Clonkill (Westmeath) 0-08 Oulart-The Ballagh (Wexford) 0-16
Oulart-The Ballagh are once again 60 minutes away from their dream of AIB Leinster club senior hurling championship title after they easily accounted for the challenge of Clonkill in wintry conditions at Cusack Park in Mullingar this afternoon.
The Wexford side scored eight points without reply in a 20-minute spell during their wind-assisted first half and that helped them to an 0-11 to 0-3 half time lead, one they never looked like relinquishing after the interval.
The playing surface at the midlands venue held up incredibly well in spite of the deluge of rainfall that fell over the previous few days and that allowed Oulart to utilise good short passing moves, which played a crucial role in counteracting Clonkill’s approach of dropping two extra players back into defensive roles against the wind.
That tactic worked out well for the Westmeath club in the opening five minutes as they picked off two of the first three points of the game.
The second of those points was an excellent score by Michael Heffernan after he secured possession in between two Oulart backs, but from then on it left them woefully short handed up front, where they made little or no impression on the contest.
Both sets of defences were in complete control, however the contrast in how each side used their possession was very stark.
Clonkill persisted in hitting blind long deliveries towards the town end of the goal where they were heavily outnumbered, while Oulart were far more adept at picking out a supporting player in space and working the ball up the field.
David Redmond picked off two superb scores from long range, while closer to goal, Nicky Kirwan and Des Mythen offered a constant threat in each corner.
Referee Patrick Murphy made it clear from the start that anything other than the most blatant of fouls was going to go unpunished but, while this invited both sides to introduce far more physicality into their play, Oulart eschewed that option and continued to hurl with craft.
They picked off eight points without reply by the time Brendan Murtagh pointed a long-range free to add a third Clonkill point in the 25th minute, and continued to pile on the pressure with a brace of Kirwan scores after that.
An 0-11 to 0-3 half time advantage was nothing more than a fair reflection of the contest up to that point, while Clonkill also had cause to thank goalkeeper Gary Healy after he produced a magnificent low diving save to block Tommy Storey’s low drive shortly before the interval.
Points from Mythen and Tommy Storey continued Oulart’s momentum after the break but they then had to endure Clonkill’s best ten minutes of the contest, with Anthony Price adding three points in a row and Niall Dowdall striking another from midfield to cut the gap back to a more manageable level.
A plethora of substitutions midway through the half killed that momentum however and once Mythen struck in the 48th minute to move Oulart seven points clear once again, they were able to ease home from there.
The Wexford men will be somewhat concerned at their inability to add a goal at any stage as twice more Gary Healy came to the rescue of the home side, denying Garrett Sinnott and David Redmond at various stages, however by now only the match statistics were still to be resolved.
There was still time for Shane Power of Clonkill to receive a straight red card for a face guard infringement, but there was no danger of Oulart getting drawn into a fracas as their place in the provincial decider against Cuala of Dublin in a fortnight’s time was assured – a fixture that will be their seventh final in all, and a fifth in six seasons.
Clonkill: G Healy; K Reilly, C Scally, S Power; A McGrath, B Murtagh (0-01, free), L Folan; P Dowdall, E Price; M Heffernan (0-02), Adam Price, C Crentsil; Anthony Price (0-03, 0-02 frees), N Dowdall (0-02), A Dowdall.
Subs: D Egerton for Crentsil (26), N Mitchell for P Dowdall (45), A Mitchell for Adam Price (47)
Oulart-The Ballagh: C O’Leary; E Moore, K Rossiter, B Kehoe; P Roche (0-01, free), S Murphy, K Sheridan; R Jacob (0-02), D Redmond (0-02); T Storey (0-01), T Dunne, P Murphy; D Mythen (0-05), G Sinnott (0-01), N Kirwan (0-04, 0-01 free, 0-01 ’65).
Subs: D Morton for Moore (39), P Sutton for P Murphy (42), M Doyle for Kirwan (46), M Jacob for Storey (48), L Prendergast for Dunne (58)
Referee: Patrick Murphy (Carlow)
