Ballygunner 4-18; Sarsfields 2-17
Warning to the rest - Ballygunner are back firing on all cylinders and following last year’s slip-up in Munster, they seem more determined than ever to make amends for their early exit by going all the way this term.
In Walsh Park on Sunday, they found their goal touch again and the four converted left reigning Munster champions Sarsfields flailing at shadows as the men from the Deise advanced with a seven-point advantage.h
The irrepressible Dessie Hutchinson was responsible for a brace of those goals with Patrick Fitzgerald and Kevin Mahony also raising green flags as they advanced to meet Clare’s Erie Óg in the provincial decider…. their eight appearance in succession at this stage.
After starting on the front foot with a flurry of points, Hutchinson pounced like the opportunist he is to strike the opening goal of the game.
Colm McCarthy solitary point from a free was all the Leesiders had to show when the same Dessie H was on hand to shoot his and Ballygunner’s second goal on 12 minutes to give them a 2-5 to 0-1 cushion.
Hutchinson added a point before McCarthy got his side’s first score from play - a point but this was negated by Pauric Mahony’s free. The trend had been set and Daniel Hogan was one of the few who show defiance as his goal and point before the interval left the margin at eight points 2-11 to 1-6.
That mini-fightback suggested the game could turn as Cork teams have a habit of staging second half rallies and when Luke Elliott got possession after a free had dropped short, he lashed it home to cut the lead to five points.
Ballygunner don’t do panic though and the reliable Pauric Mahony steadied the ship with some minor scores before Fitzgerald raced through to bury the sliotar to make it 3-12 to 2-7 — an eight-point game again.
Hutchinson was denied a third green flag on the line but Kevin Mahony got a point out of that play. That seemed to put him in the mood as he cut inside to hit the score of the day - the Gunners fourth which well and truly put the nail in the Sarsfields’ coffin with the score not 4-13 to 2-8 or an 11-point advantage.
The Sars responded with later scores but it was merely putting a gloss on the game rather than any hopes of a comeback.
Ballygunner: S O’Keeffe; A O’Neill, I Kenny, T Foley; H Ruddle, P Mahony, R Power; C Sheahan, P Leavey; D Hutchinson (2-1), P Mahony (0-10; 0-8f; 0-1 '65), P Hogan; P Fitzgerald (1-1), K Mahony(1-1), M Mahony (0-2) Subs: M Hartley (0-2) for Pauric Mahony (49); C Tobin (0-1)for Sheahan (53); E Cuddihy for Fitzgerald (59); E O’Brien for R Power (60); C Power for K Mahony (60)
Sarsfields: B Graham (0-1); C O’Sullivan, C Roche, D English; C Leahy, B Murphy, L Elliott (1-3 0-2f); D Hogan (1-3 0-2f), K Murphy; J O’Connor, C McCarthy (0-4, 0-3f), C Darcy; D Kearney, J Sweeney (0-4), B O’Flynn (0-2) Subs: E Murphy for Roche (36); B Nodwell for Murphy (42); S O'Regan for Kearney (44); L Hackett for Killian Murphy (56).
Ref: A Tierney (Tipperary).
Ballyboden St Enda's 2-16 (Dublin) ; Castletown (Wexford) 0-13
Wexford club football teams don’t thrive in a Leinster setting so it was little surprise that 2019 provincial kingpins Ballyboden St. Enda’s went down to Wexford Park and eased to a nine-point victory against Castletown on Sunday.
The men in maroon were seeking to bridge a 54-year gap in beating Dublin opposition and must have felt they were in with a chance when they got to half-time drawing with their opponents.
Castletown were seeking a first victory over Dublin opposition in the competition since downing St. Vincent’s in a quarter-final in 1971.
Shortly after the turnover, the Basquel brothers, Colm and Ryan, put together a body of scores to put real daylight between the sides and this was augmented by Alex Gavin’s goal 12 minutes into the second half which put the difference of eight points which despite home advantage the Castletown side was never going to haul back.
In defeat, the Model men had one outstanding performer in goalkeeper Darragh Brooks who landed a hat-trick of first-half two-pointer frees on his way to a total of eight points - some shooting from a netminder.
Ballyboden will face a much stiffer test on the road again at the end of the month when they face Offaly champions Tullamore in O’Connor Park.
They were much better than their two-point winning margin suggested against Westmeath representatives The Downs in Cusack Park (see below) where a late collapse proved near fatal for the Offalymen.
Ballyboden St. Enda’s: H O’Sullivan, B Bobbett, C Flaherty, R Baynes; A Gavin (1-0), P Warren, P Healy; C Darcy, R O’Dwyer (0-1); R Basquel (0-2), J Holland, P Dunleavy; R McGarry (0-5), C Basquel (1-4, 0-1 tp), D Sweeney (0-3, 0-1f) Subs: D O’Reilly for Healy (51), K Kennedy for R. Basquel (51), C O’Dwyer (0-1) for Sweeney (56), M O’Gara for R. O’Dwyer (58), D Keogh for C. Basquel (58).
Castletown: D Brooks (0-8,0- 4 tpf); S O’Hagan, J Ahern, R Cody; K Pierce, S Moloney, G Kelly; R Heffernan, L Coleman (0-2); J Higgins, C Carty, D Holmes (0-1); B Halpin (0-1), J Bealin, R Brooks (0-1) Subs: D Daly-O’Toole for Kelly (51), G McNulty for Holmes (51), J Gardiner for Heffernan (56).
Ref: K Williamson (Offaly).
Tullamore 3-13; The Downs 4-8
We got a Jekyll and Hyde Tullamore in this fixture in Mullingar on Sunday - for the most part a very domineering side which had too much class and nous for their fancied rivals, but also a side that almost secured defeat from the jaws of victory by allowing their opponents score four goals in a series of second-half defensive lapses.
Make no mistake about it but Tullamore were the far better side but it will be a headache for new boss, the former Mayo manager, Stephen Rochford as he plots a passage to the Leinster final by beating Ballyboden St Enda’s in Tullamore on Sunday week.
Westmeath star Luke Loughlin almost orchestrated a disaster for the team in blue by roaming out from the full forward line to light a fire under his teammates late in the game.
They had up to then played second fiddle as a Harry Plunkett goal had given the Blues a 1-8 to 1-2 interval lead. Loughlin sought an early second-half goal but was thwarted although he scored a point which Luke Plunkett negatived almost immediately. The game seemed to be going away from the home side when Niall Furlong was on hand to flick home a great goal after the spadework was done by his brother John to give his side a massive 10-point advantage.
In fairness, the Downs refused to lie down and Ian Martin obliged with a goal after a fine Loughlin delivery into him.
The two opposing No 8s - Cillian Bourke and Jonathan Lynam (again from a Loughlin prompt) traded green flags.
Tullamore looked safe when the lead settled at nine points but then a goal from marauding fullback Charlie Drumm on top of Loughlin’s brace of two-pointers in injury time had the game well and truly in the melting pot once more.
The Downs now faced an enemy called the clock and time ran out as they still had two points to make up. Disappointment for this crew and relief for Tullamore who know that such an encore will lead to inevitable defeat by Ballyboden in the semi-final.
Tullamore: C White; B Heffernan, D Hogan, D McDaid; C Egan (0-1), J Furlong (0-1), O Keenan-Martin; C Bourke (1-0), A Leavy; D Egan (0-2), M Brazil (0-1), N Furlong (1-1); M Fox, H Plunkett (1-5 0-2f), L Plunkett (0-2) Subs: L Bourke for Leavy (blood, 28 to 30+2), L Bourke for Keenan-Martin (52), L Dillane for Brazil (inj., 54), D Fox for M Fox (58), J Sheerin for Leavy (inj., 60+1).
The Downs: T Martin; E Burke, C Drumm (1-0), P Murray; O Murphy, C Nolan, A Kilmartin; J Lynam (1-0),, B Moffatt; K O'Sullivan, I Martin (1-0), L Mullen (1-0),; L Loughlin (0-7 2 2pt, 0-1f), D Egerton (0-1), T Tuite Subs: D O'Callaghan for Lynam (blood, 6 to 7), D O'Callaghan for Mullen (43), P Martin for Kilmartin (47), O Loughlin for Murphy (49), L Faulkner for Murray (55), J Carroll for Tuite (58).
Ref: A Smith (Meath)
Slaughtneil 1-23; Portaferry 0-18
Sometimes victory can be spawned from brilliance but more often it is the honest slog of hard work and dedication that gets a team past an opponent.
It was the latter that Slaughtneil applied at the Athletic Grounds in achieving an eight point victory over Down opponents to earn a tilt at Antrim side St Johns in the Ulster final on Saturday November 29.
With 11-points to his name Shea Cassidy emerged as the most influential player on view although Cahal Coleman almost matched him score for score by contributing no less than 10 of the Portaferry scores.
Slaughtneil: O O’Doherty; F McEldowney, P McNeill, C McAllister; R Ó Mianáin (0-2), M McGrath, Shane McGuigan (0-1); C Ó Mianáin, Chrissy McKaigue (0-2); M McGuigan, Sé McGuigan (0-3), E Cassidy; B Rogers (0-2), C O’Doherty (0-1), Shéa Cassidy (0-11,0-10f) Subs: G Bradley (1-0) for M McGuigan (48), J McGuigan (0-1) for E Cassidy (56)
Portaferry: P Smyth; D Mallon, T Murray, R Smyth; B Traynor (0-1), C Taggart, C Milligan; M Conlan, S Conlan; N Fitzsimmons (0-4), F Turpin, C Coleman (0-10, 0-7f); E Sands, N Milligan, D Sands (1-2) Subs: C Savage for C Milligan (41), N Rogers (0-1) for S Conlan (46), C Smyth for Mallon (46), C Mageean for Fitzsimmons (57) Yellow card: S Conlan (41), T Murray (55), C Taggart (61), D Sands (63).
Ref: C McDonald (Antrim)
GAA RESULTS
Sunday 16 November
Connacht club SFC semi-finals
St Brigid's (Roscommon) 1-21; Ballina Stephenties (Mayo) 3-8
Moycullen (Galway) 4-13 Leitrim Gaels (Leitrim) 1-9
Leinster club SFC quarter-finals
Ballyboden St Enda's (Dublin) 2-16 Castletown Liam Mellows (Wexford) 0-13
Portarlington (Laois) 0-14 Naomh Mairtin (Louth) 1-8
Tullamore (Offaly) 3-13 The Downs (Westmeath) 4-8
Munster club SHC semi-finals
Ballygunner (Waterford) 4-18 Sarsfields (Cork) 2-17
Eire Og Ennis (Clare) 2-20 Loughmore-Castleiney (Tipperary) 1-16
Ulster club SHC semi-final
Slaughtneil (Derry) 1-23 Portaferry (Down) 1-18
Saturday 15 November
Munster club SFC quarter-final
St Finbarrs (Cork) 1-17 Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary) 2-11
Leinster club SFC quarter-final
Athy (Kildare) 1-16 Summerhill (Meath) 0-9
Ulster club SHC semi-final
Naomh Eoin (Antrim) 3-20 Setanta (Donegal) 0-12
