INTERMEDIATE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTER-FINAL: Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1-17 Newcastlewest 3-07. Our intermediate hurlers march onwards to the semi-final after a win over Newcastlewest in the Bog Garden, Rathkeale! There was plenty of rain before the match but the pitch was in excellent condition, perfect for hurling. We always knew we were going to be in for a fight against a Newcastlewest side in excellent recent form, and the early stages were very close. Bob McKeogh put us into the lead with a shot from distance, after being cleverly picked out with a quick free from John Chawke. Newcastlewest would move into a bit of a lead before a couple of frees from Barry O'Connell, a great catch & score from Kyle Hayes and a massive score from Conor Staff drew the sides level at five points apiece. Both sides were working hard, scrapping for everything on the breaks and trying to work the scores. But with the sides level halfway through the first half, we would hit a purple patch before the break and power on for the rest of the half, keeping our opponents scoreless. Peter Nash and the returning Adrian Garvey began to get on top in the middle of the field, Tony McCarthy began to dominate his duel and he and Bob McKeogh were feeding our forwards with some excellent ball. The half-forward line of Kyle Hayes, Barry O'Connell and Conor Staff were causing havoc and the inside line always looked dangerous.

 

Kyle was on the scoresheet again, with Barry on the mark from frees before Tony McCarthy came forward from centre-back to hit a lovely score to open up a bit of a gap. Darren O'Connell then broke clear of his man and fired over a lovely point on the angle. Barry had been unlucky with a couple of shots but was posing a serious threat, and he opened his account from open play before Conor Staff struck another fine point and we had turned a level game into a six-point lead in a short space of time. The icing on the cake was the green flag that we raised before the half-time whistle. A long ball was sent in around the square, Martin Nunan took it cleanly, swivelled brilliantly and finished coolly past the keeper. It was a wonderful execution of skill; if Joe Canning had scored it, they'd be talking about it for years to come. It capped off a wonderful end to the first half, leaving the scoreline at Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1-11 Newcastlewest 0-05.

 

We knew that Newcastlewest would come right back at us in the second half and fight for everything; and after an early exchange of points, they were given a lifeline when a 21-yard free was buried to the back of the net. This reduced the gap to six points, but once again, we would repel them brilliantly and ease back out into the lead. There were some super displays in defence, particularly in the second period, with Lorcan O'Leary on top in his tussle and Kevin O'Connell and Eoin O'Brien composed in their battles. Our forward play was perhaps not as fluent in the second period, but Darren O'Connell was on target with another fantastic point out on the wing. Then we had a brilliantly-worked move from backs to forwards, involving a number of players before Barry O'Connell finally popped it out to Kyle Hayes for him to score his third point from play. And when John Chawke stood over a free on the wing inside his own half, he struck it as sweetly as could be and it split the uprights to bring our lead back out to nine points. 

 

We would restrict our opponents to just two points in the second half, both from frees and they would get just one score from play in the entire half. However, with time ticking away, they knew they needed goals and they did fight until the end. Newcastlewest were awarded a penalty, which was once again dispatched by their free-taker and the gap was now down to six points. Once again Barry exchanged frees with their free-taker as Newcastlewest threw the kitchen sink at us. They did manage to get their one score from play with a goal in the dying minutes, and the lead was down to just a goal for a couple of minutes.  There were some vital interventions in those closing stages; a great catch by Lorcan O'Leary, some good battling by Ciarán O'Brien, some cool play by John Chawke and some clever decision-making by Tony McCarthy and Kyle Hayes. In injury time, it was Kyle who found Darren O'Connell in space in the corner; Darren went past his man and was dragged to the floor which gave Barry the opportunity to convert a simple free and open our lead back out to four points once again. And that was how it finished, with a final scoreline of Kildimo/Pallaskenry 1-17 Newcastlewest 3-07.

 

A fantastic burst before half-time where we scored 1-6 without reply was probably the winning of the game, and there were some good displays throughout but the lads will feel they have another level in them and that will be needed against Dromin/Athlacca in the semi-final in a few weeks. With a couple of players to hopefully come back in, there will be severe competition for places as we approach the business end of the season. Thanks to Rathkeale GAA for having the pitch in super condition and thanks to Newcastlewest for what was an excellent contest played in the right manner. We're back into a semi-final and we hope to see the parish come out in support of the lads once again in a few weeks!

 

Team: John Chawke (0-1, free); Kevin O'Connell, Lorcan O'Leary, Eoin O'Brien; Bob McKeogh (0-1), Tony McCarthy (0-1), Ciarán O'Brien; Adrian Garvey, Peter Nash; Kyle Hayes (0-3), Barry O'Connell (0-7, 0-6 frees), Conor Staff (0-2); Darren O'Connell (0-2), Martin Nunan (1-0), Mikey Dillon

 

Subs: Ruairí Maher for Martin Nunan; Evan Considine for Ciarán O'Brien

 

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