Our intermediate hurlers kept the positive vibes going on Sunday afternoon following our hugely successful run earlier in the day. The lads put in their best performance yet in the championship, defeating Cappamore by 8 points and qualifying for this year’s intermediate county semi-final.
It was point for point in the opening quarter with 5 different Na Piarsaigh men getting on the scoresheet. Marcus Hogan looked lively early on, getting our opening score. Evan Sweeney added our second with Pa following shortly after. Dean McLoughlin got the point of the half, gathering the ball around his own ‘65 and utilising the breeze to his advantage. We were 2-points up with about 7 to play in the first when a long delivery into our forwards went over the head of Marcus and his man. The Cappamore defender along with most spectators thought it was dribbling wide, but Marcus had other ideas. He sprinted past his man, kept the ball in play while smartly rising and deceiving his marker. He made his way towards goal, striking low to the net. Brosie struck a point soon after before Cappamore raised a green flag of their own. There wasn’t much Darragh could do for this one having pulled off an excellent save earlier in the game. Cappamore closed out the half with a couple of frees to change the complexion at the break. Half-time score: Na Piarsaigh 1-12 Cappamore 1-09
We started the second half brightly, Pa landing a free followed by a point from Pádraig Heaney. A score that could have ended up in the back of the net, Paudie whipping on a ball for it to just glance over the crossbar. We gained possession again from the resultant puck-out. Sweeney found Eoin Brosnan on the edge of the square with a darting pass. Brosie wasn’t taking any chances with his attempt on goal, blasting the ball to the net. Our backs limited Cappamore to a single point from play in the second period, replicating last week's workmanlike display in our win over Knockainey. Evan Gilvary returned to form with a solid display at midfield, making a reliable pairing with young Brosie in the first half and Jack McCarthy in the second. A quiet opening half for Jack, he came into his own in the second, winning multiple rucks along with a handful of frees. Kevin Daly would close out the game with a nicely taken point following good work from Kieran Daly. Kevin ended the game with 2 points while his brother Mark was third male home in the 5km race earlier in the day. Neither received a cash prize for their exploits.
The result sees us through to a semi-final against Murroe Boher, with the fixture still to be confirmed. It’s provisionally down to be played the same weekend as the senior semi-final in 2 weeks time. Brilliant to be competing in not one, but 2 adult county semi-finals, and still training into October.
Team: Darragh Jordan, Adam Fitzsimons, Mark O’Connor, Conor Richardson, John O’Keeffe, Gordon Brown, Dean McLoughlin(0-01), Evan Gilvary, Eoin Brosnan(1-03), Kevin Daly(0-02), Pa O’Neill(0-08, 0-06f), Jack McCarthy, Marcus Hogan(1-03), Pádraig Heaney(0-01), Evan Sweeney(0-02).
Subs: Ronan Benson, Kieran Daly, Paul McDonogh, Pat Gleeson & Josh Sheehan.
Our intermediate squad that defeated Cappamore in Sunday's county quarter final.
