Kilkenny SHC- Buoyant Ballycallan book quarter-final berth

A fast finishing Graigue Ballycallan booked their place in the quarter-finals of the championship after having four points to spare over Clara in UPMC Nowlan Park.

A first half goal from Colum Prendiville as well as big impacts from Aaron McEvoy, Tommy Ronan and Billy Ryan saw Eugene Cloonan’s men come through a tough task but overall they were the better side over the course of the 60 minutes.

If not for a fluke own goal by Richie Keoghan in the second half, Ballycallan could have made things a little easier on themselves but with a very young team, it’s already been a relatively successful year for the Tom Ryall Park outfit.

Clara had decent showings from Paul Cody who has had an excellent year as well as John Murphy and Martin O’Connell and while they were level on three occasions, they were chasing Ballycallan for much of the contest.

Clara did in fact open the scoring with the first of four John Murphy points from play.

The advantage didn’t last long though with Ballycallan getting the next three scores as Sean Ryan, Aaron McEvoy and Billy Ryan all found their range.

Murphy and Dara Glynn soon had Clara back on level terms and they almost got in for a goal when Ciaran Hoyne saved well from Matt Kenny.

The game was played in very difficult conditions with rain and wind blustering around the stadium throughout so a goal was always going to have a big impact on the game and Graigue Ballycallan got the first of them.

Ryan Corcoran used his pace to get away from a few Clara defenders before passing off to Colum Prendiville who blasted the loose ball to the net.

Clara then responded with the last three points of the half in the shape of two Dara Glynn frees and a Paul Cody score from play as Graigue Ballycallan led 1-6 to 0-6.

After a scrappy opening period, things opened up a lot on the resumption and Clara threatened the winners on a number of occasions with Martin O’Connell and Matt Kenny really coming into the game.

The free taking of Sean Ryan and the ever growing influence of Billy Ryan kept the side in blue ahead however and heading into the final quarter, Graigue Ballycallan were very much in control.

Clara then had a lifeline when an attempted backpass from Graigue Ballycallan wing back Richie Keoghan went over his own goalkeeper and into the net.

That left just a point between the teams but credit to Eugene Cloonan’s side as they recovered from that setback in style with late points from Sean Ryan and Aaron McEvoy putting the seal on the win.

Teams and Scorers

Graigue Ballycallan: Sean Ryan (0-7, 0-6 frees), Colum Prendiville (1-0), Billy Ryan, Aaron McEvoy, Tommy Ronan (0-3 each), Billy O’Neill, Tom Dunphy (0-1 each)

Clara: Dara Glynn (0-4, 0-3 frees and 0-1 ‘65), John Murphy (0-4), OG (1-0), Paul Cody (0-3), Martin O’Connell (0-2), Matt Kenny (0-1, 0-1 free)

Graigue Ballycallan: Ciaran Hoyne; Darragh Egan, Conor Flynn, Stephen Keoghan; Billy O’Neill, Tom Dunphy, Richie Keoghan; Jeff Neary, Billy Ryan; Colum Prendiville, Tommy Ronan, Sean Ryan; Aaron McEvoy, Jesse Roberts, Ryan Corcoran.

Subs: Killian Egan for D Egan h/t.

Clara: Kevin Nolan; Conor Cody, Jack Langton, Sean O’Shea; Matt Kenny, Shane Staunton, David Langton; Martin O’Connell, Conor O’Shea; Paul Cody, Peter Nolan, John Murphy; Dara Glynn, Chris Bolger, Rory Glynn.

Subs: Lester Ryan for D Langton 45 mins.

Referee- John Kennedy (Shamrocks)