PIHC R2A – Kilworth 0-12 Cloyne 2-14

Despite the horrendous wet and windy weather conditions on Friday evening last, we all made the short trip to Ballynoe for the much anticipated Premier Intermediate Round Two ‘A’ hurling clash between Kilworth and Cloyne. The game had a 7.30pm throw-in and just 60 minutes lied between us and what we hoped would be a place in the quarter-final. However, the latter wasn’t meant to be and we would instead have to settle with a place in the third round in a few weeks after Cloyne ran out victorious on the final score line of 2-14 to 0-12.

The game began at a fast pace and it was the opposition who were first out of the blocks with a point from play after two minutes but it was Kilworth, playing with the wind who started the first half much brighter. Dave Twomey levelled proceedings through a free and we came very close to getting the first goal of the game a minute later when Noel McNamara got inside the Cloyne defence to have a shot at goal only to be denied by the well-known goalkeeper. Points through Jeremy Saich, Noel McNamara and Liam Whelan put us 0-6 to 0-2 ahead after the first quarter of play. Cloyne clawed a point back in the 19^th minute before Kilworth had their second missed goal opportunity of the night when Will Condon took a shot at goal only for it to go left of the post and wide. Cloyne were now beginning to look dangerous every time they broke inside the Kilworth defence. It was clear they wanted goals and that’s exactly what they got in the 20^th minute when they drilled the ball past Kieran Walsh to level the game at 1-3 to 0-6. Kilworth responded very well to that goal with two points in quick succession from Paddy Moakley and Liam Whelan to put us two points clear once again, 1-3 to 0-8. Things would take a turn for the worst for us however, as we were reduced to 14 men in the 24^th minute when a miss-timed tackle from Mark O’Connor saw him receive a straight red card and he was bound for the dugout. Mark was having a great game and was very unlucky to be sent off. He would be a big loss in defence and what was an already difficult task, now became much harder. After just a minute of injury time, the half time whistle was sounded and Kilworth had a chance to regroup as they went in at the break with two points to spare, 1-4 to 0-9. A big second half lay ahead.

Kilworth started the second half just as they needed to with two points, the first coming in the 32^nd minute through Will Condon and the second coming in the 38^th minute when Dave Twomey popped over his second free of the night. We now had a four point lead, playing against a very strong wind and every Kilworth player was putting in a ferocious effort. Cloyne had failed to score since before the break but in the 43^rd minute that all changed as within the space of just a minute and half they were within a point of us, 1-7 to 0-11. Noel McNamara tagged one back but Cloyne looked to be in the driving seat. They had the momentum and they levelled the game with ten minutes to go, 1-9 to 0-12. Kilworth had a chance to go ahead when they were awarded a free but a missed opportunity saw the ball go right of the upright and wide. For the first time since the start of the game, the opposition went ahead in the 56^th minute and the score line now read 1-10 to 0-12. Kilworth were awarded another scoreable free a minute later to level it up but that too went right and wide and we still trailed by one. Cloyne tagged on another two points and as the clock struck 60 minutes, one score separated the sides but we knew we would need a goal to get back into this one with the score board reading 1-12 to 0-12. It was a gallant effort from our lads throughout the second half, every one of them, substitutes included gave it 120%. They tried their very hardest to win this game but in the end they ran out of steam and the extra man proved crucial for Cloyne as they pulled away in the five minutes of injury time to win by eight points, 2-14 to 0-12 but as you can see this wasn’t a fair reflection on the game as a whole. Cloyne booked their place in the quarter finals while were bound for the backdoor.

Of course we were all bitterly disappointed to lose this game but the players and management can’t be faulted for the effort they all put in. Everything that could have been done on the night was done and they lads did their best to pull off what would have been a remarkable win. But we still have another chance. We are not gone and this championship is far from over. The lads will regroup and there is no doubt they will be back fighting and raring to go once again in a few weeks against one of the winners of the R2B games. That draw is likely to take place on July 4^th and we may be out again on the weekend of July 15^th/16^th. We look forward to the next challenge that lies ahead and we will all be there to support you and roar you on to victory once again. Best of luck to all involved for the next game in this year’s championship and let’s hope we still have a long summer of hurling to look forward to!

Team and Scorers: Kieran Walsh, Maurice McNamara, Kieran Lane, Dave Twomey (0-3), Austin O’Hara, Nathan Byrne, Mark O’Connor, Brian Sheehan, Jeremy Saich (0-1), Paddy Moakley (0-1), James McCarthy, Will Condon (0-1), Liam Whelan (0-2), Ned O’Brien and Noel McNamara (0-4). Subs Used: Tom Twomey, Jamie Sheehan, Aidan Condon, Cormac Donnellan.