Blackrock too good for Bruff in Limerick premier intermediate hurling championship opener

“JUST a point up at half-time despite playing with the wind, but a great second half recovery and that late goal was the icing on the cake.”

Jimmy Quilty had every reason to be delighted with his team-mates as Blackrock opened their Lyons of Limerick Premier Intermediate hurling championship campaign with an emphatic 1-19 to 0-15 win over Bruff in Knocklong on Sunday evening.

Although the final margin of seven points was inflated by a late goal, it no more than reflected the Ardpatrick/Kilfinane team's dominance over the full sixty minutes.

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However, that wasn't how matters stood at the break as Bruff, after racking up nine wides, went into the dressing-room just a point down down despite playing into a stiff wind and looked to be on the road to victory when they went ahead almost immediately after the restart.

However, falling behind only served to light the fuse of Blackrock's resistance and, powered on by veterans Richie McCarthy, Paudie Leahy and match-winning striker Colm O'Keeffe up the the spine of their line-up, the Rockies blew their opponents out of contention over the remainder of the hour.

Maybe the outcome might have been different had 'the Stars' found some momentum in the first half instead of squandering hard-won possession within sight of the posts. When the game was still in the balance going into the closing stages, Bruff struggled to mstch the level of collective intensity of their fired-up opponents.

Blackrock were on the scoreboard inside a minute with Quilty's pointed free but, despite playing into the breeze, Bruff were enjoying most of the early possession and, although they sent their first three efforts wide of the target, they took the lead when Owen Meaney added to Danny O'Leary's equalising point.

However, after an exchange between a Quilty pointed free and O'Leary, the Kilfinane side found more possession in the middle third and used the elements for Seán O'Neill and Ian O'Brien to put them ahead. After Darragh Butler then replied, O'Neill, Leahy and Killian Ahern had them leading by three points by the quarter mark.

Getting the most out of their clearances, Bruff pulled a pair of points back through Meaney and Barry Callinan, but they just couldn't manage to equalise as their wide count continued to mount.

However, despite them shading the share of possession, the run in to half-time saw a tit-for-tat series of exchanges as points from Colm O'Keeffe and Shane Lyons were met in turn by a scores from Butler before O'Keeffe and Kevin Bonner swapped points to leave the Rockies leading 0-10 to 0-9 at half-time.

Within two minutes of the restart, the pendulum had swung the other way as firstly Meaney equalised from a free out on the right sideline and O'Leary followed up with another score to give Bruff the lead.

However, that advantage lasted just to the next passage of play as Blackrock, in their first break from defence, were back on level terms when Leahy struck on the run.

And with that, the pep disappeared from the Stars' step, their next two scoring attempts sailed wide. Blackrock began forcing turnovers and, after a few minutes to reset their bearings, moved themselves into a commanding position as points from O'Keeffe, Seán Dwyer, Marty Farrell's sideline cut and O'Keeffe again catapulted them into a lead of four points going into the final quarter.

A last act of defiance from Bruff saw Meaney send over a pair of frees, the second of which from deep inside his own half.

Play was held up by a succession of stoppages and, when action resumed, O'Brien and Quilty struck back with points to deflate any hopes of recovery. Butler did manage to find a reply only to be met by Leahy's pointed free.

O'Keeffe then jumped highest to collect a Carroll free at the edge of the square and then blast home the game's only goal before Meaney with a pointed free and O'Keeffe swapped points in the five minutes of added time.

SCORERS: BLACKROCK: Colm O'Keeffe 1-5, Jimmy Quilty (2 frees), Paudie Leahy (1 free) 0-3 each, Seán O'Neill, Ian O'Brien 0-2 each, Killian Ahern, Shane Lyons, Seán Dwyer, Marty Farrell (sideline cut) 0-1 each; BRUFF: Owen Meaney 0-6 (4 frees), Darragh Butler 0-4, Danny O'Leary 0-3, Barry Callinan, Kevin Bonner 0-1 each.

BLACKROCK: David Moloney; Nigel Hosford, Richie McCarthy, Shane Lyons; Killian Ahern, Liam Walsh, Ian O'Brien; Jimmy Quilty, Marty Farrell; Ciarán Considine, Paudie Leahy, Seán O'Neill; Callan Ensor, Colm O'Keeffe, Seán Dwyer. SUBS: Ruairí O'Shaughnessy for Liam Walsh (34 minutes), Aidan Gilligan for Shane Lyons (45 minutes), Shane Lyons for Ciarán Considine (injured, 50 minutes), Shane Philpot for Paudie Leahy (59 minutes).

BRUFF: Eric Finn; Patrick Finn, Seán Finn, Colm O'Loughlin; Paul O Riordan, Paul Browne, Kevin Bonner; Seán Casey, Gavin Bracken; Seán Murnane, Danny O'Leary, Darragh Butler; Barry Callinan, Bobby O'Brien, Owen Meaney. SUBS: Jack Fitzgerald for Seán Murnane (41 minutes), Charlie Cronin for Barry Callinan (46 minutes).

REFEREE: Liam Berkery (Ahane).