County Cup in the bag. 1-7 from play from Darren, 0-5 from Kyle, 0-4 from Barry. Some scoring to be fair. We didnāt get a single free in the first half so had to do it all from play.
Calum Sheehan scored two scuttery goals for the Bouncers at the very start of the second half; heās unorthodox, but heās some man to make a nuisance of himself around the edge of the square and managed to get the two goals as a result.
We were the better team alright but made hard work of it.
Kildimo were by far the better team,Darren was sensational especially in the last quarter.He was the best player on the field by a mile.I though Kyle was wasted again at FF,when he was brought out to HF after the 2nd water break Kildimo played much better.
Kyle did serious damage inside in the first half; he got 4 points from the first 5 balls that went in and probably should have had a goal too. When they double-marked him, he wasnāt as involved as some of the ball that we played in wasnāt great. The problem was we didnāt really have another fella to go in there instead of him without making a sub. Barry could have gone in but he was lording it outside in the first half; 4 points from play and was on every ball.
Would agree that Kyle delivered a lot of good ball into Darren after Garryspillane had started to cut out the spaces a bit better in the second half. We panicked a little after the two goals but once we settled again, we were always going to win.
Nash cleaned up at sweeper too.Hes a great man to evade a tackle but could do with working on his delivery inside.
Early goal for Ahane in the A relegation, Tom Morrissey.
Also for Mungret in the Premier Intermediate semi, Paul OāBrien.
Half-time scorelines:
Ahane 1-8 Ballybrown 0-9
Blackrock 0-12 Monaleen 0-6
Mungret 1-11 Glenroe 0-4
Bruff 0-10 Murroe/Boher 0-7
Granagh/Ballingarry 1-10 Croom 1-9
Doon 3-6 Askeaton 0-10
St. Kieranās 2-5 Monagea 0-5
Ballybricken/Bohermore 1-7 Crecora 1-6
Apparently Tom is single-handedly destroying Ballybrown now. They put Coughlan back on him but it doesnāt seem to be helping. Think heās scored all but 1 of the Ahane scores, theyāre up to 1-14 now.
A 4th goal for Doon in the Junior.
Monaleen missed a penalty but are having a bit of a comeback.
Monaleen have pulled it back to a point.
Kilfinane survive
By the skin of their teeth. Think they were 8 up, then Monaleen had the penalty saved but drew it back bit by bit. Monaleen had a similar comeback against ourselves but poor starts have killed them.
Very disappointing season for them.
There is something seriously missing there - they should be doing better
That said Kilfinane are doughty
Full-time scores:
Ahane 1-21 Ballybrown 1-15. For the second year in a row, Ahane stay above in Senior A, possibly against the odds. Apparently Ballybrown just couldnāt deal with Tom. They had Coughlan back at wing-back; which seemed strange when he had been their best attacking threat, that move forward had been something that worked. A poor second half showing, it would seem, and although they got a late goal, Ahane stay up. We have a match against Ballybrown to look forward to next year.
Blackrock 0-19 Monaleen 0-18. This game was a repeat of last yearās County Cup final. Monaleen were favourites with the bookies but this has been a complete disaster of a season for them. They have generally been around the upper half of the Senior B competition since itās been in place, but are now back down to Premier Intermediate and I donāt think theyāll find it easy to get back up. Blackrock stay up again, they held a large lead and although Monaleen fought back, a very tame penalty saved by Richie Murphy could have cost them.
Mungret 1-18 Glenroe 0-11. Sounds like a very easy victory for Mungret, back in a county final for the second year in a row. Will they go one better this year?
Bruff 0-16 Murroe/Boher 0-13. Much like Monaleen, an utter disaster of a season for Murroe/Boher. Would have been one of the favourites to go straight back up to senior, they will spend 2022 in intermediate. Bruff shouldnāt have found themselves in this position either but they survive, will reflect on a poor season and will expect to be back in a semi-final under the old format.
Granagh/Ballingarry 3-18 Croom 1-16. A big win for G/B, back into a semi-final after a poor 2020. Theyāll take stopping winning the county, a couple of second half goals proving crucial. Iām sure @dodgy_keeper will give us the detail.
Doon 4-13 Askeaton 0-18. Goals seemed to be crucial here. Askeaton seemed to close the gap a few times, but every time they got within touching distance, Doon goaled again.
St. Kieranās 3-9 Monagea 1-9. Big win in the West derby for Kieranās, two first half goals had them ahead and they maintained that lead throughout. A real chance of going through now, from a place of being massive outsiders after their opening round defeat.
Ballybricken/Bohermore 2-13 Crecora/Manister 2-15. A late goal for Crecora sees them take the victory. Opens up this group a little, gives Crecora a right chance of progressing.
The Senior A/Senior B split is shit isnāt it.
Are the senior matches tomorrow being televised?
Limerick GAA TV
Embarrassing for the premier hurling county to invent a structure that allows pretend senior standard clubs operate at a level above their measure. Limerick would be far better off with 8 senior side ,2 groups of4 .Kildimo,Ballybrown and Mungret are all coming sides and need as much exposure to the big 4 as possible.
My feelings on the format are mixed; people used to give out about the hammerings before and least that doesnāt happen anymore. Realistically, Na Piarsaigh are way better than whoever the 7th or 8th team are, as much as they are over the 11th or 12th team.
Being from a newly-promoted club, I think the prospect of 5 Championship matches is very appealing so, on that basis alone, Iād keep it at 12. Adare beat us this year but I donāt think thereās that much of a difference between the 5th best team in Limerick and the top Premier Intermediate teams, who would be 13th-16th. The gap that exists is between the top 4 and the rest.
Surely teams ranked 6th-12th should be crying out for more cracks at the big 4?
There seems to be an awful inferiority complex among Limerick clubs to the ābig 4ā. When was the last time a big 4 team lost to someone outside the big 4 in a serious game?
Since 2017 itās been the same 4 in the semis. Itās a complete bore.
In 2016 Ballybrown & Adare made the semis because Nap had an off year after the all Ireland win & the championship was a different format too.