Grace was unlucky to have his goal effort blocked by Kilnadeema-Leitrim goalkeeper Kevin Boyle just before the break.

Ryan firmly made up for his earlier miss just two minutes after the restart to deliver the games opening goal and to hand his side a 1-4 to 0-3 lead.

Rower's wides count moved up to 14, before Kilnadeema-Leitrim registered their first score of the second half, with Brian Molloy converting his third free in the 39th minute.

This was quickly cancelled out with a Joe Lyng score, but the Galway outfit continued to work hard, with a Liam Geraghty goal cutting the gap to a point after 42 minutes.

Both sides were guilty of some missed chances, before Molloy equalised for Kilnadeema with 13 minutes left on the clock.

The teams continued to trade points, but it looked like Rower-Inistioge would be crowned champions as they moved 1-8 to 1-7 ahead on the stroke of injury-time.

However Molloy's fifth point late forced extra-time.

Kilnadeema moved ahead 90 seconds into injury-time following a Geraghty point, but they wouldn't score again, as Rower registered eight points without reply to take silverware.

After the game Rower-Inistioge captain Michael Grace accepted the cup from GAA President Liam Ó Neill, while their goalkeeper Liam Tierney claimed the AIB Man of the Match award, following some fine saves throughout.

Scorers for Rower Inistioge: P Sheehan (3f) 0-4; M Grace (2f) 0-3; C Ryan 1-0; J Lyng, D Lyng, J Cassin 0-2 each; R Galavan, T Murphy, C Joyce 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kilnadeema-Leitrim: B Molloy (3f) 0-5; L Geraghty 1-1; D Herlihy 0-2, T Tierney 0-1.

Rower-Inistioge: L Tierney; E Doyle, S Cummins, J Doyle; R Galavan, K Joyce, S Lyster; S Grace, J Lyng; M Grace, D Lyng, P Tierney; C Bolger, T Murphy, C Ryan. Subs: C Joyce for Bolger (35); P Sheehan for M Grace (45); J Cassin for S Grace (55); T Leahy for E Doyle (70).

Kilnadeema-Leitrim: K Boyle; P Deely, D O'Donoghue, M Kelly; G Winters, E Hyland, A Spaight; D Herlihy, D Tierney; D Donohue, A Mitchell, M Donohue; T Tierney, B Molloy, S Lawless. Sub: L Geraghty for D Donohue (35).

REFEREE: F Horgan (Tipperary)

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