Late Cormac Cahill goals seals the deal for Drom in narrow victory over Lorrha

FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship - Group 3 - Round 2

Drom & Inch 3-24

Lorrha 3-20

A goal from substitute Cormac Cahill in the fourth minute of second-half injury time decided this incredibly close Group 3 clash in Cloughjordan, as Drom & Inch eventually pulled away from an heroic Lorrha effort to claim two vital points.

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Up until that moment, there was literally nothing between the sides, with Lorrha giving as good as they got from Drom, and, if anything, they looked like the team that would go on to win it after Donnacha O’Meara goaled for Lorrha’s third two minutes from time, followed quickly by a lead point from Colm Fogarty.

However, Drom had to call on their experienced campaigners to get them the victory with late scores from Seamus Callanan and David Collins, before that brilliant late finish from Cahill eventually gave them the victory by the skin of their teeth, and it will keep their qualification hopes alive going into the final round.

Drom started the game very well and had raced into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead after six minutes with six different scorers hitting the target early on.

Lorrha were slow to get going, but for the next 15 minutes, they gradually worked their way into the contest with both sets of forwards finding sights of goal in that time, but struggled to provide the clinical finishing; Lorrha trailing 0-11 to 0-7 on 20 minutes.

They got a major boost a minute later when Cian Hogan buried a shot to the net after Eoin McIntryre set him up, but it was a short-lived high as Drom responded with a green flag of their own immediately after, with Seamus Callanan finding the finish.

However, Lorrha finished the half strongly and hit five of the final six points of the half with Cian Hogan, Conor Kennedy, and Colm Fogarty in impressive form to leave the sides level at 1-12 apiece.

Drom started the restart well with 1-1 inside two minutes as Callanan pointed a free before he burst through the Lorrha defence to set up Cormac Fitzpatrick to finish easily from point blank range and push the Mid side into a four-point lead.

The sides traded blows up to the three-quarter mark of the game, with Eoin McIntyre (2), Conor Kennedy, and the impressive Donnacha O’Meara influential in the scoring stakes for Lorrha, while Drom had scorers from David Collins (2) and Cormac Fitzpatrick that maintained a two-point lead for the Mid side at 2-16 to 1-17 after 46 minutes.

Lorrha made their move for the front thereafter, though, with Patrick Maher batting home a rebounded goal-shot from Donnacha O’Meara to put his side in front, and with the sides going point for point now, the sides were level at 2-19 apiece after 53 minutes, with the result up in the air.

In the next few minutes, Drom managed to ping three in a row from Callanan (2) and David Collins to seemingly push clear, but Lorrha responded again with a beautifully taken Donnacha O’Meara goal, levelling the game, and when Colm Fogarty pointed a subsequent free, the North side were in front going into added time.

Unfortunately, Ken Hogan’s charges, David Collins stepped up for Drom, fielding a puckout before landing a score from range, and when Callanan pointed a late free to edge them in front, Lorrha emptied the defence in search of an equaliser, which gave Cormac Cahill space to run in on goal and end the contest with a tidy finish.

Scorers: Drom & Inch: Seamus Callanan (1-5, 0-4f), Cormac Fitzpatrick 1-4, David Collins 0-6, Cormac Cahill 1-0, Lorcan Campion 0-2, David Butler, John Ryan, Johnny Ryan, Robbie Long, Podge Campion, Tony Cahill, John Campion all 0-1 each.

Lorrha: Colm Fogarty (0-7, 0-5f, 0-1 65), Cian Hogan 1-4, Donnacha O’Meara, Patrick Maher 1-1 each, Conor Kennedy 0-4, Eoin McIntyre 0-2, Christopher Fogarty 0-1.

Drom & Inch: Eoin Collins; Robbie Long, Fintan Purcell, Lorcan Campion; Mark Conroy, Podge Campion, Michael Campion; Tony Cahill, Kevin Hassett; David Butler, David Collins, John Campion; Seamus Callanan, John Ryan, Cormac Fitzpatrick.

Subs used: Cormac Cahill for M Campion (HT); Johnny Ryan for D Butler (46); Jack Lillis for J Ryan (53).

Lorrha: Michael Kennedy; Lee Hogan, Ciaran Haug, Tom Duggan; Donnacha O’Meara, Michael Dolan, Brendan Fogarty; Niall McIntyre, Alan O’Meara; Eoin McIntyre, Patrick Maher, Colm Fogarty; Christopher Fogarty, Cian Hogan, Conor Kennedy.

Subs used: Conor Hogan for B Fogarty (50); David Fogarty for N McIntyre (56).

Referee: Kevin Jordan (Thurles Gaels)

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