PIHC: Brian Kelleher and Eanna Desmond in top form as Carrigaline defeat Éire Óg
Carrigaline's Stephen Williamson pulls away from Éire Óg's Lar Considine during the PIHC match in Ballinhassig. Picture: Howard Crowdy
Carrigaline 1-21 Éire Óg 0-18
CARRIGALINE returned to winning ways in the Co-Op Superstores Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship at Ballinhassig.
Credit to the Carrigdhoun side they knew defeat would be the end of their championship campaign and a bold second-half showing saw off a poor Éire Óg challenge.
The opening exchanges were fast and furious, but a Chris Vaughan long-range point was followed by consecutive points from Ronan Kelleher and the brilliant Eanna Desmond.
A Joe Cooper point got Éire Óg up and running but when the Carrigaline full-forward Patrick Mellet struck over an opportunist point it increased their lead to five.
Kevin Hallissey has given great service to the Ovens club and his striking kept them within striking distance. Cork footballer Colm O’Callaghan was also posing the Carrigaline defence problems and his monstrous strike with a minute remaining brought the teams on parity.
Carrigaline did have the final points of the half from Man of the Match Brian Kelleher to go in at the break commanding a 0-13 to 0-11 lead.
Carrigaline got the perfect start in the opening minute of the second half when Kelleher was fouled and he billowed the back of the net from the resultant penalty.
Éire Óg needed inspiration and they almost got in the 38th minute when Joe Cooper made a darting run towards goal but his final shot was parried to safety for a 65.
The intensity was drained out of Éire Óg as the dangerous Desmond and Kelleher were given far too much space that allowed them to hit the target with relative ease. To be fair Éire Óg have lost a number of key players this summer and they looked deflated coming down the stretch.
The closing minutes were equivalent to a scrimmage as Carrigaline’s dominance broke the spirit of their opponents.
It is still all to play for in the final series of games as Watergrasshill can qualify with a win over Carrigaline. It will be tougher for Éire Óg as they face Castlelyons with relegation a real threat.
B Kelleher 1-7 (1-0 pen, 0-2 f), E Desmond 0-9, C Vaughan 0-2, P Mellet, N O’Keeffe, R O’Shea 0-1 each.
K Hallissey 0-9 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), C O’Callaghan 0-5, J Cooper, J Sheehan, B Hurley, R O’Toole 0-1 each.
R Foster; D King, S Williamson, K Kavanagh; C Vaughan, R McCarthy, N O’Keeffe; R Kelleher, D McCarthy; E Desmond, F O’Connell, R O’Shea; N Coleman, P Mellet, B Kelleher.
C Barry for C Vaughan (47, D McBarron for F O’Connell (56), F O’Connell for R Kelleher (inj 61).
D Desmond; D Kirwan, J Kelleher, J Mullins; D McCarthy, D Dineen, D Coakley; R O’Toole, J Kelleher; D Foley, L Considine, J Sheehan; C O’Callaghan, K Hallissey, J Cooper.
B Hurley for D Foley (14).
Willie Wallis (Aghada).
App?
