Leinster IHC- Thomastown off to a flying start in Leinster Intermediate Championship

Thomastown’s devastating run of form that saw them capture league and championship honours in Kilkenny continued last Saturday when they opened up their Leinster Championship campaign in Enniscorthy.

A game away to the Wexford champions Cloughbawn looked a difficult outing on paper but it quickly turned into something of a procession with Thomastown scoring at will throughout the 60 minutes.

By half-time, the Kilkenny winners were already 12 points to the good with both Robbie Donnelly and Thomas O’Hanrahan finding the net.

Stephen Donnelly then got in on the act in the second period with a goal of his own and while Eanna Doyle got a consolation for the Wexford side, that’s all it proved to be with the likes of John Donnelly and Luke Connellan also scoring heavily.

A sizeable Thomastown crowd made the short journey to the south-east and their team were on the board within a minute’s play with John Donnelly scoring from play.

While Conall Flood did equalise shortly afterwards for Cloughbawn, the hosts were soon on the backfoot with a well taken Thomas O’Hanrahan goal coming before further points from John Donnelly, Luke Connellan and Robbie Donnelly.

The Kilkenny side led 1-5 to 0-1 at this point and while Conal Flood and Harry Kehoe kept Cloughbawn competitive, they were also part of a team that were pretty wasteful in front of goal.

Thomastown were much more economical in their forward ranks and they were rampant at different stages of the opening half including when Robbie Donnelly broke forward in the 23rd minute to blast a shot past Sean Keating in the Cloughbawn goal.

Thomastown’s second goalscorer continued to be a major threat and added on two more points before the interval with midfielder Peter McDonald also getting in on the act.

The scoreboard read 2-14 to 0-8 at the halfway mark so a bright start was imperative for Cloughbawn but it didn’t arrive as Thomastown routinely went about their business.

Like in the Kikenny decider with Mooncoin, it was exhibition stuff at times and it wasn’t long until Stephen Donnelly who had a quiet opening half grabbed a third goal for his team.

Cloughbawn centre forward Eanna Doyle did eventually get a goal for his team in one of few positives on the day while Thomastown’s only negative arrived in stoppage time when Naoise Dempsey was given a straight red card for an off the ball incident.

Teams and Scorers

Thomastown: Robbie Donnelly (1-6, 4fs), Stephen Donnelly (1-3, 2fs), Luke Connellan (0-5), John Donnelly (0-4), Thomas O'Hanrahan (1-0), Peter McDonald (0-2)

Cloughbawn: Eanna Doyle (1-1), Harry Kehoe (0-4, 4fs), Conna Flood (0-4, 2f), Barry Carton (0-2), Paddy Whitty (0-1)

Thomastown: Diarmuid Galway; Peter Connellan, Jay Burke, Ned Kirwan; Brian Staunton, Eddie Donnelly, Brian O'Hanrahan; Peter McDonald, Jonjo Farrell; Robbie Donnelly, John Donnelly, Luke Connellan; Thomas O’Hanrahan, Jack Holden, Stephen Donnelly.

Subs: Dylan Waugh for R.Donnelly 42 mins, Alex Cass for Farrell 48 mins, David Prendergast for P.Connellan 51 mins, Rory Connellan for E.Donnelly 54 mins, Naoise Dempsey for Holden 55 mins.

Cloughbawn: Sean Keating; Nathan McDonald, Darragh Kehoe, Gavin Murphy; Barry Kehoe, Paidi Cullen, James Dempsey; Johnny Cullen, Shane Kehoe; Paddy Whitty, Eanna Doyle, Barry Carton; Connal Flood, Harry Kehoe, Darragh Redmond.

Subs: Gary Kennedy for McDonald 25 mins, Liam Flood for J.Cullen h-t, Jack Fleming for Whitty 45 mins, Mickey Fleming for S.Kehoe 49 mins, Alan Carton for Redmond 54 mins.

Referee- Adam Kinahan (Offaly)