County champions Ardclough breeze past Éire Óg Corrachoill to set up semi showdown with Naas

Éire Óg Corrachoill 0-8

Haven Hire SHC quarter-final

County champions Ardclough kept their hopes of claiming successive titles firmly on track as they impressively swatted aside the challenge of Éire Óg Corrachoill in Hawkfield on Wednesday evening.

They never looked in too much trouble throughout this tie as they controlled the game from start to finish, with Martin Fitzgerald’s clinical second half goal proving the most important score on the night.

It sets up a county semi-final clash against Naas in what will be a repeat of last year’s final, something all of the hurling enthusiasts in Kildare will certainly be looking forward to.

Martin Fitzgerald got the opening score of the game when he skilfully controlled a booming puc out from Ronan O’Malley before rifling over a good score from the left, though that was cancelled out almost immediately by a superb Kevin Connor point at the other end.

Niall Delahunt, who was excellent for Ardclough in midfield throughout, got his side’s second score, before Paul Fitzgerald doubled their lead when cutting in from the right.

Éire Óg Corrachoill began to get to grips with the Ardclough attack shortly after that, with Joe Dempsey excelling in his role as the sweeper on front of the full-back line, though Ardclough mirrored that setup as Richie Hoban guarded his own defence very astutely.

Garry Johnson opened his account by converting a ’65, but a good score from Delahunt and a pointed free from Martin Fitzgerald pushed the reigning champions three points clear midway through the half. Owen Houlihan responded for Éire Óg Corrachoill with a good score, and they almost got a major break in the 22nd minute when Cillian Manders was fouled in the square and won a penalty. Johnson slammed the shot into the bottom corner, but referee Billy O’Connell judged that he carried the ball too far when striking it and gave a free out.

It seemed to give Ardclough some added initiative as they surged further ahead by hitting three unanswered points before the break. Enda Duane and Paudie Ryan both blasted over shots from close range, before Martin Fitzgerald added another with a lovely shot under pressure to give Ardclough an 0-8 to 0-3 advantage at the turnaround.

The second half began with Fitzgerald and Johnson swapping scores from frees, though Johnson cut the cap to four with a fine point from play also. The influential Tony Spain then got his first of the evening for Ardclough, though Connor responded in kind with an uplifting effort from the right touchline for his side.

The pivotal moment of the tie arrived after 39 minutes when Martin Fitzgerald took the ball in from the right, sized up his options and pierced a stinging shot across Paul Dermody and into the far top corner of the Kildare netminder’s goal from an acute angle. That opened up an eight-point lead that Ardclough were never likely to relinquish, and from there it was just about game management. Paudie Ryan added to their lead with a good score, before Éire Óg Corrachoill offered some retaliation with a couple of points from Liam Power and Joe Dempsey.

They couldn’t bring it any closer than that however, and a couple of from Martin and Paul Fitzgerald and a close range score from substitute Colm Buggy helped put them in a comfortable position for the final stages.

Scorers for Ardclough: M Fitzgerald 1-5(3f), N Delahunt, P Ryan, P Fitzgerald and T Spain 0-2 each, E Duane and S Whelan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Éire Óg Corrachoill: G Johnson 0-3(1f, 1’65), K Connor 0-2, O Houlihan, J Dempsey(1f) and L Power 0-1 each.

Ardclough

Ronan O’Malley; Tadgh McCarthy, David Collins, Sean Buggy; Richie Hoban; Barry Molloy, Enda Duane, Aran Kelly; Niall Delahunt, Liam Hanley; Paudie Ryan, Martin Fitzgerald, Jonathan Reeves; Paul Fizgerald, Mark Lynam.

Subs used: Kieran Brady for Hoban 36mins, Colm Buggy for Mark Lynam 45mins, Jonathan Reeves for Hanley 47mins, Sean Whelan for S Buggy 58mins.

Éire Óg Corrachoill

Paul Dermody; Paddy Burns, Brian Fitzpatrick, Kieran Moran; Joe Dempsey; Rory O’Neill, James Dolan, Danny Boyle; Garry Johnson, Barry Cormack; Paul Kennedy, Owen Houlihan, Kevin Connor; Tim Hennessy, Cillian Manders.

Subs used: Conor Kielty for Houlihan HT, Liam Power for Manders 37mins, Niall Connolly for Burns 40mins.