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kilkennyobserver.ie
The Kilkenny Observer Friday 10 December 2021
Hurling matters
Sport
BY NIALL SHERRY SPORTS EDITOR SPORTSEDITORKILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
AIB Leinster SHC quarter-final Mount Leinster Rangers 0-16 Ballyhale Shamrocks 0-22 <<CRESTS>> REIGNING All- Ireland club hurling champions, Shamrocks of Ballyhale secured a semi-final berth in the Provincial series, with a hard-fought 6-point victory over Carlow kingpins, Mount Leinster Rangers at a cold and windy Netwatch Cullen Park last Saturday. Despite coming into the tie as massive underdogs, Rangers gave a good account of themselves, considering they hadn’t been in competitive action since winning their county title on September 19th. This period of inactivity was probably one of the factors as Ballyhale came out of the traps much more sharply than their neighbours. The Carlow side would actually open the scoring, playing against the wind in the first half, through a placed ball from cornerforward Denis Murphy. Their Kilkenny opponents hit back straight away, when Adrian Mullen took possession, before passing to the impressive Joe Cuddihy who slotted over to level. Shortly after, midfielder Brian Cody picked up a loose ball before finding the on-running Adrian Mullen who turned inside and popped over a lovely point. Cody would then register his sides 3rd score of the day, following lovely build-up play from Ronan Corcoran and captain Colin Fennelly. Shamrocks had settled and were Richie Reid displaying all the attributes of a side handpasses who’s record outside of their county is under pressure as good as any across the island. James O’Connor’s side appeared to be able to create scoring chances with greater ease than their Carlow opponents. The first burst from Ballyhale had produced 3 points, the second would triple that and would see them lead 0-9 to 0-2 at the first water break. Messrs. Adrian Mullen, Brian & Eoin Cody, Ronan Corcoran, TJ Reid and Joe Cuddihy would contribute to the emphatic first quarter blitz by the Nore Siders, and notably, all their scores came from play. MLR would only add one further score to their first quarter Evan Shefflin total, via Fiachra Fitzpatrick, under pressure and the warning signs looked ominous for Conor Phelan’s charges. Things would go from bad to worse for the Carlow side when the heavily strapped Eddie Byrne had to be withdrawn from play after only 15 minutes. You could sense that the Rangers supporters were fearing the worst, and when Adrian Mullen slotted over another welltaken point for this third of the day, the gap between the sides appeared to be widening. The Carlow champions did reduce the deficit to six points, with much needed scores from Teddy Joyce and their top marksman, Denis Murphy. Little did their watching faithful know that only one further placed along with those points would be the last scores registered by their side in a disappointing first half for MLR. Shamrocks responded to their opponents 2-point salvo with scores of their own from TJ and Cuddihy. Eight points down as they entered the final five minutes of a difficult first period, manager Phelan needed to stem the tide, but
Shamrocks snu Rangers threat Offaly champs St Rynaghs next up for Ballyhale
