ROUND UP: Former Tipp panelist returns in final round one games of County Hurling League

A number of first-round County League games were put back a week and below is a summary of what was on offer.

Division 1 

Clonoulty Rossmore 0-13 Borris-Ileigh 3-13

Ryan scored 2-6 (0-5f) as Borris-Ileigh proved too good for Clonoulty Rossmore when the teams met at Clonoulty last Sunday at noon.

Leading from start to finish Borris-Ileigh and had their opening goal in the fifth minute when Patrick Ryan took advantage of a defensive mix-up. Boris-Ileigh’s dominance helped them take a seven-point half-time lead of 1-9 to 0-5. 

There was more and they soon secured their second goal when Conor Kenny found the net. Any doubt of victory was put to bed in the dying minutes when top scorer Ryan scored his second goal to see his side three goals clear. 

Borris-Ileigh had six scorers including Jerry Kelly, James Devaney, Mikey Maher, and Mikey Kennedy. Cathal Bourke was Clonoulty’s top scorer on 0-5 (0-4f) while Stephen Ferncombe 0-3 (0-2f) plus Ronan Heffernan and Michael Ryan (W) each scored.  

Kilruane MacDonaghs 0-17 Drom Inch 0-19

Drom Inch’s John Campion scored 0-12 including 0-9 from frees and one sixty five as his team edged Kilruane MacDonaghs in the opening round of the county league played at Cloughjordan last Saturday.

Kilruane held the advantage in the opening bouts when scoring three unanswered points in the opening three minutes. However, Campion took charge and scored six points with five from frees as Drom held the upper hand for the remainder of the opening thirty to see them lead 0-12 to 0-8 at half-time.   

Kilruane came back into the game during the third quarter and reaching the 57th minute it was level for the second time in three minutes at 0-17 each before Drom finished the game with John Campion scoring twice including one from play to seal the tie. 

Thurles Sarsfields 1-18 Nenagh Eire Og 3-10

In a game of two halves, Thurles Sarsfields held off a second-half comeback by Nenagh Éire Óg as they held on to a narrow two-point win when the teams met at the new pitch in Thurles.

 Hurling with the breeze, scores by Robbie Stapleton, Eoin Purcell, and Aidan McCormack had Thurles eleven points in front before Nenagh secured their first score, twenty-four minutes in, courtesy of Ben West, a point from play. 

Sars responded with another point before Adam Carey found the net with a goal and heading close to halftime, Sars got another score, leaving it at 0-13 to 1-1 at the break.

The second half was a different game as Nenagh Éire Óg came into form. Mikey Heffernan added 0-5 from frees and a 65 to the tally, while his brother Barry scored two points from play. Jamie Cottrell also got his name on the score sheet with a point from play. Heading towards full-time, Nenagh were eight adrift.

In the 27th minute, Ben West found the net and Mikey Heffernan followed the same path and scored Nenagh’s third goal. Unfortunately, two goals in as many minutes weren’t enough to get Nenagh over the line, with the final score being 1-18 to 3-10 to Thurles Sarsfields.

READ NEXT: Desperate Tipperary effort sees Limerick come away with the spoils from U20 opener

Division 2

Gortnahoe Glengoole 2-13 Killenaule 1-16

Gortnahoe Glengoole looked to have the league points in the bag until Ciaran O’Dwyer blasted a goal from a close-in free to help Killenaule force a draw when the sides met in the first round at Gortnahoe last Saturday afternoon. 

Helped by the breeze, the first half belonged to Killenaule who had four unanswered points on the board with just seven minutes gone. 

By half time, the lead stood at six, 0-11 to 0-5 with Mark Stakelum scoring 0-6 (0-5f) with Gus Browne scoring 0-3 and Tom Stakelum providing two. Keane Hayes (0-2f), Ronan Teehan 0-2 and Liam Hayes had supplied the Gortnahoe five.

However, the second half was a different story as Gortnahoe got back on track when goals by Billy Hogan (31st minute) and Ronan Teehan four minutes later moved Gortnahoe in front 2-8 to 0-13.

With Keane Hayes increasing his tally to 0-5 from frees, Gortnahoe appeared to be in control when leading by five with as many minutes remaining. Still, Killenaule refused to die and they scored 1-2, the goal coming from O’Dwyer to force a share of the points.

ALSO READ: CONFIRMED: Venue confirmed for mouthwatering league final between Tipperary and Cork