No doubting merits of Dromtariffe U21s win over Kanturk

Dromtariffe 3-11 Kanturk 1-4

DROMTARIFFE encountered few problems from Kanturk following a clearcut victory in Round 2 of the Duhallow U-21B FC played in arctic Kanturk.

Taking the deserving spoils, Dromtariffe won and they did so with a powerfully structured display, making their dominance count on the scoreboard from an early stage. Laying the foundation for the win in the opening half, Dromtariffe delivered eight consecutive scores to confirm their supremacy.

In fairness, Kanturk without some key players refused to go down without a burst either side of the interval yet they seldom functioned with any real conviction.

Despite the chilly conditions, Dromtariffe settled into the proceedings quickly for Eanna Mernagh and Killian O’Sullivan to shoot points. Indeed Dromtariffe bossed the key battles, Conor O’Callaghan assisted by Jack Murphy won a massive amount of possession at midfield, well supported by the Howard brothers and O’Sullivan.

O’Callaghan, last season’s county u17 and minor hurler, stormed forward from midfield to kick three consecutive points in a productive spell and Dromtariffe were in the driving seat once Tomás Howard pounced for a goal. Kanturk reacted to a precarious position and received encouragement when Barry Kenneally found the net to trim the arrears 1-7 to 1-0 at the break.

However Dromtariffe regained the upperhand on the restart and quickly asserted themselves from points to O’Sullivan and Howard. And a serious situation became more perilous for Kanturk on the concession of two goals in quick succession.

Initially, Dromtariffe won a penalty and O’Sullivan made no mistake from the resultant spot kick. Continuing to mount follow up raids, Jack Murphy raised a second green flag to put clear daylight between the sides.

Kanturk answered with much needed back to back points from Paul Walsh and Christopher Mullane. However the Dromtariffe response was instant, duly reasserting their dominance from points to O’Sullivan, Murphy and Howard.

The door was firmly shut on Kanturk, their interest in the grade ended where Dromtariffe can look forward with optimism Duhallow v UCC, TBC to a quarter final meeting with Duarigle Gaels and the prospect of a lively tussle.

DROMTARIFFE: M Dennehy; Con O’Callaghan, C Cremin, B O’Keeffe; E Mernagh 0-1, S Howard, J Buckley 0-1; Conor O’Callaghan 0-3, J Murphy 1-1; G O’Keeffe, T Howard 1-2, K O’Sullivan 1-3 (1-0p, 0-2f); A Downey, M Lyons, D Desmond. Subs. S McSweeney for D Desmond, D Browne for A Downey.

KANTURK: J Fullerton; C Breen, L Cashman, E Guiney; A Murphy, E Geaney, D O’Donoughue; D O’Connell, P Walsh 0-3f; G Keneghen, D O’Sullivan, C Mullane 0-1; B Kenneally 1-0, C Clernon, R Carroll. Subs. C O’Donoughue for R Carroll(inj), E Rea for E Guiney.

REFEREE: D O’Leary (Kiskeam)