On Tuesday evening
last Drom-Inch travelled to Clonoulty for the penultimate round of the County
Senior hurling league Premier division. On a dull overcast evening, there was
nothing dull about the game that unfolded. Those who braved the elements got
full value for their admission fee and this was helped by the free flowing game
which was allowed by the brilliant refereeing of Fergal Horgan. The fact that
only 6 scores out of a total of 35 came from frees reiterates this
performance.
Drom opened the scoring
through David Butler with a sweetly struck point before Clonoulty replied with
2 points from play, one each from Tom Butler and Paidi White. Drom-Inch playing
with a strong wind in the first half went on a scoring spree in the next 20
minutes. Michael Everard hit 2 brilliant points from play either side of a
fantastic David Butler goal which he caught over his marker’s head and finished
to the net following a long delivery from Johnny Ryan. Enda Walsh scored a well
worked point after Seamus Butler had done a lot of the hard work in creating
the opportunity. David Butler was on hand again to score another point from
play before the Butler
brothers combined superbly as David scored his second goal. Seamus Butler was
central to nearly all of the scores during this purple patch and he got in on
the scoring act with the first of his points. David Butler was causing havoc
operating at corner forward and he completed his hat trick just before half
time with another great catch above his marker’s head and raced through on goal
before finishing past keeper Declan O Dwyer.
This was a superb passage of play from the men in green notching up 3-5
in 20 minutes. Michael Everard scored his 3rd point just before half
time following 1 point each from John Devane and Tom Butler.
Half Time Drom-Inch 3-7 Clonoulty Rossmore 0-4
Both teams appeared
for the second half with some new faces the most encouraging one from a Premier
hurling supporter been the introduction of
the talented John O’ Neill. Both sets of supporters will have been
delighted to see the Clonoulty talisman back in action following his serious
knee injury. Clonoulty got off the mark first with 2 pointed frees coming from
Tom Butler before a long delivery from Tom Butler was snapped in the air above
the Drom full back by Thomas Butler who crashed the ball to the net. John O
Neill followed up with a good point from play. This whirlwind start knocked
Drom-Inch back some what but they responded through points from centre forward
Enda Walsh and the industrious Seamus Butler. The hurling was tough and fast as
it went from end to end with some hard hits coming from both sides. Another
high ball into the Drom half back line was not dealt with and Fiachra O Keefe
finished to the net. Seamus Butler and Tom Butler traded points before Thomas
Butler was dragged down inside the small parallelogram and the referee gave a
penalty to Clonoulty which John O Neill duly converted to leave only 3 points
between the teams. Sub Jamie Maloney replied with a point before David Butler
pointed a free to stretch the lead to 3 points again. A wonderfully executed
cross field pass from Paddy Kennedy resulted in a Seamus Butler point.
Clonoulty had moved John Devane into full forward now and started to pump high
ball in on top of him. He caught one of these turned and finished to the net to
leave the scores level with little under 3 minutes left in the contest.
Drom-Inch won a free on the 21 out by the side line which David Butler
converted and also followed up with a point from play, before points from
Thomas Butler and Tom Butler both scored points the latter coming from a long
range free. The game looked set to end in stalemate until Seamus Butler won a
ball at midfield and played it into the corner where sub Paul Collins ran onto it and put it over the bar.
Final Score Drom-Inch 3-15 Clonoulty Rossmore 4-11
This was a fantastic
hard fought contest which could of went either way right up to the end. Both
teams will be a little worried about the number of wides which they hit
Drom-Inch registering 11 to Clonoulty’s 18 wides. However both sides will know
that they still have some county players to come back into their sides.
Drom-Inch will be
happy with this performance coming 2 days after their championship game against
Thurles Sarsfields. The Butler
brother David and Seamus were most impressive scoring 3-9 between them and
setting up numerous other scores. Michael Everard and Enda Walsh took their
scores well while at the back Eamonn Buckley continued his current impressive
form and was ably assisted by Johnny Ryan and Michael Costello.
Scorers: David Butler
3-5 (0-2 frees), Seamus Butler 0-4, Michael Everard 0-3, Enda Walsh 0-2, Paul Collins 0-1.
Drom-Inch
Damien Young, Paul
Stapleton, Martin Butler, Michael Costello, Johnny Ryan, Eamonn Buckley,
Donncha Kennedy, John Lillis, Declan Ryan, Johnny Kennedy, Enda Walsh, Seamus
Butler, David Butler, Paddy Kennedy, Michael Everard.
Subs:
Matthew Ryan for Declan Ryan, Liam Ryan for
John Lillis, Kevin Butler for Paul Stapleton, Cathal Flynn for Donncha Kennedy,
Paul Collins for Johnny Kennedy
Scorers: Tom Butler 0-6 (0-4f), Thomas
Butler 1-1, John O’ Neill 1-1 (1-0 Pen), John Devane 1-1, Jamie Maloney 0-1,
Paidi White 0-1
Clonoulty
Rossmore
Declan O Dwyer, Ciaran Ryan, James
Heffernan, Kevin Horan, Anthony Kearney, Padraig Heffernan, Liam Devane, Tom
Butler, Sean O’Connor, Paidi White, John Heffernan, John Devane, Patrick Ryan,
Thomas Butler, Fiachra O’Keefe.
Subs
used
John O’Neill
Jason Forrestial
Jamie Maloney
