Kilkenny IHL- Mooncoin come good against Conahy

Mooncoin secured their third win of the intermediate hurling league on Sunday, beating Conahy Shamrocks on a scoreline of 1-24 to 0-21.

The six-point winning margin was an accurate reflection of the gap between the two teams, as a strong finish to the first half and an impressive second, booked the South Kilkenny club’s passage to the first round of the championship.

The Shamrocks raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage by the fifth minute, James Bergin and Tom Phelan popping up in dangerous areas to score.

Mooncoin played second fiddle to Conahy at this juncture but did manage to respond with a trio of points, Sean Gannon and two points from Peter Henebry narrowing their opponents lead to 0-5 to 0-4 after 10 minutes.

The mini Mooncoin resurgence didn’t discourage Liam Dowling’s side, and they hit back with points of their own.

A sharp turn and point from close range courtesy of James Bergin, a Derek Dooley strike from the sideline and a Kieran Mooney effort all raised white flags for Conahy which put them in a healthy 0-8 to 0-4 ascendancy.

Mooncoin slowly grew into the contest and never allowed the gap to grow beyond repair.

Adam Croke had the first significant goal chance of the match, forcing a crucial save from Karl Downey in the Conahy goal midway through the half.

The southerners did however get something for their efforts, as Sean Gannon pointed the resulting ball.

The scorekeepers were being kept busy and Conahy maintained their authority on the scoreboard as the clock ticked down towards half-time, two long-range scores from Tom Rice inside his own 65 metre line and an impressive James Bergin point from an acute angle left the scoreline reading 0-11 to 0-6 with 13 minutes of the half remaining.

Seven Mooncoin points without reply was just the medicine Brendan Cahill and his side needed as five Pa Walsh points swung the momentum in his team’s favour.

Frees from Karl Downey and James Bergin did give Conahy something to shout about in the final few minutes but there was no doubt the momentum lied with Mooncoin at half-time as the teams stood deadlocked at 0-13 each.

The scoring evened out slightly at the beginning of the second half, and Mooncoin had their noses in front at 0-16 to 0-15 with 19 minutes remaining.

The next seven minutes were pivotal to Mooncoin’s victory as they hit Conahy with five sucker punches.

Killian Hogan, Ciaran Quilty and Pa Walsh to the fore as they stretched their advantage to 0-21 to 0-15 as the match reached the final quarter.

To compound matters further, the 2020 junior county champions had to play for much of the half with 14 players as they were without the services of James Bergin.

John Mullan was also sent to the sideline after committing two yellow card offences, while Bergin made way due to injury.

Kieran Mooney did offer a Conahy threat in the closing minutes and bagged one of three consecutive points to bring the gap back to three with seven minutes remaining.

But this was Mooncoin’s day, an Oisin Henebry strike squeezed over the crossbar as shouts of ‘goal’ were inches away from being correct, and as Sean Gannon edged Mooncoin a little closer to a winning result with a point, the elusive goal did arrive.

A ball into space from Mark Kearns was hit with pinpoint accuracy for Adam Croke to run into and proved deadly as he fired the ball to the net, a goal any player would be proud of in ‘Croke’ Park. Conahy Shamrocks battled to their credit and were rewarded with three of the last four points but it was too little too late.

Teams and Scorers

Mooncoin - Pa Walsh (0-7, 0-3 frees); Ciaran Quilty (0-4); Paul Henebry (0-4, 0-2 frees);
Adam Croke (1-1); Kevin Hogan, Sean Gannon (0-3 each); Stephen Crowley, Oisin Henebry
(0-1 each)

Conahy Shamrocks - James Bergin (0-6, 0-4 frees); Tom Phelan (0-4); Darragh Dooley, Kieran Mooney (0-3 each); Tom Rice (0-3, 0-2 frees); Eddie Delaney (0-1); Karl Downey (0-1, 0-1 free).

Mooncoin - Eoin Purcell; Niall Madden, Aidan Doyle, Ryan Carroll; Cormac Daly, Paul Henebry, Martin O’Neill; Mark Kearns, Sean Gannon; Ciaran Quilty, Killian Hogan, Kevin Crowley; Adam Croke, Pa Walsh, Stephen Crowley.

Conahy Shamrocks - Karl Downey; Billy Mulhall, Padraig Gunner, Ciaran Rice; Eoin Carroll, Eoin Cahill, Simon Callanan; Darren Cuddihy, Tom Phelan; Tom Rice, John Mullan, Darragh Dooley; Bill Murphy, Kieran Mooney, James Bergin.

Referee - Raymond Byrne (Glenmore)