Dr. Fogarty Senior Hurling Quarter-Final – Clonoulty Rossmore 3-13 Thurles Sarsfields 1-10

Dr. Fogarty Senior Hurling Quarter-Final

Clonoulty Rossmore 3-13 Thurles Sarsfields 1-10

Report by John O’Shea

Clonoulty Rossmore qualified for the semi final of the Dr. Fogarty Cup by virtue of a 9 point win over Thurles Sarsfields at Clonoulty on Friday night last. This game was played in arctic conditions with a strong breeze blowing away from the dressing room end. The pitch held up well despite the previous 24 hours rain but was not conducive to attractive hurling.

Sarsfields, who played with the aid of the wind in the opening period, were sharp off the mark and had six points on the scoreboard by the thirteenth minute thanks to Aidan McCormack, who operated at centre forward, with four from frees and play, and one each from Tommy Doyle and Michael O’Brien. Clonoulty on the other hand were slow to start and John O’Neill opened their account with a point on sixteen minutes. This was followed up with points from Jimmy Maher and Timmy Hammersley before O’Neill had the game’s opening goal to level the game. Kevin Dunne edged the town men in front with a fine point and Michael O’Brien crashed home a goal to extend their lead. Clonoulty hit back with points from Sean Maher and Hammersley again to cut the deficit to two points at the break.

Clonoulty started the second period in whirlwind fashion and had 2-1 on the scoreboard in the opening five minutes, with the goals coming from full forward John O’Neill, the second from a 20 meter free, and the point from a free by Timmy Hammersley. This was the trend throughout the second half as the home team drove on with the aid of the elements in the ever deteriorating conditions. They had points from Timmy Hammersley, Sean Maher and Aidan White and the score of the game from a long range sideline cut by John O’Neill. Sarsfields reply was two points from frees by Aidan McCormack and one from Conor Lanigan.

Clonoulty Rossmore: Declan O’Dwyer, Joey O’Keeffe, John Devane, Kevin Horan, Sean O’Connor, John O’Keeffe, James Heffernan, Paudie White, Jimmy Maher (0-1), Aidan White (0-1), Sean Maher (0-2), Thomas Butler, Timmy Hammersley (0-7, 0-6f) John O’Neill (3-2, 1-1f) Paddy Ryan. Subs used; Niall Shanahan, Paul Hayes, Aaron Ryan (R).

Thurles Sarsfields: Paddy McCormack, James Ryan, Kevin O’Gorman, David O’Dwyer, Tom King, Stephen Maher, Barry O’Dwyer, John Maher, Kevin Dunne (0-1), Tommy Doyle (0-1), Aidan McCormack (0-6, 0-5f), Michael Russell, Michael O’Brien (1-1), Ger O’Grady, Conor Lanigan (0-1). Subs used; Jack Lineen

Referee: Johnny Ryan, Boherlahan-Dualla