Kilkenny SHL- Injury-hit Tullaroan see off Clara with late surge

A fast finishing Tullaroan grabbed their opening senior league win as they saw off Clara in an entertaining affair in Ballyragget.

The Sash scored five of the last six points of the contest to prevail a man of the match display from Bill Walton, Mossy Keoghan and Dylan Simpson proving crucial.

While the ending to the game was hugely positive for the winners, the start was like a nightmare after Tommy Walsh was strechered off with a serious looking knee injury after only two minutes of play.

The incident occured with the Kilkenny star tracking Rory Glynn and his knee gave way on the turn and added to Shane Walsh's shoulder problem, it’s been a testing start on the injury front for Ken Coogan’s team.

Clara led for the majority of the contest with Rory Glynn, David Barcoe and Conor Hoyne standing out but they ran out of steam in the final few minutes.

Walsh’s injury held up the game for a period of time and understandably, Tullaroan struggled in that spell as Clara raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead with points from Glynn, Chris Bolger and Dara Glynn.

Tullaroan evetually got going Dylan Simpson and Mossy Keoghan leading the fight but Clara’s efficiency and brilliant high fielding from the likes of Paul Cody and David Barcoe set them apart.

Clara ended up going into the break with a 0-14 to 0-11 lead with Conor Hoyne scorig well before the break.

Like the week before against Thomastown though, Tullaroan wouldn’t go away and with Jack Keoghan and Bill Walton beginning to dominate around the middle and Dylan Simpson adding to the scoreboard, the gap was back to just a point entering the final quarter.

Efforts from Shane Staunton and Joe Power looked like they might help Clara get over the line but the Tullaroan resurgence was only getting going with a trio of Bill Walton efforts levelling up matters.

Mossy Keoghan who was well tied up by Matt Kenny for a lot of the game then came into his own with two fantastic scores in the fial few minutes.

Paul Cody’s only point of the game gave Clara hope of snatching a share of the spoils but Dylan Simpson settled the game in Tullaroan’s favout with a stoppage time score as they held out to win.

Teams and Scorers

Tullaroan: Dylan Simpson (0-9, 4fs); Martin Keoghan, Bill Walton (0-5 each); Peter Walsh (0-2); Niall Holland (0-1, 1f); Ciallin Brennan, Gearoid Dunne (0-1 each)

Clara: Conor Hoyne (0-7, 5fs); Rory Glynn (0-4); Joe Power (0-3, 1f); Dara Glynn, David Barcoe (0-2 each); Chris Bolger, Paul Cody, Shane Staunton, Harry Boyle (0-1 each)

Tullaroan: Niall Holland Joe Coughlan, Tommy Walsh, Eamon Holland; Gearoid Dunne, Padraig Walsh, Bill Gaffney; Jack Keoghan, Bill Walton; John Walton, Martin Keoghan, Tomas Dunne; Peter Walsh, Dylan Simpson, Ciallin Brennan.

Subs: Charlie Cleere for T.Walsh, 2 mins; Jim Moore for Brennan, 50 mins; Martin Walsh for J.Walton, 60 mins.

Clara: Kevin Nolan; Conor O’Shea, Shane Staunton, Harry Boyle; Jack Langton, Matt Kenny, Martin O’Connell; Dara Glynn, David Langton; Paul Cody, Rory Glynn, David Barcoe; Conor Hoyne, Chris Bolger, Joe Power.

Subs: Liam Ryan for Hoyne, 45 mins; James Bergin for D.Langton, 52 mins; Lester Ryan for Power, 56 mins.

Referee: Conor Everard