Granagh-Ballingarry withhold late Effin rally to earn Premier IHC win

GRANAGH-Ballingarry breathed life back into their Lyons of Limerick Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship campaign with a 1-23 to 3-15 victory over Effin at Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale.

Things had looked bleak for the 2023 Intermediate champions after early goals by Paddy O’Donovan and Fergal O’Connor but nine-points on the bounce between the 12th and 22nd minutes proved crucial for the west Limerick club.

A second goal for O’Donovan at the beginning of the final quarter gave hope of an Effin comeback but two Luke Flynn points in the space of 60 seconds were enough for Granagh-Ballingarry to get over the line. Flynn continued his excellent campaign with an impressive haul of 11 points.

Flynn and Cillian O’Riordan traded points in the opening stages before O’Donovan netted the first goal of the game with four minutes on the clock with a devastating finish after a defence-splitting run.

Granagh-Ballingarry barely had time to catch their breath when Effin struck for a second goal. O’Connor and O’Donovan dovetailed beautifully to open up the defence again but this time it was O’Connor that fired a bullet past Kieth O’Kelly.

A Flynn free and a Michael Russell strike from play was the response for Granagh-Ballingarry but a classy O’Donovan effort saw the score at 2-2 to 0-3 with 10 minutes played.

Then Granagh-Ballingarry took over. Flynn slotted two frees and followed those with another two from play that cut Effin’s lead to a solitary point.

A free by Sean O’Connor from his own ‘45 then levelled the score for a second time on 17 minutes. The scoring spree didn’t stop there as Paudie Murphy, Russell, Mark O’Shea and Russell again raised white flags to give Granagh-Ballingarry a 0-12 to 2-2 advantage before Tommy Quaid stopped the rot for Effin.

Flynn then took charge once again with a couple of placed balls but Effin rallied towards the end of the half with O’Donovan and Jack Quaid scoring the last two points of the half to leave the score at 0-17 to 2-6 in Granagh-Ballingarry’s favour.

Effin would have been hoping to get a fast start to the second half but things didn’t turn out that way as Damien O’Donoghue collected Russell’s diagonal delivery before burying to the net.

Nickie Quaid landed a monster point for an Effin side now aided by the strong breeze but Granagh-Ballingarry kept their foot on the gas with scores from O’Connor and Horgan.

O’Donovan and Brian Clifford kept Effin within touching distance heading into the final quarter and it was the Effin marksman that notched his second goal when he picked up a loose ball and flashed a shot to the net. That left the score at 1-21 to 3-10 in Granagh-Ballingarry’s favour.

Effin continued to put pressure on their opponents going into the closing stages through Pierse O’Kelly and O’Donovan points that cut the gap to three.

Flynn’s quickfire double kept them at bay, however, but Ewan Dillon and O’Donovan points ensured a grandstand finish to the game.

Tommy Quaid lofted a late free towards goal but any hopes of a dramatic Effin comeback faded when it ended up over the bar and Granagh-Ballingarry secured their second win of the championship.

SCORERS - GRANAGH-BALLINGARRY: Luke Flynn 0-11 (5f, 1 ‘65), Darragh O’Donoghue 1-1, Michael Russell 0-4, Sean O’Connor 0-3 (1f), Paudie Murphy, Mark O’Shea, Josh Mulcaire-Quille and Eoin Horgan 0-1 each; EFFIN: Paddy O’Donovan 2-7 (4f), Fergal O’Connor 1-0, Tommy Quaid 0-2 (1f), Cillian O’Riordan, Jack Quaid, Nickie Quaid, Brian Clifford, Pierse O’Kelly and Ewan Dillon 0-1 each.

GRANAGH-BALLINGARRY: Kieth O’Kelly; Eoghan Casey, Ronan Mullane, Mark O’Shea; Eoin Horgan, Jack Cagney, Colm Noonan; Darragh Casey, Josh Mulcaire-Quille; Michael Russell, Luke Flynn, Sean O’Connor; Darragh O’Donoghue, David Condron, Paudie Murphy; Subs: Damian O’Donovan for Condron (48 mins), Brian Sheehy for Murphy (55 mins), Jack Mulqueen for Mulcaire-Quille (59 mins), Tom Horgan for O’Donoghue (62 mins).

EFFIN: James O’Leary; Dan Cagney, Alan Byrne, Mark Mullins; Brian Clifford, Nickie Quaid, Paul Treacy; Jack Quaid, Fergal O’Connor; Ewan Dillon, Cillian O’Riordan, Ruairi O’Connor; Paddy O’Donovan, Pierse O’Kelly, Tommy Quaid; Subs: Hugh O’Neill for Cagney (43 mins), Cathal Cunning for O’Kelly (57 mins).

Referee: Donnacha O’Callaghan (Feohanagh-Castlemahon).