Borris-Ileigh finish strong to clip county champions Kilruane MacDonaghs

Hibernian Inn North Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Borris-Ileigh 0-26

Kilruane MacDonaghs 0-23

Eddie Ryan mastered the horrendous conditions in Dolla in the first of last Sunday afternoon’s double header, hitting a huge tally of 15 points in a really impressive individual display as Borris-Ileigh pulled away from Kilruane MacDonaghs late on to claim a semi-final spot in the North Senior Hurling Championship.

To say the weather was all over the shop would be an understatement, as there was nearly four seasons rolled into hour of this game which made it difficult for the players, but Borris always to just about keep their noses in front all game long; responding to every Kilruane salvo, scoring the final three points of the game in added time to claim a good win.

Borris-Ileigh came into the divisional weekend with plenty of motivation to have a good crack at the north championship given their placement in the group of death for the upcoming county championship, and they played like a team with that in mind as they were well deserving of their win over the course of the game.

The diminutive figure of Eddie Ryan at centre forward did the damage for Borris from play and placed balls, and he started the game in that fashion with two points either side of a Kevin Maher effort to give Borris an early 0-3 to 0-1 lead after five minutes.
Kilruane started the game minus the services of county panelist Kian O’Kelly up top and had Seamus Hennessy stationed inside, but it was Willie Cleary and Jerome Cahill who were on the score sheet for the magpies, along with Cian Darcy from distance as the sides would maintain a one-score differential for the vast majority of the game.

Ryan though was proving a menace early on and scored Borris’ next three points (one free) as he was dropping into midfield and carrying the ball to great effect, but Willie Cleary and Eoin Hogan hit points from play by the 11th minute to keep the county champions in touch at 0-6 to 0-5.

A purple patch apiece was how the remainder of the half would go as Borris would hit the next three points up to the 17th minute through first scores for Jerry Kelly, JD Devaney and Tommy Ryan, but there was a very impressive reposte from Kilruane with three of their own over the next five minutes, Niall O’Meara, James Cleary and another Wille Cleary free wiping out that advantage quickly.

The heavens were opening and closing with regularity above Dolla at this stage, and it made life very difficult for the players as the last ten minutes of the half were very scrappy; the teams sharing the last eight points of the half with the bulk of them coming from placed balls as the Borris men entered the half time break leading by the minimum at 0-13 to 0-12.

The restart provided some respite from the thunderous downpours and Kilruane started the livelier with Cian Darcy wasting no time pointing from the throw-in before Aaron Morgan hit his second of the game two minutes later to put MacDonaghs in front.

Borris very nearly found the back of the net in the 35th minute when Eddie Ryan surged up the Kiruane defence, breaking in behind the cover and hand passed a ball to Jack Hogan in space on the 21, but his effort was well saved by Conor Doheny; Eddie Ryan pointing the resulting 65.

Ryan was unmarkable on the day though and hit a further four points on the bounce for his team up to the three quarter mark as Aaron Morgan was wreaking havoc of his own with his third and fourth points in this period, as Borris entered the final quarter with a slender 0-18 to 0-17 lead.

The sides were level yet again though a few minutes later as Willie Cleary slotted over two placed balls either side of a savage JD Devaney point, but Borris hit a scoring spree up to the 53rd minute with Ryan (free), Conor Kenny, and another fine solo effort from Devaney giving thema three point lead with less than ten to go.

However, Kilruane have mettle as we all know after their 2022 campaign, and in the final minutes of normal time two frees were manufactured for Willie Cleary to convert, before centre forward Craig Morgan found himself in space in the Borris 21 to slot over an equalising point (0-22 apiece) with extra time now a live possibility.

Kevin Maher had a great chance to strike Borris home on the stroke of 60 minutes when a surging run from wing back by Brendan Maher set up the corner forward who doubled first time from close range with the goal gaping, but he just got under it to drill it over the bar, as yet another response from a Willie Cleary free had the sides level again soon after.

It looked like there was no separating the sides, but Borris showed in injury time that they wanted this win more than their opponents as three points with the clock in the red from Jack Hogan, JD Devaney and another fine strike from distance from Eddie Ryan finished the game, as Borris march on to the semi-finals.

Borris-Ileigh: Jody Harkin; Colm Boyle, Liam Ryan, Seamus Burke; Brendan Maher, Dan McCormack, Sean McCormack; Shane Kenny, Tommy Ryan (0-1); Jerry Kelly (0-1), Eddie Ryan (0-15, 0-9f, 0-1 65), JD Devaney (0-4); Kevin Maher (0-2), Conor Kenny (0-2), Jack Hogan (0-1).

No subs made.

Kilruane MacDonaghs: Conor Doheny; Jack Peters, Kieran Cahill, Cormac Doheny; James Cleary (0-1), Niall O’Meara (0-1), Eoin Hogan (0-2); Jerome Cahill (0-2), Conor Austin; Aaron Morgan (0-4), Willie Cleary (0-8, 0-7f), Craig Morgan (0-2), Cian Darcy (0-2); Conor Cleary, Seamus Hennessy (0-1f).

Subs used: Thomas Cleary for Austin (48); Delvin Courtney for Hennessy (52).

Referee: Alan Tierney (Shannon Rovers)