AIB All-Ireland Club Senior Hurling Championship Semi-Final – Kilcormac-Killoughey (Offaly) 1-20 Thurles Sarsfields (Tipperary) 1-14

Kilcormac’s greater desire takes them to higher plane

Kilcormac 1-20 Thurles Sarsfields 1-14

Report by Dermot Crowe for the Sunday Independent newspaper

A famous day for Offaly hurling and the people of Kilcormac-Killoughey. Available at 5/1 to win this semi-final, they gave a performance that had defiance at its core, as if they came to Portlaoise a shade insulted to lodge the strongest objection to those bleak forecasts.

But odds and Offaly, well they are an odd mix at times. This was an unforgettable triumph for a club that won its first county title only last autumn, even if they have been threatening for some time. Ten years ago, Birr won the last of their four All-Irelands and the time since has seen a democratisation of hurling in the county. Coolderry exceeded expectations to reach the All-Ireland final last year; now Kilcormac-Killoughey will experience that rare privilege, too, next month. Their win was every bit as emphatic as the scoreline reads. Thurles brought a reputation for destroying teams with opulent spells of high-street hurling, but yesterday the rules of engagement were set to different co-ordinates. It wasn’t a day for parlour hurlers, it was indisputably a battle and Kilcormac showed the greater appetite.

Some of the bigger Thurles names didn’t shine. Lar Corbett was held scoreless and he didn’t have a notable input. The same could be said of Paudie Maher at centre-back and with Michael Cahill and David Kennedy in the same line, Kilcormac were still able to root out five points from play. All of their forwards registered and Ciarán Slevin, not for the first time, was their chief source.

Throughout the field, Sarsfields were badgered by the relentless attentions of the Kilcormac players, with turnover ball leading to a number of their scores. Pa Bourke played at full-forward and scored a fine goal nearing half-time, but his performance was mixed and often subdued. Richie Ruth and Aidan McCormack only got to show flashes of what they can do. Ronan Maher came on in the second half and helped raise the tempo and for a while Sarsfields appeared capable of making their escape.

In the 51st minute, Bourke’s free left them only one point adrift, 1-13 to 1-14, having trailed by five at one stage, but Kilcormac scored six more to Sarsfields solitary reply from Michael O’Brien. The weather held but there had been a lot of rain leading up to it, which left its mark, both goal areas covered in sand. Sarsfields won’t go looking for excuses there; the answers lie within.

Dan Currams’ goal near half-time offered a neat demonstration of Kilcormac’s irrepressible willpower, when he managed to dribble the ball past Patrick McCormack after he seemed to have forfeited possession. It wasn’t a thing of beauty but the game was never at risk of being mistaken for a beauty contest. Before that Sarsfields had a good spell, though short-lived, with Bourke’s goal and a glorious point over the shoulder from McCormack. A goal down, Kilcormac relished the challenge. A long-range free from Brian Leonard underlined their intent. Then Currams struck, bullying his way through, to give his side a 1-8 to 1-7 lead and everything to fight for facing into the second half.

From there the intensity of the match never waned. Kilcormac restarted with an inspirational score from Conor Mahon and a Slevin free left them a goal clear. Two more quickly followed, the first a free after Denis Maher was bottled up and blown for over-carrying. Currams struck one with his back to goal under pressure and the gap was five. With 20 minutes to go, Bourke tried to goal from a free but the Kilcormac line could not be breached.

They did begin to make inroads and in an eight-minute spell five of the six points scored came from the Munster champions. They were also unlucky not to get a second goal, Corbett’s beautifully flighted ball met with a sweet one-handed connection from Ruth, but it was stopped by Conor Slevin. The save had more to do with luck probably, but on this day, of all days, Kilcormac had earned it and more.

Scorers – Kilcormac: C Slevin 0-11 (0-8f, 1 ’65’), D Currams 1-1, C Mahon, B Leonard 0-2f, T Geraghty, J Gorman, P Geraghty, K Leonard 0-1 each. Sarsfields: P Bourke 1-5 (3f, 1 ’65’), J Enright (2 ’65s’), D Maher 0-2 each, M Gleeson, A McCormack, R Ruth, R Maher, M O’Brien 0-1.

Kilcormac-Killoughey: C Slevin; J Grogan, G Healion, A McConville; K Grogan, P Healion, B Leonard; D Kilmartin, K Leonard; C Slevin, C Mahon, P Geraghty; J Gorman, D Currams, T Geraghty. Subs: C Guinan for B Leonard (59).

Thurles Sarsfields: P McCormack; D Maher, K O’Gorman, S Maher; D Kennedy, P Maher, M Cahill; M Gleeson, J Enright; D Maher, J Corbett, L Corbett; A McCormack, P Bourke, R Ruth. Subs: R Maher for Enright (38), G O’Grady for J Corbett (43), M O’Brien for Ruth (51).

Referee: C Lyons (Cork)

Kilcormac chase one more first

By Michael Moynihan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Thurles Sarsfields 1-14 Kilcormac-Killoughey 1-20

The cartwheels performed in the middle of O’Moore Park on Saturday told you everything you needed to know. The acrobat in question had a green and gold headband and was celebrating Kilcormac-Killoughey’s deserved win over favourites Thurles Sarsfields in a cracking All-Ireland club hurling semi-final at the Portlaoise venue. A first county title, a first provincial title, a first St Patrick’s Day appointment in Croke Park.

It’s been some year for the Offaly men and their manager, Danny Owens. “We knew we’d be up against a very good team, and they are a good team,” said Owens as he was congratulated by what looked like the entire population of Kilcormac-Killoughey. “But our lads are just relentless. They’re very fit, very determined, very focused and they have a lot of skill. When you have those attributes you’re always in with a chance. “We knew if we got under their skins a bit we’d have a chance to maybe rattle them and get the better of them.”

The Offaly side played into the wind in the first half but theirs was the happier dressing room at the break. They held the Thurles attack for most of the first half and it was point for point — with Thurles relying largely on placed balls — until the 27th minute, when Pa Bourke struck for the game’s first goal, out-fielding Ger Healion and finishing well. With the game edging into injury time, Kilcormac-Killoughey hit back, Daniel Currams making a lot of ground down the middle and staying calm to finish from the edge of the square to make it 1-8 to 1-7 at half time in his side’s favour.

Tipp style versus Offaly determination? Too simplistic, but the winners’ huge appetite for work was visible on the resumption: Ciarán Slevin’s free-taking helped Kilcormac-Killoughey to a five-point lead before a sluggish Thurles side responded, Bourke leading the charge. Corbett did some damage at midfield and Bourke had a goal attempt from a close-in free turned away, but they couldn’t draw level.

When Kilcormac keeper Conor Slevin somehow kept out Richie Ruth’s goal-bound flick, the Offaly men got back in gear: Slevin’s brother Ciarán was unerring from placed balls and restored Kilcormac’s momentum, and a six-point win certainly didn’t flatter them. “Momentum is a big catchword in rugby parlance at the moment,” said Thurles manager Seamus Quinn after he visited the winners’ dressing room. “When we got the goal in the first half they got a goal straight away, and that took from our momentum. “We had two goal chances in the second half and if they had gone in it might have gone the other way. But they’re a fine team, they hurled well, are a tight-knit group — and you saw it there today, no little skill. “I told them that we didn’t underestimate them for a second — it was a first time for us, a first time for them, we were going for the prize and fair dues to them, they took it.”

Owens was looking ahead to the All-Ireland final, suggesting Kilcormac-Killoughey will stick to a tried and trusted tactical approach: “We didn’t go out to man-mark them [Thurles]. We knew Lar [Corbett] would run all over the field, and for someone to run after him would be crazy, to give up a player on your team. So we played an orthodox back line, we didn’t pack our defence, we came out to go for the jugular and to try to win the game. There was going to be no packing the defence — we played our defence in position as much as we could and cut down on the space. “It worked out on the day. Today was a good day and hopefully it’ll repeat itself in the All-Ireland club final.”

Scorers for Kilcormac-Killoughey: C Slevin 0-11 (8f, 1 65); D Currams 1-1; C Mahon and B Leonard (2f) 0-2 each; T Geraghty, P Geraghty, J Gorman and K Leonard 0-1 each.

Scorers for Thurles Sarsfields: P Bourke 1-5 (0-3f, 0-1 65); D Maher and J Enright (2 65) 0-2 each; M Gleeson, R Maher, A McCormack, R Ruth and M O’Brien 0-1 each.

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY: Conor Slevin, J Grogan, G Healion, A McConville, K Grogan, P Healion, B Leonard, D Kilmartin, K Leonard, Ciaran Slevin, C Mahon, P Geraghty, J Gorman, D Currams, T Geraghty.

Sub: C Guinan for B Leonard (60).

THURLES SARSFIELDS: P McCormack, S Maher, K O’Gorman, David Maher, D Kennedy, P Maher, M Cahill, M Gleeson, J Enright, Denis Maher, J Corbett, L Corbett, R Ruth, P Bourke, A McCormack.

Subs: R Maher for Enright (38); G O’Grady for J Corbett (42); M O’Brien for Ruth (50).

Referee: C Lyons (Cork)

Kilcormac-Killoughey stun Thurles to reach final

Report from the GAA.ie web site

Kilcormac-Killoughey are through to the final of the AIB GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship on St Patrick’s Day after an incredible 1-20 to 1-14 defeat of Thurles Sarsfields at Portlaoise today. Massive underdogs going into the game, Danny Owens’ side defied the odds by finishing brilliantly and hitting six points without reply in the closing stages to seal a deserved win. Ciaran Slevin was the star of the show for the Offaly champions – who won their first county and provincial titles last autumn – scoring 0-11 in total and hitting some excellent scores in that crucial period at the end.

Kilcormac-Killoughey led by 1-8 to 1-7 at the break thanks to a goal from Daniel Currams just before the half-time whistle. Minutes earlier, Pa Bourke had hit the back of the net for Thurles, who had the better of the opening exchanges. Kilcormac’ hit the first five points of the second half to grab the momentum, before Thurles came back into the game with a burst of their own, drawing to within a point at one stage after hitting three points in a row.

Crucially, in that period the Tipperary side also missed two goal chances, Pa Bourke, his side’s top scorer with 1-5, hit the crossbar from a 21-yard free and Richie Ruth forced a fine save from Kilcormac’ goalkeeper Conor Slevin. That was the story of Thurles’s afternoon, though, as they hit 15 wides and their big names failed to have any impact on the game, with Lar Corbett strangely subdued in a deep-lying role. Kilcormac ruthlessly exposed their opponents’ ineptitude. Ciaran Slevin, Peter Geraghty and Dan Currams all hit the target in the game-winning burst. Slevin then hit three more to bring his tally to 0-11 and his side were home and dry.

Kilcormac-Killoughey Scorers: Ciaran Slevin 0-11 (0-8f, 0-1 ’65), Daniel Currams 1-1, Brian Leonard (0-1f), Conor Mahon 0-2 each, James Gorman, Tomas Geraghty, Peter Geraghty, Killian Leonard 0-1 each.

Thurles Sarsfields Scorers: Pa Bourke 1-5 (0-3f, 0-1 ’65), Johnny Enright (0-1f, 0-1 ’65), Denis Maher 0-2 each, Richie Ruth, Michael Gleeson, Aidan McCormack, Ronan Maher, Michael O’Brien 0-1 each.

Kilcormac-Killoughey: Conor Slevin; James Grogan, Ger Healion, Alan McConville; Kevin Grogan, Peter Healion, Brian Leonard; Killian Leonard, Damien Kilmartin; Ciaran Slevin, Conor Mahon, Peter Geraghty; James Gorman, Daniel Currams, Tomas Geraghty.

Thurles Sarsfields: Paddy McCormack; Stephen Maher; Kevin O’Gorman, David Maher; David Kennedy, Padraic Maher, Michael Cahill; Michael Gleeson, Johnny Enright; Pa Bourke, Jim Corbett, Lar Corbett; Richie Ruth, Pa Bourke, Aidan McCormack. Subs: Ronan Maher for Enright, Ger O’Grady for Jim Corbett, Michael O’Brien for Ruth.

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)