Cian McCarthy and Shane Howard fire Passage past St Vincent's to Seandún JAHC semi

Passage 2-22 St Vincent’s 0-24 (after extra time)

Passage have booked their place in the semi-final of the AOS Security Seandún Junior Hurling Championship, where they will meet Na Piarasigh, as they needed extra time to see off the challenge of St Vincent’s, at Ballinlough.

Scoring opportunities from play were at a premium, as both sides got the bulk of their scores from placed-balls. 

St Vincent’s created two goal-scoring opportunities in the second half, as they outscored Passage by 0-9 to 1-3 in this period, to send the contest to extra time. 

Passage put the game beyond St Vincent’s reach, with four unanswered points in the final quarter of extra time.

Kieran Whitley and Michael O’Leary each scored points from play for St Vincent’s in the opening quarter. Blake Murphy also converted three placed-balls, while Cian McCarthy replied for Passage with three pointed frees.

Entering the second quarter, Shane Howard got two points from play for Passage and Cian McCarthy also converted a free.

Passage put themselves in the driving seat in the 24th minute, when Howard drilled home a goal from the edge of the St Vincent’s square, following the rebound of a save from Tomas O’Neill.

Both sides added a further three points each, to leave Passage leading 1-9 to 0-9 at the interval.

Sean Harrington got a point from play for Passage, which was followed by a goal by Tomás O’Neill in the 36th minute.

St Vincent’s had Passage pinned back for most of the second half, before Cian McCarthy sent the game into extra time with his late fifth free.

Luke Hanlon got the only score from play of the first period of extra time for Passage, as his side led 2-15 to 0-20 at the break.

In the final period of extra time, Passage outscored St Vincent’s by seven points to four.

Scorers for Passage: Cian McCarthy 0-12 (0-9 f, 0-1 65); S Howard 1-3; T O’Neill 1-0; D Barrett, L Hanlon 0–2 each; S Harrington, R Carroll N McCarthy 0-1 each.

St Vincent’s: B Murphy 0-16 (0-11 f, 0-2 65); M O’Leary, R Feilding 0-3 each; K Whitley, A Harte 0-1 each.

Passage: G Tett; N O’Connor, T Harrington, K Cuthbert; Cathal McCarthy, R Harrington, R Carroll; D Barrett, S Harrington; J Kind, Cian McCarthy, T O’Neill; N McCarthy, S Howard, L Hanlon.

Subs: G Carroll for Barrett (39), D McCarthy for T O’Neill (temp, 52-54), O’Neil for T Harrington (54), L Harrington for Hanlon, C Coughlan for T O’Neill (both 58).

St Vincent’s: P Cullinane; D Butler, E O’Brien, J O’Reilly; K Sorensen, C Murphy, C Lynch; L Callanan, C Desmond; Cormac O’Neill, M O’Leary, Cian O’Neill; B Murphy, J O’Donovan, K Whitley.

Subs: R Fielding for Callanan (36, inj), C Walker for Butler (39), A Harte for O’Reilly (65), J O’Mahony for Desmond (73).

Referee: Cormac Dineen (Douglas).