*James Hegarty drives forward for Inagh/Kilnamona. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
INAGH/KILNAMONA’s maiden Munster voyage is up and running after they went Leeside and capsized Glen Rovers’ provincial quest.
Inagh/Kilnamona 1-21
Glen Rovers 1-14
Venue: Páirc Uí Rinn
Winners by a margin of seven points, Inagh/Kilnamona showed no signs of inexperience in their first Munster club outing to dismantle the challenge of twenty eight time Cork champions and three time provincial winners Glen Rovers.
Ahead for the entire game, there was no doubting Inagh/Kilnamona were the stronger and sharper side.
Páirc Uí Rinn had an attendance of 2,890 for the quarter-final, the difficulties in securing parking for Inagh/Kilnamona supporters became a distant memory once action commenced and they hit the ground running with an Aidan McCarthy point.
Their captain would finish with 0-14 to his credit, his input at the start helping them exert their authority on the tie.
By the twelfth minute, Inagh/Kilnamona were 0-7 0-1 after Conner Hegarty opened his account, Glen Rovers struggled to win their own puckout and had to go short with their restarts such was the superior strength of the Clare champions in the middle third.
Fred Hegarty with a brace of scores made it an eight point lead on twenty two minutes, his third score of the afternoon showing their composure when Éamonn Foudy controlled a dropping ball, passed the sliotar across his goal to Keith White, he played a direct delivery to Conner Hegarty and he went cross-field to Fred who may have conceded a sideline cut but managed to turn it over before splitting the posts.
David Fitzgerald’s major on twenty five minutes made it a ten point lead. David Mescall control the sliotar and put the head down, Fitzgerald made a tremendous run, it looked for a moment that Mescall didn’t see the towering presence coming off his shoulder but he gave a subtle and skilful flick to the on-rushing Fitzy to rattle the net.
There would be no more score in the remainder of the half from Inamona but they conceded a goal at the other end when Patrick Horgan managed to put a magic spin on a 21m free to hit the roof of the net and leave it 1-12 1-5 at the half time whistle.
Five of the first seven scores on the restart were from Glen who cut the deficit to four, they couldn’t get any closer as Inagh/Kilnamona looked comfortable in dealing with what Tomás Mulcahy’s side could throw at them.
Even with mounting injuries that led to Kevin Hehir (knee) and Fred Hegarty (ankle) making way, Inagh/Kilnamona never faltered and their bench were determined to grab the chance when entering the fray,
With the clock ticking, Glen Rovers went hunting for goals but made inexcusable errors such as leaving David Fitzgerald free for Éamonn Foudy puckouts when Robert Downey was pushed up the field.
Eugene Cullinan’s charges were the better side by a distance, they dominated the middle third, offering little space to their opponents all over the field which made it difficult for them to clear their lines but also to try pick off scores. Mark Callinan and Seán Rynne excelled at midfield with strong showings also issued by Aidan McCarthy, James Hegarty, Keith White and Kevin Hehir.
All photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
Thurles Sarsfields await in two weeks for the Munster semi-final which will see Inagh/Kilnamona return to the familiar surrounds of Cusack Park.
Scorers for Inagh/Kilnamona: A McCarthy 0-14 (0-9f, 0-1 65), D Fitzgerald 1-1, F Hegarty 0-2, M Callinan, S Rynne, D Mescall, C Hegarty 0-1 each.
Glen Rovers: P Horgan 1-8 (1-6f, 0-1 65), L Quilligan 0-2, R Downey, E Downey, E O’Leary, MT Brosnan 0-1 each.
Inagh/Kilnamona:
1: Éamonn Foudy
3: Shane Woods
2: Keith White
4: Conor Rynne
5: Kevin Hehir
6: James Hegarty
7: Darren Cullinan
8: Mark Callinan
9: Seán Rynne
10: David Fitzgerald
11: Keelan Guyler
14: Aidan McCarthy
12: Fred Hegarty
13: David Mescall
19: Conner Hegarty
Subs:
17: Jason McCarthy for Hehir (44) (inj)
21: Niall Mullins for F Hegarty (47) (inj)
15: Josh Guyler for Mescall (49)
20: Gearoid Barry for C Hegarty (51)
18: Jack Mescall for K Guyler (61)
Glen Rovers:
1: Cathal Hickey
2: Liam Coughlan
3: Adam Lynch
4: Eoin Varian
7: Eoin Downey
5: Luke Horgan
6: Robert Downey
8: Rhys Dunne
9: Conor McCarthy
11: Dean Brosnan
27: Michael Tadhg Brosnan
10: Lee Quilligan
13: Simon Kennefick
14: Patrick Horgan
15: Eoin O’Leary
Subs:
24: Zach Lynch for McCarthy (HT)
19: Brian Moylan for Quilligan(44)
12: Micheál Mullins for Brosnan (46)
Referee: Alan Tierney (Tipperary)
