Dromtarriffe pull clear to set up meeting against St Ita’s

Dromtarriffe 1-19

Ballinora 0-8 

ONCE settled, Dromtarriffe produced a slicker performance to gain the upperhand on Ballinora in the Co–Op Superstores Cork County JAHC quarter final at Coachford on Saturday.

Though Ballinora enjoyed an early advantage, a different story emerged when Dromtarriffe found new urgency on growing into the contest and outscoring their opponents 1-10 to 0-1 during a productive 20 minute spell. 

A sticky ground militated against free flowing hurling yet Dromtarriffe brought an impressive order and control to their game and set up an appealing showdown against St. Ita’s in a semi final.

Muskerry champions Ballinora raced out of the starting blocks, a side of good intentions with lead points from Liam Lyons, Shane Kingston and Kevin Murphy.

Indeed Ballinora might well have been further ahead only to pass up a number of opportunities. It proved a testing early spell for Dromtarriffe but once they settle into a rhythm, the Duhallow kingpins clipped over rapid fire points to force parity at 0-3 apiece by the initial water break.

Steadily, Dromtarriffe became the more composed side where Conor O’Callaghan, Kevin Cremin and Mikey O’Gorman performed strongly in defence as Seán Howard and Jack Murphy held a grip at midfield.

And upfront, the Dromtarriffe attack caught fire, holding multiple threats with Tomás Howard and Daniel O’Keeffe posting points. Favoured by the breeze, Dromtarriffe utilised the facility in the 17th min, a searching delivery from Stephen Coyne found Tomás Howard to whip home a delightful goal.

Now Dromtarriffe’s game oozed confidence with the Howard brothers and O’Keeffe cashing on opportuntities to stretch their position into a commanding 1-10 to 0-4 position at the interval.

Though a Lyons pointed free offered Ballinora encouragement on the restart, their workrate was well down to Dromtarriffe’s sharper all round play. Indeed Dromtarriffe kept the scoreboard ticking over from points added in quick succession by the Howards and Jerry O’Sullivan.

As the contest progressed, Ballinora’s game went into steady decline, Dromtarriffe piled on the punishment with a run of scores to confirm a workmanlike performance.

Scorers for Dromtarriffe: T Howard 1-4, S Howard 0-4 (0-2f), D O’Keeffe 0-3, B Murphy 0-3, K Cremin 0-2, J Murphy, J O’Sullivan, S Coyne 0-1 each.

Ballinora: L Lyons 0-4f, S Kingston (’65), K Murphy, C Quirke, A O’Shea 0-1 each.

DROMTARRIFFE: D Cremin; R Daly, M O’Brien, D O’Connor; C Cremin, K Cremin, M O’Gorman; S Howard, J Murphy; J O’Sullivan, T Howard, D O’Keeffe; B Murphy, S Coyne, C O’Callaghan. Subs. S McSweeney for K Cremin, S Aherne for J O’Sullivan, D Dennehy for M O’Gorman.

BALLINORA: B Crowley; K O’Regan, P Cronin, J Lordan; M Lordan, S Kingston, J Keohane; B Murphy, N Lordan; C Quirke, D Holmes, L Lyons; P Fitton, A O’Shea, K Murphy. Sub. T Burns for J Lordan.

Referee: B Sweeney (Erin’s Own).