Late Gilligan point stuns Doonbeg

Kilrush 1-6    Doonbeg 0-8

Maybe Doonbeg thought this result was sewn up when they led 0-6 to 0-0 20 minutes into the first half. Or perhaps Kilrush decided that they had nothing to lose and they might as well throw everything at their opponents.
It transpired, however, that Kilrush fought back superbly to record their first Cusack Cup win of the new season and they now join Doonbeg on two points from their opening three matches. Doonbeg were well beaten by Kilmurry Ibrickane in their previous outing.
Doonbeg cannot point to the absence of David Tubridy as a factor either. The Doonbeg man and his Kilrush inter-county team-mate John Hayes both lined out for their clubs in what could be a seminal week of their county careers.
Points from Colm Dillon, Tubridy, Frank O’Dea, Brian Egan and Shane Killeen established Doonbeg’s early lead.
Come half-time, they led 0-6 to 0-2 as Kilrush fought their way back. Niall Clancy and Jim Young scored Kilrush’s first-half points. The decision to place Darragh Bolton as an extra defender steadied Kilrush, while their full back line played well throughout, with Niall Gilbride keeping tabs on David Tubridy.
The games key score was put away from the penalty spot by Jim Young. Now 1-5 to 0-7 up, Kilrush were reeled back when Tubridy equalised but corner-forward Jamie Gilligan kicked the winning point for the home club.
Gilligan, John Hayes, Niall Clancy and Jim Young had kicked Kilrush’s earlier second half points.

Kilrush: Tony Burke; Cathal Lyons, Niall Gilbride, Seamus Bolton; Niall Brennan, Matthew Moloney, John Hayes; Paddy Clancy, Jim Young; Donal Madigan, Darragh Bolton, Padjoe McGrath; Ruaidhrí O’Connor, Paul Heaslip, Jamie Gilligan.
Subs: Niall Clancy for Donal Madigan, David O’Shea for Paul Heaslip and Martin Griffin for Ruaidhrí O’Connor.
Doonbeg: Eamon Tubridy; Philip Smith, Padraig Gallagher, Cian Clancy; Brian Egan, Brian Dillon, Seán O’Dea; Frank O’Dea, Enda Doyle; Shane Killeen, Colm Dillon, Conor Downes; Shane Ryan, David Tubridy, Paul Dillon.
Subs: Colm Killeen for Shane Killeen and Cian O’Mahony for Colm Killeen.

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield 1-13    Ennistymon 1-7

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield continued their good form in the Cusack Cup when they defeated Ennistymon on Friday night at Gurteen.
Helped by five points from Cathal Duggan, the winners were 0-8 to 0-4 in front at half-time.
A defensive blunder early in the second half led to the winners goal that the visitors fought back with the help of a John McInerney goal to cut the lead to two points. St Joseph’s finished strongly to take the points and keep their hopes of a semi-final spot alive.

St Joseph’s: Declan O’Keeffe; Paudie Nugent, Seán Flynn, Declan Malone; Ger Fannin, Ivor White, Damian Kennedy; Kevin Dilleen, Mark Hallinan; David O’Brien, Greg Lyons, Paul Dullaghan; Enda Lyons, Cathal Duggan, Christy O’Brien;
Subs: Alan O’Neill for Hallinan and Johnnie O’Brien for Duggan.
Ennistymon: Shane Keane; James Murphy, Brian McDonagh, Michael A. Devitt; Wayne Griffin, Sean O’Driscoll, Liam O’Driscoll; Michael Houlihan, John McInerney; Ciaran Devitt, Lawrence Healy, Joe Dowling; Willie Murphy, Seán Cullinan, Seán McConigley
Subs: Robert McDonagh fur Cullinan; Tadhg Malone for Murphy; Ronan Linnane for Devitt; Danny Rouine for Seán O’Driscoll.

Éire Óg 2-11    Kilmurry Ibrickane 1-10

A late goal from Éire Óg substitute Graham Glynn sealed an excellent win for James Hanrahan’s team in Ennis last Friday.
Kilmurry led 1-5 to 1-4 at half time, although Éire Óg had been 1-4 to 0-2 up at one stage in the opening half. Darren O’Neill, who is having an excellent season for club and county, goaled for the winners while Johnny Daly netted from the penalty spot for Kilmurry. Daly had won the penalty after he was fouled by Éire Óg goalkeeper Eoin Slattery.
The second half was fairly evenly fought with Kilmurry establishing a three-point lead. Éire Óg didn’t let this get them down however and points from Eoin Glynn and Danny Russell pulled them level.
Glynn’s goal, added to by an O’Neill point, secured the points and a second Cusack Cup win for unbeaten Éire Óg. It was Kilmurry’s first Cusack Cup defeat of the season. They were unbeaten in the competition in 2011.

Éire Óg: Eoin Slattery; Alan Malone, Saran Butler, Francie Keane; Seán Browne, Shane Daniels, David Russell; Seán Crotty, Brian Frawley; Dylan Blake, Stephen Hickey, Seán O’Meara; Danny Russell, Darren O’Neill, Eoin Glynn.
Subs: James Sweeney for Danny Russell, Graham Glynn for Brian Frawley, and Darren O’Meara for Dylan Blake.
Kilmurry Ibrickane: Peter O’Dwyer; Eamon Dunne, Darren Hickey, Pat Sexton; Thomas O’Connor, Shane Hickey, Thomas Lernihan; Keith King, Seamus Murrihy; Stephen Moloney, Enda Coughlan, Seamus Lynch; Michael O’Dwyer, Noel Downes, Johnny Daly.
Subs: Odran O’Dwyer for Seamus Lynch, Vinny Talty for Stephen Moloney and Paul O’Connor for Eamon Dunne.

St Joseph’s Miltown 1-8    Shannon Gaels 0-5

Following their third Cusack Cup win, Miltown now sit top of the table. A second-half Dessie Molohan goal was one of the games crucial scores following a tight first half.
Shannon Gaels led 0-3 to 0-2 at half-time but Miltown played much better in the second half and raced into a 0-7 to 0-4 lead, following scores from Eoin Curtin, Joe Curtin and Molohan.
Miltown’s county players, Gordon and Graham Kelly both featured, with the latter coming off the substitutes’ bench.
Shannon Gaels have made a poor start to the Cusack Cup season but this display was a significant improvement from their previous outing against Doora-Barefield.

Miltown: Niall Quinn; Enda Malone, Kevin Burke, Brendan O’Brien; Gearóid Curtin, Gordon Kelly, Seánie Malone; Micheál Malone, Darragh McDonagh; David Talty, Gary Egan, Brian Curtin; Joe Curtin, Eoin Curtin, Dessie Molohan.
Subs: Graham Kelly for David Talty, Enda O’Gorman for Brendan O’Brien, Peter Cleary for Brian Curtin and Gerard Malone for Joe Curtin.
Shannon Gaels: Keith Ryan; Frank Cleary, John Neylon, Micheál Lorigan; Damien O’Connell, Brian Bermingham, Tomás Cleary; Padraig Neylon, Michael O’Donoghue; Fergal O’Neill, Noel Kennedy, Brian Cunningham; Shane Tubridy, David Neylon, Michael Coughlan.
Subs: Stephen O’Shea for Fergal O’Neill, Declan O’Connell for Brian Cunningham and Michael McMahon for Damien O’Connell.