Kilkenny IHL- Thomastown make it three wins from four

It was all one way traffic as championship favourites Thomastown claimed a double scores victory over a winless St Martins side in the Michael Lyng Motors Intermediate hurling league on Saturday.

Thomastown came into the game on the back of defeat against Young Irelands of Gowran a week previous and they took out all their frustration from that result on St Martins.

The result was never in doubt with Thomastown bagging two goals in each half as the likes of Stephen Donnelly, Robbie Donnelly, John Donnelly, Jack Holden, Brian Staunton and Zach Bay Hammond all scored heavily.

Of Thomastown’s 4-26 winning total, 4-22 came from play which was in sharp contest to their opponents that only scored 1-6 from play even if Brian Cody and Luke Maher troubled Thomastown at times.

Thomastown are now on the verge of qualifying for another league final but getting over the line in the championship is their sole aim for 2022.

While Thomastown’s eyes are very much on competing for end of season honours, St Martins must dust themselves down for a relegation battle and they will need to drastically improve on their four league defeats to dates if they want to maintain their Intermediate status.

Played in front of a relatively small attendance, Thomastown were at it from the get go and within nine minutes they had already amassed 1-4 on the scoreboard.

A second minute Stephen Donnelly goal was a sure sign of things to come and in almost a blink of an eye, there was seen points between the sides after Thomastown points from Robbie Donnelly, Stephen Donnelly and Luke Connellan.

St Martins got off the mark through points from Luke Maher and Shane Kinsella but it was only brief respite as Brian Staunton, John Donnelly and Stephen Donnelly all scored for Thomastown at their ease.

Kinsella knocked over two more frees for St Martins but despite the free taker scoring ten points in total, it was just scant consolation as to what was happening down the other end and by half-time, Thomastown had racked up a massive 2-16 total.

By the time of the second Thomastown goal in the 25th minute, there was already 11 points seperating the sides and Stephen Donnelly’s second effort of the half certainly put an end to any sort of contest as his teammate Luke Connellan took advantage of a poor Colin McGrath puckout before feeding the corner forward who shot to the net.

The Donnelly brothers scored 2-11 between them and Thomastown even had the luxury of taking off Kilkenny star John at half-time as they began to think about tougher challenges down the line.

The scoreline read 2-16 to 0-5 at the interval and to their credit St Martins were much better in the second period and they got the first point courtesy of a Kinsella free.

Thomastown did hit back with 1-6 on the bounce though and it was Jack Holden who got his sides third goal when he shot past McGrath after a flowing move that included Naoise Dempsey and Luke Connellan.

Stephen Donnelly almost scored his hat-trick in the 39th minute when Holden brilliantly picked him out with a crossfield pass but the crossbar got in the way of a blasted attempt from the corner forward.

A fourth goal did arrive shortly afterwards though with Zach Bay Hammond finding the net after shooting on the back of a loose ball dropping near the St Martins square.

The winners did take their foot off the pedal a bit near the end and St Martins plugged away with Brian Cody scoring five points from play in the final quarter.

Richie Doyle’s team also got the reward of a late goal with Luke Maher batting the sliotar past Diarmuid Galway after a long delivery from Darragh Quinaln found its way into his grasp.

A case of too little too late though as Thomastown won without being really tested.

Teams and Scorers

Thomastown- Stephen Donnelly (2-4), Jack Holden (1-3, 0-1f), Robbie Donnelly (0-5, 0-3f), John Donnelly, Brian Staunton (0-4 each), Zach Bay Hammond (1-1), Luke Connellan (0-3), Dylan Waugh (0-2)

St Martins- Shane Kinsella (0-10, 0-10f), Brian Cody (0-5), Luke Maher (1-1),

Thomastown- Diarmuid Galway; Peter Connellan, Ned Kirwan, David Prendergast; Johnny Barron, Peter McDonald, Adrian Burke; Robbie Donnelly, Brian Staunton; Luke Connellan, John Donnelly, Zach Bay Hammond; Stephen Donnelly, Jack Holden, Dylan Waugh.

Subs- Brian O’Hanrahan for Burke h-t, Naoise Dempsey for J.Donnelly h-t, Craig Butler for Barron 38 mins, Garry Lehane for Connellan 45 mins, Jack Cullen for S.Donnelly 51 mins.

St Martins- Colin McGrath; Cathal Keegan, Josh Dempsey, Bill Dowling; Tristan Roche, Ciaran Nolan, Donal Coughlan; David Walsh, Justin Manning; Brian Cody, Shane Kinsella, Jason Shore; John Mulhall, Joe Maher, Luke Maher.

Subs- Darragh Quinlan for J.Maher 20 mins, Robert Reid for Roche h-t, Adam Comerford for Mulhall 40 mins, Oisin Kelly for Shore 43 mins.

Referee- Colin Tobin