All County Senior Hurling League Semi-Final
14 August 2012 Time: 8pm
Venue: Gaelic Grounds
Kilmallock 3-18 Doon 1-11
Kilmallock qualified for the final of the ACHL after this comprehensive defeat of Doon. The lads will now meet Ballybrown in the final which should be a game to look forward to.
It was good to see the team playing well and making amends for the unexpected defeat to Ahane, a week previously, in the final game of Group 3, in the county championship.
It was also good to see Robbie Egan make a welcome return to the team at centerfield following his injury against Ahane.
The selectors were very much in experimental mood and tried out a number of players in various positions. Kevin O’Donnell was placed at full forward and scored 1-3. Eoin Ryan started at left corner forward, a position he excelled in at under age level and Aaron Costello played at left half back instead of the injured Bryan O’Sullivan and had an exceptional game.
The game was really over as a contest by half time as Kilmallock led by 2-9 to 0-6. The lads pushed on in the second half and ran out the easiest of winners over a very disappointing Doon challenge.
The selectors emptied the bench long before the final whistle giving valuable game time to some of the substitutes.
We had some exceptional performances from Mark O’Loughlin, Liam Walsh, Aaron Costello, Kevin O’Donnell and Graeme Mulcahy.
So while this was a very satisfactory victory, with the team very much back on track, the management team know that there is still some fine tuning to be done prior to our championship quarter final tilt with Croom.
The team lined out as follows:
Barry Hennessy, Mark O’Loughlin, Philip O’Loughlin, John Meade, Liam Walsh 0-1, Gavin O’Mahony 0-1, Aaron Costello, Robbie Egan, Paudie O’Brien (Capt.) 0-1, Jake Mulcahy 0-2, Paudie O’Dwyer 0-1, Kieran Kenneally 1-0,Graeme Mulcahy 1-4, Kevin O’Donnell 1-3, Eoin Ryan 0-4
Subs used: Derek O’Mahony 0-1, Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Conor Crowley
