Sarsfields make winning start to Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship campaign in Tipperary

Thurles Sarsfields 2-20 Eire Og Annacarty/Donohill 1-20

An explosive start to the second half of this FBD Insurance County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship game by Thurles Sarsfields paved the way for a three-point win over Eire Og Annacarty at the Dillon Quirke GAA Grounds, Clonoulty on Saturday evening.

Going in at the half-time break trailing by a goal and having played with the aid of the wind, they looked to be up against it for the second half.

However, they hit 2-2 inside the opening four minutes to take a lead that they would hold until the final whistle. They could have been further in arrears, as Eire Og missed a penalty after nine minutes, which was awarded following a pull down on Kevin Fox. Darragh Mooney blazed his shot high and wide at a time when they led by two.

After the break, Jack Lanigan struck for goal number one, when he crashed home after thirty seconds following a pass from Harry Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon himself got in for goal number two when he cut straight through the Eire Og defence following a searing run from midfield. These two goals gave the town side a cushion for the remainder of the contest.

Sarsfields played with the aid of the wind for the opening half and Harry Fitzgibbon split the posts after twelve seconds to get the scoreboard moving. Eire Og quickly replied when Seanie Ryan converted a placed ball. This was followed up with two good scores from Darragh Kelly and Donal O’Dwyer to put them two ahead.

Jack Lanigan put over from a placed ball but again Eire Og replied with three further unanswered points, all from play, from Donal O’Dwyer, Dinny Crosse and Darragh Kelly. This gave them a 0-6 to 0-2 lead after six minutes.

Robbie Stapleton and Mossie McCormack pulled two back before Kevin Fox was hauled down in the square after nine minutes. Darragh Mooney stood over the resulting penalty, but his shot was high and wide of the right hand post. This was a let-off for Sarsfields and Jack Lanigan followed up with a point from a placed ball to cut the deficit to the minimum.

Paul Devlin’s long delivery found Brian Fox on the edge of the square and the captain made no mistake from close range, giving Kevin Bracken no chance. James Armstrong hit a huge effort from over a hundred metres to keep three between the sides. Points from Seanie Ryan and Tom Fox kept Eire Og ticking over. Sarsfields then hit the next three points, one from a Tommy Maher free and one each from Liam McCormack and Jack Lanigan.

With six minutes of normal time remaining, Darragh Mooney put over a huge effort from inside his own 45, to maintain the three-point advantage, before Jack Lanigan and Seanie Ryan traded points from placed balls. As the half entered injury time, Dinny Crosse from open play and Jack Lanigan from a placed ball closed out the scoring, leaving Eire Og ahead 1-11 to 0-11 and with the aid of the wind to come in the second half.

Sarsfields attacked from the throw-in and found Harry Fitzgibbon, who in turn passed to Jack Lanigan, who made no mistake from outside the small square to level the game. Mossy McCormack and Rory Purcell hit two in quick succession to put Sars two to the good.

Harry Fitzgibbon gathered a loose ball around midfield and went on the attack, splitting the defence wide open, before crashing a shot past Darragh Mooney with four minutes on the clock. Seanie Ryan hit three of the next four scores from placed balls, while Liam McCormack added his second. A free from Aidan Griffin cut the deficit to two but two long range points from Tommy Maher restored parity.

Again Eire Og hit back, as Conor O’Brien put over and Seanie Ryan converted his seventh free, but Sarsfields seemed to have the legs during the final five minutes, keeping Eire Og at bay. Eoin Bradshaw and Darragh Kelly had points but again Sarsfields cancelled those out with two from Liam McCormack. Donal O’Dwyer closed the scoring from a free late on as Sarsfields ran out three point winners.

Thurles Sarsfields: Kevin Bracken, Jack O’Mara, David Maher, Paul Maher, Harry Fitzgibbon (1-1), James Armstrong (0-1 free), Henry Fogarty, Tommy Maher (0-3 frees), Kieran Moloney, Mossie McCormack (captain 0-2), Seanie Butler, Rory Purcell (0-2), Liam McCormack (0-4), Jack Lanigan (1-6, 0-3 frees), Robbie Stapleton (0-1).

Sub: Aidan Ryan for Seanie Butler (temporary sub).

Eire Og Annacarty: Darragh Mooney (0-1 free), Daragh O’Brien, David Fox, Paul Downey, Conor O’Brien (0-1), Tom Fox (0-1), Paul Devlin, Donal O’Dwyer (0-3, 1 free), Paudie Bradshaw, Darragh Kelly (0-3), Brian Fox (captain, 1-0), Connie Bradshaw, Seanie Ryan (0-7 frees), Dinny Crosse (0-2), Kevin Fox.

Subs: Aidan Griffin (0-1 free) for Kevin Fox (35 mins), Dan Kelly for Paul Downey (40 mins), Eoin Bradshaw (0-1) for Dinny Crosse (45 mins), Mikey Bradshaw for Darragh Kelly (temporary sub).

Referee: Tom McGlinchey (Newport).