Kilmallock take direct route to Limerick Co SHC semi-finals after victory over Ahane

FREE-SCORING Kilmallock took the direct route to this year's Bons Secours Limerick county senior hurling championship semi-finals, thanks to a deserved 2-22 to 3-13 victory over a spirited Ahane side at the LIT Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night.

Kilmallock laid the foundation for this win in the opening half after which the Tony Considine-managed side enjoyed a significant 15-point lead, 2-14 to 0-5.

To their credit, Ahane fought back in the second half, outscoring their opponents by 3-8 to 0-8. However, Kilmallock were never in any danger of losing this contest and were certainly not flattered by the six point margin of their victory.

On the back of their impressive opening round win over Na Piarsaigh, Kilmallock finish top of their group and so progress automatically to next month's county semi-finals.

Kilmallock made a dream start, with Oisin O'Reilly rifling the ball to the net on 72 seconds in a move which was began by the highly influential Gavin O'Mahony and continued by Graeme Mulcahy and finally Robbie Egan who set up corner forward O'Reilly with a neat hand pass.

A quick-fire point from Limerick All-Ireland winning forward Mulcahy increased the pre-match favourites lead to four points. 

Tom Morrissey's fourth minute point did open Ahane's account. However, the East Limerick side, well beaten by Na Piarsaigh a week earlier, trailed 0-3 to 1-5 at the water break.

A slick Kilmallock took complete control of the fixture in the second quarter following the water break, when outscoring their opponents by 1-9 to 0-2. 

Mulcahy added his side's second goal in first half stoppage time after being put clear by Paddy O'Loughlin. 

Micheal Houlihan finished the first half with six points, five from frees, while the sharp Mulcahy helped himself to 1-3, with  David Woulfe chipping in with three points from play and Gavin O'Mahony driving over two fine points from long range.

In contrast to Kilmallock's impressive spread of scores, Tom Morrissey notched all bar one point of his side's total, including two from free, while their only other first half scorer was Ciaran O'Mara.

Kilmallock's hurling was crisp and assured, their use of the ball hugely impressive. In contrast, Ahane's hurling was laboured. 

Kilmallock were good value for their 15-point interval lead, but to their credit, Ahane provided more stout-hearted resistance in the second period.

Ahane outscored their opponents 1-6 to 0-4 in the third quarter. Their goal arrived three minutes after the restart when Niall Moran fed Paul O'Halloran who blasted the ball to the net.

Ronan Fox notched the pick of the Ahane points in that third quarter, deftly firing over from the left hand side in the 39th minute.

But while Ahane were better in that second half, they was never any chance they would overhaul their opponents. The free-scoring David Woulfe helped himself to five excellent points from play to ensure Kilmallock kept their opponents at arm length.

Ahane finished the game strongly, scoring two late goals, from O'Halloran, his second of the game, and finally from their top scorer Tom Morrissey deep in added time.

* See this week's Limerick Leader print editions for full match report and reaction