Moyne Templetuohy 2-14
Drom Inch 0-15
By Mark Dunne PRO
Goals from U20 stars Gearoid O’Connor and Conor Bowe either side of the half was the difference in this eagerly contested Mid Intermediate Hurling Semi Final played in Holycross on Sunday morning last.
Moyne Templetuohy came into the game after topping their County Intermediate group and started like a team that meant business. An early high ball was duly snapped by Conor Bowe who pointed to put his side one to the good inside the opening minute. Drom responded well with a point of their own shortly afterwards. Gearoid O’Connor then got an early free on the board to settle him in after Conor Bowe was fouled. Drom/Inch took over the next few minutes of play with one from play and two from frees sending them 0-04 to 0-02 up. Moyne Templetuohy began to use the ball better with sharp passing between the lines resulting in a Diarmuid Fogarty score to narrow the gap to the minimum. John Ryan of Drom put two between the teams again before the first of Moyne Templetuohy’s goals hit the net. Gearoid O’Connor who was now firing well, picked up the ball on the Drom 45 with one thing on his mind. O’Connor burst through the Drom defence to fire the ball passed Damien Young to send Moyne Templetuohy ahead with 10mins of the half remaining. This was the kick Moyne Templetuohy needed and Gearoid O’Connor further added to his tally with another superb effort after rising highest to catch the ball in the middle of the field and slotting it over. Moyne began to play with their half back line of Thossie Hamill, Tommy Hassett and Pierce Meade hurling a lot of ball. Gearoid added another from a placed ball before Droms Micheal Butler pointed from distance to leave three between the sides. The final play of the half saw Gearoid O’Connor get his 4th point from frees to send his side in 1-07 to 0-06 at the break.
Moyne Templetuohy began the second half in the best possible manner, 30 seconds from the throw in Gearoid O’Connor found Conor Bowe who unleashed a rasper to the roof of the Drom net, 2-07 to 0-06. Drom /Inch got the next two scores from frees before Gearoid O’Connor (65m) and Jason Bergin tagged on the next two scores to keep seven between the teams. Moyne Templetuohy worked hard in all sectors, with the midfield pairing of Tom Meade and Donnacha Dunne working well. Drom began to shoot from distance with centre back Eamon Buckely firing over as well as a long range free from John Ryan to bring five idir na Foirne. Gearoid O’Connors accuracy never faltered as he added another to his ticket. Moyne Templetuohy will be disappointed with the number of frees conceded as Drom added the next three from dead balls. Conor Bowe found his range once again from his earlier goal to point and a Donnacha Dunne wonder point over his shoulder kept four between the sides. Two more frees from Droms John Ryan and a Tom Meade point finished the scoring as Moyne Templetuohy ran out 2-14 to 0-15 winners and advance to the Mid Intermediate Hurling Final.
This wasn’t a prefect performance from the men in the green and gold jersey but it’s very much a case of job done. The high free count which saw Drom/Inch score nine of their fifteen points from frees will be of concern to the management. However, a Mid Final awaits and good performances from Gearoid O’Connor, Conor Bowe, Thossie Hamill, Pierce Meade and Diarmuid Fogarty will all sit well with Moyne Templetuohy supporters this evening. The Mid Final at the time of writing is fixed for next Saturday September 21st at 3pm in Littleton.
Team and scorers: Paul Maher, Eoin Gorman, Liam Butler, Joe Grady, Tomas Hassett, Thossie Hamill, Pierce Meade, Donnacha Dunne (0-01), Tom Meade (0-01), Diarmuid Fogarty (0-01), Jason Bergin (0-01), Gearoid O’Connor (1-01 play, 0-07 frees), Martin Kelly, John Hassett and Conor Bowe (1-02). Subs used: Shane Lowe for Tommy Hassett, Mark Ryan for Martin Kelly, Kieran Larkin for John Hassett and Jack Taylor for Eoin Gorman.
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