All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship Final – Galway 0-23 Cork 0-14

Galway defeated Cork by 0-23 to 0-14 in the All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship Final on Saturday August 8th at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.

Galway claim Intermediate hurling title

All-Ireland Intermediate Hurling Championship Final: Galway 0-23 Cork 0-14

Report from GAA.ie

Galway eased to their third All-Ireland intermediate hurling title when they had far too much firepower for a disappointing Cork side at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.

The sides were deadlocked at 0-9 each at the break but Galway pulled clear in the second-half to secure their first title in the grade since 2002. The prospect of a tight and exciting second-half never materialised in the floodlights in Limerick as Cork’s hurling season came to a very disappointing end.

They went into the clash as reigning champions but all of last year’s squad were ineligible. Yet, they looked like they would make a strong bid to retain the crown when they recovered from a poor start to draw level by the interval. But Galway, even minus Conor Whelan, the teenager who starred in the Leinster championship win but has since gone to greater things with the Galway senior side, just had too much firepower after the restart.

Managed by senior boss Anthony Cunningham, Galway rattled off some excellent scores with the likes of Dan Nevin, Tadhg Haran, Kevin McHugo and Eamon Brannigan getting some excellent points as they secured their third title in the grade. Nevin led the charge with 0-4 in the opening half before Cork rallied with Noel McNamara and Will Leahy getting some good points.

An exciting conclusion looked on the cards when Haran and Fintan O’Leary exchanged points directly after the restart, but Galway took over from there and hit the next four points. And then when Cork responded with a couple of points, Galway moved to another gear again and hit five in a row without reply as Dean Higgins, Brannigan, Shane Moloney (two) and Nevin found the target as the Tribesmen finished in style.

***

Scorers for Galway: D Nevin 0-5, T Haran 0-5 (0-4f, 0-1 sl), D Higgins 0-3, E Burke 0-2, K McHugo 0-2, E Brannigan 0-2, S Moloney 0-2, J Kennedy 0-2.

Scorers for Cork: N McNamara 0-4 (0-4f), W Leahy 0-3, F O’Leary 0-3, T Murphy 0-3 (0-2f), K O’Neill 0-1.

GALWAY: J Skehill; C Flynn, D O’Donoghue, A Tuohy; P Flaherty, D Burke, S Cooney; K McHugo, D Higgins; D Nevin, T Haran, E Burke; B Molloy, S Moloney, E Brannigan
Subs: B Daly for Brannigan (17-20 mins, blood), B Keane for O’Donoghue (h-t), J Kennedy for E Burke (48), B Daly for McHugo (53), R O’Meara for Brannigan (55), K Lane for Higgins (30).

CORK: P Buckley; B Twomey, E Finn, G Murphy; K Kavanagh, D O’Donovan, T Lawrence; K O’Neill, S McCarthy; W Leahy, M Collins, T Murphy; N McNamara, F O’Leary, D O’Driscoll
Subs: P Butler for Finn (h-t), M Brennan for McCarthy (46 mins), C O’Brien for G Murphy (52), A Cagney for T Murphy (52).

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary).

Fixture Details

08.08.2015 (Sat)
GAA Hurling All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Final
Gaelic Grounds, Limerick 19:00
Corcaigh v Gaillimh
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tiobraid Árann)
(E.T. if Necessary)

Team News

CORK (All-Ireland IHC v Galway): P Buckley (Mallow); B Ó Tuama (Castlemartyr), E Finn (Ballinhassig), G Murphy (Newcestown); K Kavanagh (Carrigaline), D O’Donovan (Ballinhassig), T Lawerence (Brian Dillons); K O’Neill (Watergrasshill), S McCarthy (Ballinhassig); W Leahy (Aghada), M Collins (Ballinhassig), T Murphy (Carrigaline); N McNamara (Kilworth), F O’Leary (Ballinhassig), D O’Driscoll (Carrigtwohill)
Subs: S O’Sullivan (Meelin), P Butler (Argideen Rangers), B Weathers (Banteer), C O’Brien (St Ita’s), M Brennan (Fermoy), L Meade (Newcestown), J Sheehan (Argideen Rangers), A CaO’Neill and gney (Charleville), A Sheehan (Mallow)

Galway

1 James Skehill
2 Colm Flynn
3 Darragh O’Donoghue
4 Adrian Tuohy
5 Paul Flaherty
6 Darragh Burke
7 Shane Cooney
8 Kevin McHugo
9 Dean Higgins
10 Dan Nevin
11 Tadhg Haran
12 Eanna Burke
13 Brian Molloy
14 Shane Maloney
15 Eamon Brannigan