Cloughbawn cruise home
Strong defending seals win
CLOUGHBAWN’S QUEST to make an immediate return to the top flight started in relatively straightforward manner at sunny Killurin on Saturday when they outpointed neighbours Rathgarogue-Cushinstown to get off the mark in Group A of The Courtyard Ferns Intermediate hurling championship.
Six points without reply in the opening quarter sent the favourites on the right path to victory, and they went on to lead by a similar margin at half-time.
And although the side which survived last year’s relegation decider against Ballygarrett hit the first two points on the re-start, they didn’t carry enough of a threat in attack to trouble Cloughbawn.
The victors hit the last four points to stretch their winning margin to nine, with the solid platform laid by a strong defence making all the difference.
Barry Kehoe was the stand-out performer at right half-back, with young James Dempsey impressing in the left corner. And the experienced Tomás Furlong was one of two talented full-backs on view, as Paudie McGrath offered stout resistance at the other end for Rathgarogue-Cushinstown.
It was the ideal type of victory for a Cloughbawn side minus two big guns in Connal Flood and Colm Kehoe, as they ended with a comfortable margin but still have room to improve.
Four of their twelve wides came from frees, with Harry Kehoe having a strike rate of four from seven before Bob Whitty took over and hit three from four.
Cloughbawn were out of the blocks very fast, and that effectively put paid to their rivals’ challenge.
Barry and Alan Carton, a hattrick of Kehoe frees, and Billy Wickham pushed them 6-0 clear by the end of the first quarter, although the last eight points of the half were shared evenly as the New Ross District side gradually found their feet.
Daire Bolger opened their account from a 20th-minute free and quickly added another before Matthew Cody struck one over from longer range.
Bob Whitty and Tadhg Cody with the first Rathgarogue-Cushinstown score from play - then swapped points before Páidí Cullen and Harry Kehoe (play and free) widened the interval gap to 0-10 to 0-4.
There was some promise of a Rathgarogue-Cushinstown revival when Bolger (free) and wing-back Liam O’Shea landed the first two points on the re-start, but it never materialised.
Cloughbawn kept them com- fortably at arm’s length thanks to three Bob Whitty placed balls, with Bryan Cody pulling one back between his second and third before Daire Bolger hit the losers’ last point in the 51st minute.
Sixty seconds later Noel Carton comfortably saved the only real attempt on goal in the entire game from Bernard Furlong, with the subsequent Cloughbawn attack ending in a Whitty point.
That made it 0-14 to 0-8, with Kehoe, Whitty and Billy Wickham all raising further white flags to crown a decent afternoon’s work for the winners.
Cloughbawn: Noel Carton; Gavin Murphy, Tomás Furlong, James Dempsey; Barry Kehoe, Conor Harrington, Johnny Cullen; Páidí Cullen (0-1), Barry Carton (capt., 0-1); Harry Kehoe (0-6, 4 frees), Alan Carton (0-1), Bob Whitty (0-6, 3 frees); Joey Lawlor, Colin Doyle, Billy Wickham (0-2). Subs. - Paul Foley for Lawlor (48), Tomás Foley for Doyle (52).
Rathgarogue-Cushinstown: Nicky Sinnott; Peadar Cody, Paudie McGrath, Ricky McGrath; Liam O’Shea (0-1), Eoin Porter, Matthew Cody (0-1 free); Robert Murphy (capt.), Bryan Cody (0-1); Jason Dunne, Tadhg Cody (0-1), Bernard Furlong; Patrick Murphy, Danny Martin Carroll, Daire Bolger (0-4, 3 frees). Subs. - Ollie Bolger for P. Murphy (37), Chris Kent for M. Cody (44), Patrick Barron for O’Shea, inj. (57).
Referee: Barry Redmond
(Clonard).