AIB Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship Quarter-Final – Kanturk (Cork) 2-17 St Mary’s (Tipperary) 0-11

Kanturk (Cork) defeated St Mary’s (Tipperary) by 2-17 to 0-11 in the AIB Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship Quarter-Final on Sunday October 22nd at Mallow.

AIB Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Kanturk (Cork) 2-17 St. Mary’s (Tipperary) 0-11

Report by Ed Donnelly

After a slow start, Kanturk produced a dominant display to qualify for the semi-final of the Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship following a 12-point victory over St. Mary’s of Clonmel on Sunday in Mallow.

Played on a dry day in front of an audience of 1,030 paying customers, St. Mary’s played the better hurling in the opening quarter and led by 0-3 to 0-1 after 12 minutes, the best score coming from the stick of Tipperary inter-county star Seamus Kennedy. Kanturk also suffered a significant blow in the seventh minute when Aidan Walsh, clearly hampered by injury from the start, was replaced. Kanturk were under serious pressure in this period but time after time, the Cork defenders won their individual battles to keep the deficit to manageable levels.

Lorcan McLoughlin was doing well at midfield and with the Kanturk defence on top, eventually the Kanturk scoring machine began to motor. In particular, Liam O’Keeffe, Ian Walsh and Donnacha Kennelly were causing all sorts of problems in the St. Mary’s defence and despite hitting 10 first half wides, Kanturk scored nine unanswered points from the 17th to the 28th minute to race in to a seven-point lead. St. Mary’s substitute Eric Walsh managed to break their scoring drought with a point from play in first half injury time and at the interval, Kanturk led by 0-10 to 0-4.

St. Mary’s needed a good start to the second half and they duly delivered with three unanswered points in the opening five minutes to reduce the deficit to a goal. Kanturk replied with a point before a Mark Healy goal in the 39th minute re-established the Cork side’s grip on this game. Kanturk maintained their seven-point cushion for the next 10 minutes or so before the match was ended as a contest in the 52nd minute as Donnacha Kennelly found the St. Mary’s net to leave the score 2-13 to 0-9.

St. Mary’s tried to the finish to raise a green flag but on this day, there would be no consolation score and Kanturk laid down a marker to all and sundry in this competition that they will be a force to be reckoned with. The contribution of 2-17 allied hitting 16 wides and missing some goal chances shows their potential up front. However, the Kanturk defence on this day were totally dominant, forcing the St. Mary’s side to replace their entire full-forward line with no scores from play for that line.

Kanturk will now travel to play Ballyduff (Kerry) in two weeks time in the Munster semi-final while St. Mary’s look forward to returning to the Senior Hurling ranks in 2018.

2017 Munster Club Championship Fixtures / Results

Kanturk: Anthony Nash; Paul Walsh, John McLoughlin, Alan Sheehy; John Browne, Darren Browne, Mark Healy (1-1); Lorcan McLoughlin (0-1 free), Ryan Walsh (0-1); Ian Walsh (0-5), Lorcan O’Neill, Aidan Walsh; Donnacha Kennelly (1-3), Alan O’Keeffe, Liam O’Keeffe (0-5, 0-3 frees)
Subs: James Fitzpatrick for Aidan Walsh (7m, injured), Martin O’Riordan for Alan O’Keeffe (41m), Denis O’Connor (0-1) for Ryan Walsh (53m) Jordon Fullerton for Paul Walsh (59m), Christopher Mullane for Ian Walsh (61m)

St. Mary’s: Shane O’Neill, Joe Gunne, Kyle Peters, Paul Nolan; Liam Ryan, Ross Peters, Sammy Ryan; Richie Gunne, Jamie Peters; Jason Lonergan (0-3), Gearoid Buckley, Seamus Kennedy (0-4, 0-3 frees); Dean Fitzgerald, Darren Cass, Sean Kennedy (0-1 free)
Subs: Eric Walsh (0-1) for Joe Gunne (26m), Gavin Ryan (0-1) for Gearoid Buckley (HT), Matt Barlow (0-1) for Sean Kennedy (41m), Conor O’Sullivan for Dean Fitzgerald (41m), Stephen Buckley for Darren Cass (53m)

Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)