Andersonstown SC IHC Group 1
Glenariffe Oisin 2-22 Gort na Mona 2-7
Glenariffe Oisin put themselves very much in the play-off frame following this impressive 15 point win over Gort na Mona in Waterfoot last night but nothing has been decided in what many would consider the group of death.
The intermediate Hurling championship, like its football counterpart has always been tight with any number of sides in with a shout and when the draw was made for Group 1 of the Andersonstown SC IHC it was obvious there would not be a runaway winner.
Cloney Gaels superb win in Carey last night has put them in pole position and Oisin, who had drawn two of their three games to date needed a win to keep themselves in touch and win they did.
Alex O’Boyle and Oliver Kearney shared the opening four points as the Glen’s men raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead by the 6th minute before Conor McCann rteplied with Gort na Mona’s opening point.
Back came Glenariffe with points from Alex O’Boyle, Cahal McDonnell and Seanie McIntosh to move six ahead before McCann doubled his and his side’s total with a point in the 14th minute.
It provided only temporary respite for the visitors defence as the Oisin came roaring back again with Alex O’Boyle, Seanie McIntosh, O’Boyle again, Michael McConaghy and Oliver Kearney adding unanswered points to move them 12 ahead after 27 minutes.
Gort na Mona were on the back foot for most of the opening half but they did manage to add a couple more to their total in the dying minutes with that man McCann and Dessie McClean splitting the post and Aaron Cosgrove on target for the Waterfoot side to leave the half time score 0-13 to 0-4 in favour of the home side.
Darren Boyd and Dessie McClean for Gort na Mona and Seamus McDonnell for the Oisin exchanged early points but any hopes of a visitors comeback was quickly dashed as Oliver Kearney came back immediately with a Glenariffe goal and points from Cahal McDonnell and Seanie McIntosh moved them 1-17 to 0-6 ahead with only seven minutes of the new half gone.
McClean and Michael McConaghy exchanged further minors before a Ryan Cahill goal for the Gorts in the 9th minute offered them a glimmer of hope.
Those hopes were soon dashed however as Shane O’Connor and Cahal McDonnell came back with Glenariffe points but the visitors were starting to enjoy a wee bit of success.
They replied with a point from substitute Farrell and a goal from Darren ‘Diesel’ Boyd with Dessie McClean knocking over the final point to put a better reflection on the scoreline.
The final scores of the game fell to Glenariffe’s Cahal McDonnell however as he pointed from play and added another from a ‘65’ to conclude the scoring and the Oisin will now travel to Cathaoir an Ri on Sunday knowing that a win is likely to earn them a semi-final place.
Glenariffe Oisin: 1. Seanin McToal. 2. Michael Haughey, 3. Conor Patterson, 4. Mairtin McAllister, 5. David Kearney, 6. Shane O’Connor, 7. Donal Kearney, 8. Oliver Kearney, 9. Kieran McKendry, 10. Michael O’Boyle, 11. Michael Gettens, 12. Alex O’Boyle, 13. Seanie McIntosh, 14. Seamus McDonnell, 15. Cahal McDonnell
Gort na Mona: 1 Mark Rea, 2 Liam Dixon, 3 Christopher Devlin, 4 Patrick Cournane, 5 Gavin McKenna, 6 Padraig McHugh, 7 Conor McCann, 8 Neil Henry, 9 Ryan Cahill, 10 Declan Hughes, 11 Paul McClelland, 12 Darren Boyd, 13 Reece Coleman, 14 Ciaran McMullan, 15 Dessie McClean, 16 Tiarnan O’Cadhlaigh, 17 Christopher Kane,
Referee: Colm McDonald (St. Gall’s)
