Ruthless Kilmallock blast five goals past Ballybrown in Limerick SHC rout
Three first half goals put the Balbec in a strong position early on - but they had a straight red card for Limerick star Shane O’Brien on the stroke of half time
KILMALLOCK kept up their winning run in the Whitebox Senior Hurling Championship with a comprehensive 5-17 to 0-19 victory over Ballybrown in Newcastle West on Saturday.
Three first half goals put the Balbec in a strong position early on - but they had a straight red card for Limerick star Shane O’Brien on the stroke of half time.
O’Brien got one of the majors with two for youngster Gearoid Enright, both set up by the lively Pierce Connery.
When Phelim O’Reilly added a fourth early in the second half, the result was beyond doubt
Connery got a goal of his own with 12 minutes to go in what turned into a rout against a Ballybrown side who were without Aidan O'Connor.
The win has the south Limerick side assured of a place in the quarter-finals, with Kilmallock looking odds-on to secure a top-two spot in Group 1.
Ballybrown face a Monaleen side who are on a high in their next outing, needing a win to reignite their own top-four bid.
Enright hit a superb score from a tight angle to give Kilmallock their first lead after four minutes.
The south Limerick side settled better in the first five minutes after Ballybrown opened the scoring through Mikey Kiely after just nine seconds.
Points from Mikey Gavin, Luke O’Connor and Killian Gavin settled the Clarina and gave them a 0-4 to 0-3 lead after 10 minutes.
Barry Adams extended the lead as Ballybrown as they took control of the contest.
However, accuracy was far from perfect. Kevin Lally’s side five wides in the opening 13 minutes.
These misses looked costly as Kilmallock found the net against the run of play.
Connery won possession and made the space and he found Enright who made no mistake with the finish to level the game.
They had the ball in the net two minutes later as Mark O’Loughlin’s long ball was caught by O’Brien who beat his man before batting past Cian Hedderman.
The Connery-Enright partnership worked their magic again as the Balbec registered a third goal in the space on four minutes.
When Connery added a point of his own on 24 minutes, Kilmallock led 3-7 to 0-8.
Ballybrown ended the half with scores from Killian Gavin and Ross Kenny to reduce the gap before O’Brien’s dismissal late in the stanza.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Kilmallock added a fourth goal in the second minute after the break.
Phelim O’Reilly’s low effort beat Hedderman to give his side a 10-point lead.
Ballybrown responded well through a pair of Gavin frees before Phelim added his second point to go along with his green flag.
The lead was extended to 11 when Ciaran O’Connor went on a searing run and scored a fine point as Kilmallock looked like the team with the extra man.
Houlihan added further to lead mid-way through the half before they raised a fifth green flag through Connery.
As Ballybrown chased goals, Conor Hanley Clarke made a number of fine stops as Kilmallock were the better side all over the field.
SCORERS - KILMALLOCK: Gearoid Enright 2-1; Phelim O’Reilly 1-3; Pierce Connery 1-2; Shane O’Brien 1-1; Michael Houlihan 0-3 (2f); Oisin O’Reilly 0-2; Steven Quirke, Graeme Mulcahy, Ciaran O’Connor, Conor Staunton and Jackie Dwan 0-1 each; BALLYBROWN: Killian Gavin 0-7 (5f); Barry Adams 0-3 (f, sl); Mikey Kiely and Mikey Gavin 0-2 each; Luke O’Connor, Ross Kenny, Lee Doolan and Colin Coughlan 0-1 each.
KILMALLOCK: Conor Hanley Clarke; Aaron Costello, Robbie Egan, Jackie Dwan; Mark O’Loughlin, Ciaran O’Connor, Killian Hayes; Michael Houlihan, Steven Quirke; Gearoid Enright, Shane O’Brien, Graeme Mulcahy; Pierce Connery, Phelim O’Reilly, Oisin O’Reilly.
Subs: Conor Staunton for Quirke (ht); Dylan O’Brien for Mark O’Loughlin (53 mins); Sean Carroll for Hayes (53 mins); Paudie O’Brien for Graeme Mulcahy (58 mins); Eoin Ryan for Phelim O’Reilly (60 mins).
BALLYBROWN: Cian Hedderman; Ned Quinn, David Hartnett, Keith Punch; Colin Coughlan, Josh Adams, James Coughlan; Killian Gavin, Mikey Kiely; Ross Kenny, David Hall, Ross Griffin; Mikey Gavin, Luke O’Connor, Barry Adams.
Subs: Lee Doolan for David Hall (28 mins); Brian Griffin for Quinn (40 mins); Bobby Smyth for Mikey Gavin (52 mins).
REFEREE: Donnacha O’Callaghan (Feohanagh).