Kilbrittain hurlers have the firepower to get past Tracton and into LIHC final

Kilbrittain 1-15 Tracton 0-9

KILBRITTAIN are through to the LIHC final after this victory over Tracton in a competitive battle in Ballinspittle.

Jamie Wall’s Kilbrittain side showed plenty of desire and determination through the contest, having that added cutting edge in the attacking third when it mattered most in this final four clash.

The opening stages were tight and there was generally little between the teams. Kilbrittain got the scoring off the mark through a classy free by Maurice Sexton.

Tracton for their part got off the mark through a pair of well-taken points from play by David Byrne.

After the first half water break, Kilbrittain extended their opening half advantage through a fine Conor Ustinowski score, which was added to by another effort from Sexton.

Kilbrittain ended the opening half an hour of play well and added to their scoring tally. Colm Sheehan got on the scoreboard through a finely executed scoring effort, while Sexton kept his composure to add to his own individual total.

At the halftime break, it was Kilbrittain that held the advantage on a score of 0-7 to the 0-4 of Tracton.

Although Tracton were slotting points over to keep themselves in the contest, there was no stopping Kilbrittain at the other end of the field.

When the second half water break arrived, Kilbrittain held the lead at 0-12 to 0-7, with Tracton at this stage having it all to do in order to turn this contest around.

Sexton continued to be a scorer in chief. While the Kilbrittain charge got a whole lot better when they found the back of the net through a close-range finish by Tom Harrington.

A Conor McGuinness point and another score by Walsh kept the slim Tracton hopes in the latter stage alive.

But Kilbrittain capped off a fine outing, with that man yet again Sexton showing his composure and accuracy from placed balls, to get a late score which was to be followed a few minutes later by joyous Kilbrittain celebrations.

Scorers for Kilbrittain: M Sexton (0-7 f) 0-8, T Harrington 1-3, C Sheehan 0-2, P Wall, C Ustinowski.

Tracton: D Byrne (0-2 f) 0-5, R Walsh (0-1 f) 0-3, C McGuinness 0-1.

KILBRITTAIN: A Hayes; C Hickey, J Hurley, N O’Donovan; T Sheehan, R Cashman, S Sexton; C Sheehan, C Moloney; C Ustinowski, D Harrington, M Sexton; P Wall, J O’Donovan, T Harrington.

Subs: S Shortan for Ustinowski (45), B Butler for D Harrington (54), M Madden for O’Donovan (57).

TRACTON: K Lyons; K Healy, K Corrigan, R Sinclair; S O’Sullivan, T McGuinness, G Webb; P O’Riordan, M Byrne; D Byrne, M O’Sullivan, R Walsh; J Good, C McGuinness, J Kingston.

Subs: A Kiely for Byrne (HT), D O’Flaherty for Kingston (57), D Kidney for McGuinness (58).

Referee: Willie Wallis.