Ulster Club Intermediate Hurling semi-final
Cushendun v Keady at Ballinascreen
Throw-in – 1-30 pm
Cushendun hurlers are in action for the third week in a row when they travel to Ballinascreen on Sunday to take on Armagh champions Keady in the semi-final of the Ulster Intermediate Hurling Championship. Their two victories may have been out of sequence but they have landed in the same place and with the celebrations behind them after last weeks’ county final win over Carey Faughs they will be keen to keep the journey going.
Sunday’s opponents Keady will provide the Emmet’s with a stern test after winning their first county title since 2018. A man of the match performance from Conor Corvan led Keady steered them to victory over Middletown at the Athletic Grounds.
It was nip and tuck throughout the entire encounter, against their arch rivals although Niall Arthur’s men had their noses ahead for the majority of the contest, but Corvan was the difference maker in the end.
He top scored for his side on the day with 0-7 as his accuracy from the dead ball proved extremely important, particularly in the dying seconds, when he sailed over what proved to be the insurance score.
Keady hit the front immediately as corner forward Odhran Fullerton swung over two scores inside the opening sixty seconds. Corvan followed that up with a brace while Jim Short also accounted for a score.
Middletown got their end of the scoreboard ticking after eight minutes when Dean Gaffney slotted over a free, while Caoinn Hughes split the posts and that seemed to spark Middletown, chasing eight county titles in a row, into life.
Keady skipper Conor Renaghan traded scores with Gaffney, who fired off two on the bounce, before Jake Toal and the ever-reliable Gaffney nailed another two as the sides drew level for the first time, 0-6 apiece.
Corvan and Gaffney cancelled each other out and it was Keady who had their noses ahead when the two teams broke for the interval however, with Fullerton finishing the half as he started by firing between the posts, giving them a narrow 0-8 to 0-7 advantage.
Conor and John Corvan pushed the eventual champions further ahead at the start of the second period with a score each, while Corvan and Shea Harvey cancelled out replies from Hughes and Gaffney.
Corvan continued to split the posts, with Ryan Gaffney matching his effort this time around. Nathan Curry got in on the scoring act before Ryan Gaffney grabbed a second to edge Middletown in front for the very first time.
Keady, who lost the last five county finals to Middletown, failed to panic however and Corvan steadied the ship with an equaliser before Harvey and Renaghan combined to restore their two-point advantage.
Middletown kept in the fight with a brace from Dean Gaffney leaving one the difference, but up stepped Conor Corvan with the final strike of the day, sealing the deal for the Keady men.
Scorers for Keady: Conor Corvan 0-7 (6f), Shea Harvey 0-3, Odhran Fullerton 0-3, Conor Renaghan 0-2, Jim Short 0-1, John Corvan 0-1.
The Keady team that bridged the eight year gap was: Ruairi Fullerton; Niall Dale, Damien Corvan, Barry Molloy; Daire Harvey, Oisin Keenan, Barry Shortt; Conor Corvan, Jim Short; Shea Harvey, Conor Renaghan, Jack Loughran; Stephen Renaghan, John Corvan, Odhran Fullerton..
The newly crowned Ulster champions followed that victory with a runaway win over Down champions Newry Shamrocks in the quarter final. Midfielder Corvan was again the star man running up an impressive 2-08 at the Armagh men triumphed by 19 points.
It is clear that Cushendun face a big task if they are to reach their first ever Ulster final, but they have been in top form over the past two week’s easily accounting for Derry champions Lavey in the quarter final two weeks ago, despite being down to 13 men. Last week they were pushed all the way by neighbours Carey, before getting home in extra time. It will be interesting to see what effect that extra time, plus the celebrations have taken out of them.
They will again be looking towards their key men like Donal O’Hara, Jack McKay, the Kilgore brothers Calum and Harry, Conor ‘Smiley’ McHugh and Sean McKay to step up to the plate. They will of course have Conor Bannon and ’Loaf’ McNeill back in harness and that could be vital. They will need to have their accuracy sorted out from last week, as they could ill afford to be shooting 15 wides over the hour as they did against Carey. As I said earlier they face a tough task but they are more than capable of taking another step closer to an Ulster final, and that would be some achievement.
