Kilmacud Crokes survived a late Mount Leinster Rangers rally to set up a Leinster club senior hurling championship semi-final against Ballyhale Shamrocks.
Crokes were never comfortable in this provincial quarter-final at Netwatch Cullen Park as Mount Leinster Rangers tested the resolve of the Dublin champions.
Crokes led by a point at the interval but the defining period of the contest came midway through the second half when Mount Leinster Rangers endured a 16-minute barren spell without a score.
The Carlow kingpins had started the second half on the front foot and edged 1-13 to 0-15 ahead in the 43rd minute.
But it would be the 59th minute before they managed to score again – and during that time Crokes hit six points on the bounce to wrestle the momentum of the contest in their favour, 0-21 to 1-13.
Mount Leinster Rangers, to their credit, refused to accept their predicament was a lost cause and two points in injury-time left just three between the sides in the dying seconds.
Rangers peppered the Kilmacud goalmouth as they went in search of a green flag score but Crokes held firm to book a semi-final date against Ballyhale in two weeks.
“I knew coming into the second half that this was going to be all about manliness, about standing up, it was going to be a dogfight,” said Kilmacud joint manager Paddy Linehan.
“Mount Leinster Rangers have great tradition, they’ve won 10 county titles in the last 16 years, they’ve won a Leinster before, they have the trophies that we don’t have yet.
“So, I was delighted with the second-half performance. It could have gone either way. We didn’t really pull away and a two or three-point margin coming into the home straight isn’t really enough for comfort on the sideline. But thankfully we dug it out.”
Crokes, playing in the Leinster club championship for the first time since 2022, burst from the traps at the outset with points by Dara Purcell and Caolan Conway inside the opening 60 seconds.
However, Mount Leinster Rangers – who won the provincial title in 2013 – soon found their rhythm and the accuracy in front of the posts of Chris Nolan was central to the Carlow side drawing level by the quarter-hour mark.
Nolan also made no mistake with a penalty just before the break to put Mount Leinster Rangers one ahead approaching the turnaround. But Crokes responded to the concession of that goal with a point apiece from Ronan and Brian Hayes to lead 0-12 to 1-8 at half-time.
A pair of Nolan frees on the resumption of play edged the contest back in favour of the home side and when Brian Hayes replied for Crokes it appeared we were set for a tit-for-tat second half.
Ruairí Murphy pushed Mount Leinster Rangers back in front in the 43rd minute but then Crokes made their move – points by Seán Purcell, Ronan Hayes (3), Brendan Kenny and Alex Considine opened a gap that would ultimately prove to be the winning of the game.
“We’re always trying to strive to be the hardest working team, I think every club is,” added Linehan.
“There were questions asked of our character in the past and we just have to keep striving and building to make sure that character comes to the pitch every time we go on the field.”
In the closing moments, Fiachra Fitzpatrick and Edward Byrne both fizzed shots towards the Kilmacud goal but couldn’t find a way through for Mount Leinster Rangers.
The Carlow champions were left to rue that scoreless period midway through the second half.
“In the first half we gave as good as we got, then at the start of the second half things were looking good for us,” said Mount Leinster Rangers manager Niall Bergin.
“But we lost our way for a period there where we struggled to get scores. We struggled to stem that flow, we moved players around but it just didn’t happen unfortunately.
“We did have chances in that period but hit one or two poor wides, in fairness they are a very good team and used the ball very well and kept their composure. We threw everything at them but they had that little bit more.
“We finished strongly, that little scramble at the end, you were just hoping it would end up in the net.”
Crokes have never won a Leinster club senior hurling title. Indeed, their only appearance in a final was in 2022 when they lost to Ballyhale Shamrocks.
They will meet the Kilkenny champions again in two weeks, but this time in a semi-final.
“They are the benchmark of hurling, they’re the greatest club that ever existed,” said Linehan.
“They’re a wonderful group of people down there. We’ll have to come with our best game to be in the running against them.”
MOUNT LEINSTER RANGERS: Dean Grennan; Michael Doyle, Evan Kealy, Conaill Fitzpatrick; Diarmuid Byrne, Kevin McDonald (0-1), Fiachra Fitzpatrick (0-1); Richard Coady, Joe Dundon; Donagh Murphy (0-2), Tim Brennan, Paul Coady; Chris Nolan (1-9; 1-0 penalty, 0-7f), Ted Joyce, Edward Byrne (0-1). Subs: Ruairí Murphy (0-2, 1f) for P Coady (40 mins); John Nolan for Joyce (45); Jamie Nolan for R Coady (50); Dean Tobin for Dundon (57)
KILMACUD CROKES: Eddie Gibbons; Brian Sheehy, Pádhraic Linehan, Cian Ó Cathasaigh; Ben Lynch, Mark Grogan, Conal Ó Riain (0-1); Brian Hayes (0-3), Caolan Conway (0-1); Fergal Whitely, Ronan Hayes (0-9, 8f), Finnian Donohoe (0-1); Oisín O’Rorke (0-1), Alex Considine (0-2), Dara Purcell (0-2). Subs: Ger Veale for Donohoe (HT); Seán Purcell (0-1) for O’Rorke (45); Brendan Kenny (0-1) for Conway (54); Brendan Scanlon for Considine (62)
REFEREE: Eamonn Furlong (Wexford).
Source: The Irish Times · Gordon Manning
At a glance
- Topic
- World
- Country
- 🇮🇪 IE
- Publisher language
- EN
- Added to Allnira