Drom & Inch 5-13 Kildangan 1-15
Report by Ed Donnelly
Drom & Inch and Kildangan were the first teams to grace Semple Stadium on a busy weekend in the Clean Ireland Recycling Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Finals.
The sides were level at three points apiece when the first goal arrived in the 9th minute. Seamus Callanan burst through and set up Seamus Butler who dispatched to the net. The teams shared the next four points with David Collins (Drom) and Darragh Egan (Kildangan) being the most prolific scorers for their teams at this stage. Drom & Inch scored their second goal in the 16th minute. Kildangan conceded a 65 metre free courtesy of a last ditch deflection by wing-back Alan Flynn to avert a certain goal. From the 65, Seamus Callanan’s shot was low and despite the attempts of backs and forwards, seemed to carry all the way to the Kildangan net – 2-5 to 0-5.
Despite the concession of these two goals, Kildangan came more in to the game in the second quarter, and outscored Drom by 0-4 to 0-1 over the next 12 minutes as the game approached half-time. The Drom & Inch forward line were looking dangerous however and after David Butler saw his goalbound shot saved in the 28th minute, it would not take long for Drom & Inch to record their third green flag. David Collins caught a high ball and passed to the unmarked Seamus Callanan who hit a low shot to the Kildangan net for a 3-6 to 0-9 lead. Darragh Egan would reply with a 65 metre free in first half injury time to leave the half-time score Drom & Inch 3-6 Kildangan 0-10.
The second half was a minute old when a harmless looking ball was won by David Butler. The Drom & Inch half-forward set off on a long solo run which looked as if it was going nowhere but he was allowed to progress inside the 13 metre line and from a very narrow angle, hit a rasper of a shot to the top corner of the net to send Drom & Inch in to an 8 point lead, 4-6 to 0-10.
Paul Flynn (Kildangan) and Seamus Callanan (Drom) traded points from play soon afterwards before Kildangan scored a goal. Paul Flynn won possession in the corner and his cross-field ball found the unmarked Micheal Ryan who found the net and reduced the arrears to five points, 4-7 to 1-11 after 37 minutes.
Rather than give the North champions a boost, Kildangan would fail to score for the next 10 minutes as Drom & Inch points from play by Seamus Butler (2) and sub Paul Kennedy negated Kildangan’s green flag. Points by Micheal Ryan (2) and Darragh Egan (free) ensured Kildangan were back to within 5 points heading in to the last 10 minutes. After Kildangan’s Micheal Ryan hit a bad wide, Drom & Inch finished the game as a contest from the puckout as Paul Kennedy set up Michael Everard for Drom’s 5th goal.
The game petered out to its eventual conclusion from there but not before Kildangan’s Gerry Slattery received a straight red card for a foul on Joe Lupton. Kildangan had one final chance for goal in injury time but Darragh Egan’s free sailed over the bar and Fergal Horgan ended proceedings with Drom & Inch running out winners by 10 points, 5-13 to 1-15.
Drom & Inch: Damien Young; Michael Costello, Liam Ryan, Michael Campion; Kevin Butler, Eamon Buckley, Enda Walsh; Johnny Ryan (0-1), James Woodlock; Michael Everard (1-1), David Collins (0-3), David Butler (1-0); Seamus Butler (1-2), Seamus Callanan (Captain, 2-5, 1-0 65m, 0-2 frees), Tommy Nolan
Subs: Paul Kennedy (0-1) for Tommy Nolan (38m), Jamie Molony for Michael Costello (39m), Kevin Hassett for Kevin Butler (52m), Joe Lupton for Seamus Butler (55m), Brendan Larkin for Liam Ryan (58m)
Kildangan: Barry Hogan; Martin Minehan, Hughie Flannery, David Sweeney; Alan Flynn, Gerry Slattery, Jack Loughnane; Tommy Connors, Joe Gallagher (Captain); Ciaran Kelly, Darragh Egan (0-8, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65m), Tadhg Gallagher (0-1); Paul Flynn (0-2), Micheal Ryan (1-2), Ruairi Gleeson (0-2)
Subs: Michael Purcell for Martin Minehan (HT), Eoin Gleeson for Ciaran Kelly (HT), Fergal Hayes for Tommy Connors (46m), Gary Byrne for Ruairi Gleeson (55m), Decky McGrath for Eoin Gleeson (60m)
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams)
