Granagh-Ballingarry see off Blackrock in Limerick premier intermediate hurling championship

GRANAGH-BALLINGARRY recorded their third win in five round robin fixtures in the Lyons of Limerick premier intermediate hurling championship and boosted their hopes of reaching the semi-finals when overcoming Blackrock 1-21 to 1-18 in Ballyagran on Saturday afternoon.

“Nervous ending. They pulled back a good bit of our lead in the second hald, but I trusted our lads to see it out.”

Granagh-Ballingarry manager John O'Connor reflected on his side's clash with the 'Rockies that ended with an all-action search for an equalising goal.

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In a contest dominated by an autumnal gale blowing into the village end goals, a penalty goal and a point in first half injury gave them just enough of a cushion to withstand the Kilfinane team's all-out efforts to save their day after the break.

In the end, the result boiled down to accuracy. Just four of the winners' shots failed to find the target while the losers saw nine attempts, seven of them in the second half, drift wide of the posts and suck the momentum from their response just when there was still enough time left to keep rattling over the points.

Having fallen to the fourth defeat of their campaign, they are now locked at the foot of the table with Glenroe and South Liberties whom they meet in their final two outings in the battle to stave off relegation.

Although Jimmy Quilty's pointed free put Blackrock into an immediate lead which they regained when he sent over another after Eoin Horgan's reply, Granagh found their range as the blustering wind at their backs put pressure on their opponents' puckouts.

Further Granagh-Ballingarry points followed from Luke Flynn's free, Denis O'Connor's monster free from well inside his own half, Michael Russell, Darragh Casey and Russell again putting them three ahead.

Coming up to the quarter mark, the Rockies broke the siege and, despite seeing a pair of frees go wide, they struck back when Conor Gilligan sent a puckout back over the posts.

They continued their resistance to Granagh-Ballingarry's wind-assisted opportunities as Seán O'Neill point cancelled out Flynn's free and Colm O'Keeffe answered Josh Mulcaire's score.

However, after David Moloney burst from his line to smother Casey's shot on goal, Flynn struck from a free and also scored a point from play to extend his side's lead. After O'Keeffe pulled a point back, Granagh-Ballingarry stepped on the gas for Flynn's pointed free, two scores from Casey and one from Mulcaire opening up an eight point gap.

More was to come as the watch moved into added time after O'Keeffe replied with a pointed free, as a long Granagh free dropped into the square, Timmy McGrath blew for a foul on Paudie Murphy and O'Connor stepped up from his goals to blast it just inside his opposite number Moloney's left upright.

And just to rub it in, Tom Horgan added another point for a half-time lead of 1-15 to 0-7.

Another free on the restart from Flynn moved Granagh-Ballingarry's margin out further before Blackrock filled the middle third to press their opponents back into their own half.

Although the tempo of the fightback was interrupted by shooting four wides, two pointed Quilty frees, as well as scores from Paudie Leahy, sub Ruairí O'Shaughnessy and Liam Walsh brought the target within distance.

However, an enormous O'Connor pointed free following into the swirling elements. The score was met by an even longer one from Leahy on the three-quarter mark and an exchange of scores between Mulcaire and Ronan Mullane.

Going into the closing straight, a Leahy point and O'Keeffe's pointed free ignited the 'Rockies again as did O'Keeffe with a point from play and from a free.

However, when Flynn found a pointed free to send over after four scoreless minutes, the sands of time were drifting from Blackrock's grasp. Summoning the troops for one last hurrah, they got their break when the sliotar broke from an untidy scramble for O'Keeffe to whip to the net from a tight angle.

The resulting puckout was sent back between the posts to leave just two points between the sides.

But the next opprtunity failed to open up, Granagh-Ballingarry's break from the back ended with Moloney saving a point-blank shot from Russell only for Jack Mulqueen to turn over the clearance and send the ball back between the posts.

Needing a goal for the draw, Blackrock drew a foul for a long free, but that effort was deflected after it dropped into the square and no attacking hurley had connected with the resulting '65' when the final whistle blew.

SCORERS: GRANAGH-BALLINGARRY: Luke Flynn 0-7 (6 frees), Denis O'Connor 1-2 (0-2 frees, 1-0 penalty), Darragh Casey, Josh Mulcaire 0-3 each, Mike Russell 0-2, Eoin Horgan, Tom Horgan, Ronan Mullane, Jack Mulqueen 0-1 each; BLACKROCK: Conor O'Keeffe 1-6 (0-4 frees), Jimmy Quilty (4 frees), Paudie Leahy (1 free) 0-4 each; Conor Gilligan, Sean O'Neill, Ruairí O'Shaughnessy, Liam Walsh 0-1 each.

GRANAGH-BALLINGARRY: Denis O'Connor; Eoghan Casey, John Kealy, Mark O'Shea: Eoin Horgan, Jack Cagney, Ronan Mullane; Darragh Casey, Brian Sheedy; Michael Russell, Luke Flynn, Tom Horgan; Josh Mulcaire, David Condron, Paudie Murphy. SUBS: Jack Mulqueen for Tom Horgan (49 minutes), Jack Harnett for David Condron (61 minutes).

BLACKROCK: David Moloney; Nigel Hosford, Richie McCarthy, Shane Lyons; Killian Ahern, Liam Walsh, Marty Farrell; Aidan Gilligan, Jimmy Quilty; Conor Gilligan, Paudie Leahy, Seán O'Neill; Callan Ensor, Colm O'Keeffe, Shane Philpot. SUBS: Ruairí O'Shaughnessy for Nigel Hosford (half-time), Simon Hennessy for Marty Farrell (injured, half-time), Barry O'Shaughnessy for Shane Philpot (38 minutes), Seán O'Dwyer for Liam Walsh (injured, 58 minutes).

REFEREE: Timmy McGrath (Oola).