Kilkenny IHC- Lisdowney fend off stubborn Martin’s effort

Lisdowney scored the final two points of the game as they got the better of St Martin’s in a well contest intermediate championship quarter-final in Ballyragget on Sunday afternoon.

The league winners led for long periods with Brian Kavanagh, Kevin Sweeney and Liam Dunphy in particular standing out but Trevor Fletcher’s outfit still had to be thankful to goalkeeper Aidan Tallis after he made a point-blank save from Daniel Comerford in the final few minutes.

A goal in that move would have brought the teams level on the cusp of injury-time and it would have been anyone’s game at that stage.

St Martin’s made a blistering start to the game and, with a little bit more luck, they could have found the net after Jamie Morrissey hit the crossbar in the opening minute.

John Mulhall subsequently gave Martin’s the lead with a point from the same move but the Lisdowney response was instant and often.

A Brian Kavanagh free quickly levelled up matters before Luke Holohan and Richard McEvoy combined to get the next three points from play.

Shane Kinsella steadied St Martin’s with his first free and his side then retook the lead in the 12th minute when Daniel Comerford, who was only on as a temporary replacement at this point, benefitted from some scrappy Lisdowney defending to pounce and move forward and blast a shot past Aidan Tallis.

Mulhall and Michael Keane then knocked over further efforts and St Martin’s looked in more than decent shape of causing an upset.

Lisdowney soon turned on the afterburners however and they quickly regained control through points from Kevin Sweeney, Eibhann and Richard McEvoy.

James O’Neill did bring the sides level at 0-8 to 1-5 when knocking over a brilliant point near the sideline but the rest of the half belonged to Lisdowney. Liam Dunphy converted a trio of scores from play on the bounce before Brian Kavanagh extended his own tally and that left the side in blue and white with a four point buffer going into the dressing rooms (0-12 to 1-5).

After hitting three more points inside the first two minutes on the resumption it looked like Lisdowney might run riot as Kavanagh and Dylan Jordan piled more misery on the Martin’s men.

Lisdowney had the perfect opportunity to end the last eight clash as a contest when David O’Carroll went on a great run but Colin McGrath made an opportune save.

Another Kavanagh point soon followed to give Lisdowney a double scores advantage on the scoreboard but Martin’s refused to wilt and they outscored their opposition 0-8 to 0-2 over the next 20 minutes to leave only the minimum between the teams.

Michael Keane, Shane Kinsella, Brian Coady, Sean Hunt and Aaron Farrell all led the revival as did Colin McGrath who not only knocked over a long range free but the Martin’s stopper also pulled off a miraculous double save from Brian Kavanagh and Eibhann McEvoy.

Lisdowney duly showed great character to rediscover their form when they needed it the most as Kavanagh and Dunphy scored consecutive points from play and despite a late scare, they did enough to win out and set up a county semi-final clash with last year’s finalists Mooncoin.

Teams and Scorers

Lisdowney - Brian Kavanagh (0-7, 0-3 frees); Liam Dunphy (0-5); Kevin Sweeney, Richard McEvoy, Luke Holohan (0-2 each); Eibhann McEvoy, Dylan Jordan (0-1 each)

St Martin’s - Dan Comerford (1-1); Colin McGrath, Shane Kinsella (0-2, two frees each); John Mulhall, Michael Keane, Brian Coady (0-2 each); James O’Neill, Sean Hunt, Aaron Farrell (0-1 each).

Lisdowney - Aidan Tallis; Michael Kenny, Ben Tallis, Laurence Campion; Dylan Jordan, Niall Brennan, Eoin Walsh; David O’Carroll, Kevin Sweeney; Liam Dunphy, Richard McEvoy, Eibhann McEvoy; Brian Kavanagh, Cathal Jordan, Luke Holohan.

Subs: Pat O’Carroll, Alan Dunphy, Sean Phelan.

St Martin’s - Colin McGrath; Ollie Walsh, Jamie Morrissey, Matthew Bolger; Justin Manning, Tristan Roche, Cathal Keegan; Aaron Farrell, Brian Coady; Shane Kinsella, Brian Byrne, John Mulhall; Michael Keane, Sean Hunt, James O’Neill.

Subs: Daniel Comerford, David Walsh, Paddy Nolan.

Referee - Julian O’Dwyer (Windgap).