Dromin-Athlacca hold off Bruff to book Limerick Premier IHC final spot

“A SAVAGE battle in tough conditions but we showed the courage and the honesty when needed,” was how manager Ger Hickey summed up Dromin-Ahlacca's 0-17 to 1-12 county premier intermediate hurling hard-fought win over neighbours Bruff in Kilmallock on Saturday evening.

Although they edged ahead as the first half progressed, a soft goal conceded just before the break meant they had to wait until the final quarter to regain their advantage and, even then, they had to overcome their opponents' response before a late flurry got the winners over the line.

It's not often that victories can be ascribed to particular players but this South Limerick derby rose above the tight scoreline, in which neither side led by more the two points right up to injury, on the back of the individual contribution of county man David Reidy.

Reidy kept powering his side's dominance in the middle third of the field and made his marksmanship count right at the death for the points that delivered a date in the decider against Blackrock.

Bruff hung in as long as they could and looked as if they might shade it for most of the second half but, with Seán Finn still out injured, they had nobody to steady the ship sufficiently to hold off Athlacca's late rally.

The sides had been tied at 0-9 to 1-6 at the break, with the Bruff goal coming courtesy of Darragh Butler.

SCORERS: DROMIN-ATHLACCA: David Reidy 0-12 (9 frees), Seán O'Leary 0-2, Peter McMahon, Daniel Scully, Shane Fitzgibbon 0-1 each; BRUFF: Darragh Butler 1-5 (1-5 frees), Chris Browne 0-3, Diarmuid Dennehy, Seán Murnane, Colin Madden, Danny O'Leary 0-1 each.