St. Mary’s score impressive win to reach Munster final

St. Mary’s 2-24 Abbeydorney 0-12

It may not have been an afternoon stroll in the opening half, but St.Mary’s were nonetheless the superior team in all departments of Sunday’s AIB Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final against Abberydorney at Austin Stack Park in Tralee.

Their 18-point win means the Clonmel team will play Dromin Athlacca from Limerick, who beat Clarecastle by a point in Sunday’s other semi-final, in the provincial final on November 29.

They laboured in the closing phase of the first half, but St. Mary’s came out swinging at the start of the second period, as they quickly set about re-establishing their control of the game.

Half-time substitute Ross Peters had an immediate impact, supplying the assists for early points for Aaron Cagney and Tadhg Condon, and generally pulling the strings around midfield. James Morris added another point before Cathal Deely was hauled to the ground after he made a great catch to gather the rocket launched by Seamus Kennedy into the danger zone. When Peter McGarry drove the penalty low to the net. St. Mary’s were seven points ahead by the 37th minute, and already on their way to the final. It was a great response to Abbeydorney’s surge towards the end of the first half.

Abberydorney kept battling away, but they were swimming against the tide, long before they lost substitute Aidan Maunsell to a red card for a foul on Tadhg Condon in the 52nd minute.

When Cathal Deely did well to catch a pass from Thomas Charles and keep it in play, he composed himself to strike the score of the game in the 48th minute (1-16 to 0-10).

As Mary’s eased their way towards the finish line, Joe Higgins put the icing on the cake when he collected Ruairi Leahy’s pass and fired home their second goal in added time.

It was a solid, all-round performance from St. Mary’s. Peter McGarry led the way in the scoring stakes, with his converted penalty proving a really important score. Cathal Deely, Aaron Cagney and Michael Murphy also starred in attack, while Tadhg Condon got through an amount of work in midfield.

Captain, Seamus Kennedy, Richie Gunne, James Morris and Ross Slatterey shored up a defence that restricted Abbeydorney to just nine points from play.

The strength in depth of the panel was again underlined by the valuable contributions of subs Ross Peters, Joe Higgins, Thomas Charles and Ruairi Leahy.

Any notion that this fixture wouldn’t cause St. Mary's too much discomfort was dispelled by a physical and hard-tackling Abbeydorney side in the first half. And they could hurl as well.

The Kerry team took an early lead through Michael O’Leary before St.Mary’s began to take control. Peter McGarry put them ahead with three points, the first and third from frees, before Harry Lawlor had their fourth score in the tenth minute.

As the Clonmel team settled into their stride, their advantage was extended to five points thanks to another McGarry free and a great point from distance from Aaron Cagney after 16 minutes.

A great catch by Cagney laid the groundwork for Michael Murphy’s point in the 26th minute, which put St. Mary’s ahead by five points, 0-8 to 0-3.

However, when it seemed as if they would bring that healthy lead with them to the dressing room, the momentum of the game shifted. Abbeydorney reeled off three points in a row from Michael O’Leary (0-2) and full forward Oisín Maunsell, who was a real handful.

All of a sudden they were back in the game, and half-time arrived at just the right time for St. Mary’s,who had lost their way in the closing stages of the half.

However, the second half was a different story, as they outscored Abbeydorney by 2-16 to 0-6.

St. Mary’s Clonmel: Gearoid Buckley, Richie Gunne, Darragh O’Connor, Ross Slattery, Tadhg Sheehan, Seamus Kennedy (captain 0-1), James Morris (0-2), Tadhg Condon (0-1), Sammy Ryan, Aaron Cagney (0-2), Peter McGarry (1-7, 0-6 frees, 1-0 penalty) Sean Kennedy, Harry Lawlor (0-1), Michael Murphy (0-2), Cathal Deely (0-3).

Substitutes:Thomas Charles (0-2) for Sammy Ryan (half-time), Ross Peters (0-1) for Sean Kennedy (half-time), Ruairí Leahy for Harry Lawlor (44 minutes), Joe Higgins (1-2) for Aato Cagney (53 minutes), Liam Ryan for Tadhg Sheehan (58 minutes).

Abbeydorney: Jason Fealy, Jedd Maunsell, Stephen Egan, Ruairí Ó hAiniféin, Damien Hogan, Ronan Donovan, James O’Connor (joint captain), David Egan (0-1), Darragh O’Connell, Michael O’Leary (joint captain 0-5, 2 frees),Niall O’Mahoney, Mikey Clifford, Jack Sheehan (0-1), Oisín Maunsell (0-3), Michael Slattery (0-1).

Substitutes: Aidan Maunsell for David Egan (35 minutes), Daniel O’Leary for Darragh O’Connell (39 minutes), Luke Fitzmaurice for Niall O’Mahoney (48 minutes), Jack Hannon (0-1) for Jack Sheehan (52 minutes).

Referee: Shane Stapleton (Cork).