Resilient Gortnahoe Glengoole produce the goods late on to down Cashel King Cormacs

FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship - Group 2 - Round 1

Gortnahoe Glengoole 2-17

Cashel King Cormacs 0-22

Gortnahoe Glengoole turned up the heat in the final ten minutes to claim a narrow win over a fancied Cashel King Cormacs in round one of Group 2 in the FBD Insurance Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship at The Ragg on Saturday.

West champions Cashel are many peoples’ fancy to win this title this year but Gortnahoe Glengoole, who have been in the mix for honours for the past few years, showed that they are a force to be reckoned with, and on this showing will have a big say in the destination of honours.

 Particularly impressive about their display was how, when the game seemed to be slipping away from them when trailing by four points with ten minutes to go, they had the “steel” to turn the game around and their top performer Keane Hayes’s goal in the 60th minute put them 2-17 to 0-20 ahead, enough of a cushion to see them through alate Cashel surge with yielded to points.

Though the contest did not have the expected intensity, it was a close-fought affair and very entertaining all the way. Cashel were quickly out of the blocks to go 0-5 to 0-1 clear after eight minutes, Ross Bonner hitting two of the points. 

Gortnahoe settled and by the 22nd minute had drawn level at 0-7 each. It got better for the Mid lads when Ronan Teehan punished some sloppy defensive work by Cashel to set up Oisin Cleary for a goal after 24 minutes, a score which helped them to an interval lead of 1-9 to 0-11.

Within ten seconds of resuming, Cashel, now with the breeze, levelled through Eoghan Connolly. Gortnahoe spurned two goal chances, lapses which looked costly as Cashel whipped over four points from Eoghan Connolly, Ross Bonner, Oisin O’Donoghue and Devon Ryan to go 0-16 to 1-10 ahead coming to the three-quarter mark. Devon Ryan’s pointed sideline cut in the 49th minute made it 0-19 to 1-12 in their favour and they looked on course for a win.

Between that and the hour mark, Gortnahoe found a rich vein hitting five unanswered points to get their noses in front. Devon Ryan levelled for Cashel but on the hour mark, a powerful upfield surge by Gortnahoe fullback and captain Davy Nolan, gave Keane Hayes a goal chance and he did not need to be asked twice to take it for a 2-17 to 0-20 lead for Gortnahoe.

Hectic stuff now. Cashel weren’t giving up. Devon Ryan pointed two injury time frees to leave the minimum in it but Dan Moloney’s late-late bid for a leveller tailed off leaving Gortnahoe Glengoole ahead by the slenderest of margins.

In a competitive group which also features  Eire Og Annacarty and Moyne Templetuohy, this was a big win for Gortnahoe Glengoole, one which should boost their confidence considerably for the games ahead. They showed lots of “bottle” in extracting themselves from a difficult situation with time running out while also playing some fine hurling. In Keane Hayes, they had a match-winner but Davy Nolan, Brian Maher, Ronan Teehan, Oisin Cleary, Darragh Maher and Fionn Cleary also had big games for them.

Cashel have the safety net of a West success to rely on if they fail to qualify for the knock-out stages from round-robin games. This setback may be the wake-up call they need if they are to win promotion to senior ranks but they have some work to do. The injured Ger Browne is a big loss to them but Ross Bonner, Eoghan Connolly, Ronan Connolly, Conor O’Dwyer, and Oisin O’Donoghue gave it everything while Devon Ryan’s accuracy from placed balls was also critical to their performance.

Gortnahoe Glengoole: Timmy Dunne; Martin Barnaville, Davy Nolan, Liam Hayes; Conor Gleeson, Brian Maher (0-1), Davy Lanigan; Jack Moore (0-1), Fionn Cleary (0-2); Keane Hayes (1-8,0-3f), Ronan Teehan (0-1), Aidan Guilfoyle; Oisin Cleary (1-1), Darragh Maher (0-3), Enda McCarthy.

Subs used: Adrian Maher for O Cleary (44); Kevin Slattery for Moore (51).

Cashel King  Cormacs: Johnny Walsh; Conn Bonner, Nathan Ryan, Conor O’Dwyer; James Cummins (0-1), Eoghan Connolly (0-3), Ronan Connolly (0-1); Paddy Fahey (0-1), Cathal Quinn; Ross Bonner (0-3), Devon Ryan (0-10, 0-8f), Dan Moloney; David McGrath, Simon Delaney (0-1), Oisin O’Donoghue (0-2).

Subs used: Anthony Walsh for Moloney (37); Aaron Moloney for Delaney (49); Adrian Cummins for McGrath (56).

Referee: Gerry Treacy (Borris-Ileigh)