Boherlahan Dualla cap a memorable day with Intermediate hurling crown against 13-man Golden

FBD Insurance Intermediate Hurling Championship Final

Boherlahan Dualla 3-15

Golden Kilfeacle 0-15

By Michael Dundon

On a day when the parish’s county senior hurling final-winning team of 1996 was feted at Semple Stadium, the Boherlahan-Dualla intermediate hurlers of 2023 created their own bit of history with a three-goal toppling of Golden Kilfeacle to win the FBD Insurance county intermediate hurling title at the expense of Golden-Kilfeacle.

Boherlahan Dualla reached the final with an unblemished record at both divisional and county level and were fancied to lift the Michael Maher Cup but their task was made easier by Golden Kilfeacle having two men sent off in the second half, the first after 37 minutes and the second after 58 minutes. 

The initial sidelining of Daithi Bargary occurred as they trailed 0-9 to 2-7, and with only Jack Leamy of their forwards threatening a score, their odds of catching their rivals and lifting the cup soared. 

At the second dismissal, Cian Ryan, in the 57th minute, Boherlahan were 2-13 to 0-15 ahead with Golden still within striking distance, but, two men down, the  West challenge evaporated though it still took a David Clarke goal in the 65th minute to put the game beyond Golden’s reach.

It has been a rags-to-riches year for Golden who, early in the competition, were facing being involved in relegation but they got themselves together and while their young side faltered at the last hurdle, the year’s experience should stand them in good stead next year. 

Their biggest problem was a lack of scoring support for Jack Leamy whose accuracy from frees and play kept them in the game when they might have fallen well behind.

Boherlahan started well, Darragh Hickey’s goal after 5 minutes putting them 1-2 to 0-1 ahead. Then Leamy showed his class for Golden with seven unanswered points in 11 minutes (six frees and a sideline cut) to push them in front from 0-8 to 1-2 after 17 minutes. 

Boherlahan now looked to be struggling but Tomas Ryan, their leading light all through the campaign, pointed and then, when he had the ball in the net only to be pulled back and awarded a penalty, he made no mistake with his shot.

The score gave Boherlahan a ”lift” and they finished the half strongly to be leading 2-6 to 0-9 at the break. It was by no means an unbridgeable gap but disaster struck for Golden seven minutes into the second half when a second yellow card saw Daithi Bargary off to the line. A man short, Golden’s backs were to the wall, but with Jack Leamy’s radar still working at maximum efficiency, they closed the deficit to 2-10 to 0-15 with 10 minutes to play.

Points from the impressive Tomas Ryan and Seamus Leahy gave Boherlahan breathing space(2-13 to 0-15) after 54 minutes but they were still struggling to put the opposition away when Golden had a second player red-carded, Cian Ryan being dismissed after an off-the-ball incident. 

Two down, four points behind, and time running out, Golden’s race was run and in a finishing flourish, Boherlahan had points from Seamus Leahy and Tomas Ryan before, in the 65th minute, David Clarke finalised the issue with their third goal.

It was a victory thoroughly deserved by Boherlahan-Dualla on a memorable day for the club and the challenge now will be to build on this success in the face of stiffer competition from Premier intermediate teams next year. Willie Hickey, a member of the ’96 team, has a fine squad of players, many of whom have enjoyed underage success. The future looks bright.

In this win Tomas Ryan once again was the key man near goal, finishing with 1-11 to his credit. His value to the side is immense but the contributions of veteran Seamus Leahy who captained the team, Colm O’Dwyer, Martin Paul O’Dwyer,  Ger O’Dwyer, and goalkeeper Darragh Lacey were also very important.

Golden-Kilfeacle fielded a very young side who should derive great benefit from this year’s experience. They were, however, seriously lacking in attacking options with Jack Leamy scoring all but one of their 15 points, three from play. 

A four-point return from play is well short of what is required to win a championship. No one could fault the Golden lads for commitment with Aidan O’Connell, Cian O’Connell, Ben Currivan, Seanie O’Halloran, and Cian Ryan all giving one hundred percent.

Boherlahan Dualla: Darragh Lacey; Johnny Ryan, Ger O’Dwyer, Brian Carrig; Cathal Darcy, Martin Paul O’Dwyer, Dylan Fogarty; Euan Ryan, Colm O’Dwyer (0-2);  Mark Downey, Tomas Ryan (1-11, 1-8f), James Kirby; John Hayes, Seamus Leahy (0-2), Darragh Hickey (1-0).

Subs used: David Clarke (1-0) for Hayes (38); Laurence Devane for Hickey (62); Tomas Bourke for Carrig (62); Fionn McCullagh for Kirby (62).

Golden Kilfeacle: Jack Currivan; Aidan O’Connell, Shane O’Connell, Daithi Bargary; Eoin Marnane, Cian O’Donnell, Cian Ryan; Ben Currivan, Seanie O’Halloran (0-1); Jack Lonergan, Jack Leamy (0-14, 0-11f), Tom Byrnes; Eanna Ormond, Niall Heffernan, Jack Bergin.

Subs used: Padraig Dalton for Bergin (HT); Eoghan Ryan for Ormond (38); Andy Byrnes for Lonergan (42); Gavin Dalton for T Byrnes (59).

Referee: Ciaran O’Donovan (Burgess)