Murroe-Boher continue their Premier IHC march with victory over Effin

MURROE-BOHER made it six wins from six games in the Lyons of Limerick Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship after seeing off Effin on a 0-22 to 1-9 scoreline in Doon.

Already assured of a place in the play-offs, Pat Tobin’s men could have been forgiven for pulling the intensity lever back a notch when they faced relegation-threatened Effin but no such thoughts entered the minds of the grade's newly-promoted side .

“We wanted to keep up the winning momentum,” was Tobin’s reaction after a victory that never really looked in doubt despite every Effin effort to hang in.

“We failed to put away a fair few chances in the first half but the lads responded when it was put up to them at half-time,” Tobin added.

Jack Nicholas directed Murroe-Boher's first shot in anger straight between the posts. A couple of shots off target followed in between Oisín Holmes and Mark Nicholas stretching their lead.

Paddy O'Donovan's free and Ruairí O'Connor brought Effin into the game. However, once Seanie Tobin strike put Murroe-Boher back in the driver's seat, the writing was on the wall.

Another couple of frees by Seanie Tobin kept the scoreboard pressure on Effin and further strokes by Jack Nicholas, Holmes and another Tobin free extended the margin to seven.

Effin broke the sequence with an O'Donovan free coming up to the break but that was immediately met by Holmes's drive from well inside his own half. Effin got the last score of the half with O’Connor sending over to leave the score at 0-10 to 0-4 in Murrue-Boher’s favour.

Any hope of a reversal of fortune for Effin on the change of ends evaporated quickly as Murroe-Boher's turbo-charged restart proved vital.

Tobin, Darren Collopy and Mark Nicholas all struck from play and Tobin then hit the target once again with yet another placed ball.

O'Donovan's strike from out near the sideline halted the march and he split the posts again after Tobin replied with a free for Murroe-Boher.

Micheál Ryan pointed from out on the left and then out on the right and was followed by another Tobin free which left a dozen points separating the sides going into the final quarter.

In a final throw of the dice, Effin brought O'Donovan out to shore up their midfield and he marked his move by winning possession out on the left, took a pass and return to slice through the challenges and then played across the face of the goals for his skipper Tommy Quaid to hammer past Killian Quaid's outstretched hurley.

A long free from O'Donovan, a monster drive from Nickie Quaid and a free brought into range for dissent for O'Donovan to send over and,within the space of four minutes, the gap had suddenly been halved to six with still enough time for Effin to draw closer.

But it wasn't to be. The east Limerick side recovered their grip in the middle and, with the biggest threat removed from the opposing attack, they ground the game down to a battle for possession, used whatever they gained to run at their opponents and surgically drew four fouls for Tobin to punish before the full time whistle.

SCORERS - MURROE-BOHER: Seanie Tobin 0-12 (10f), Oisín Holmes 0-3, Jack Nicholas, Mark Nicholas, Micheál Ryan 0-2 each, Darren Collopy 0-1; EFFIN: Paddy O'Donovan 0-6 (3f), Tommy Quaid 1-0, Ruairí O'Connor 0-2, Nickie Quaid 0-1.

MURROE-BOHER: Killian Quaid; Euan Sheridan, Aaron Kennedy, Fintan Sheridan; Seán Fitzgerald, Darragh Kennedy, Oisín Holmes; Jack Nicholas, Dylan Sheehan; Mark Nicholas, Seanie Tobin, Micheál Ryan; Conor Foley, Darren Collopy, John O'Keeffe; Subs: Cathal Sheridan for J O'Keeffe (43 mins), Brian O'Keeffe for A Kennedy (49 mins), Jack Casey for Foley (59 mins).

EFFIN: James O'Leary; Rob Cagney, Alan Byrne, Mark Mullins; Brian Clifford, Nickie Quaid, Paul Treacy; Jack Quaid, Cillian O'Riordan; Ewan Dillon, Cathal Canning, Ruairí O'Connor; Pierse O'Kelly, Paddy O'Donovan, Tommy Quaid; Sub: Hugh O'Neill for O'Kelly (55 mins).

Referee: Declan O'Driscoll (Ballinacurra Gaels).