Five clubs remain in Senior Football Championship, Saint Saviours retain status

The Waterford County Board will have to wait a little longer before it can confirm the complete semi final details of this year’s senior football championship after one of this weekends quarter final games ended in stalemate.

Clashmore were the first team to reach the last four of this year’s championship after they recorded a 2-11 to 2-3 win over Rathgormack in Fraher Field on Friday evening under the lights.

While it was Rathgormack that started the better of the two sides, hitting a point inside 20 seconds, Clashmore were always the better team.

A Cillian O’Keeffe goal on seven minutes set them on the road to victory, but it was soon pulled back when Michael Curry goaled on ten minutes and seconds later, after John C. Kirwan dispatched a penalty after Edmond Hogan was fouled the sides were all square.

It was Clashmore that bossed the remainder of the first half and they went in holding a 1-8 to 2-1 lead.

Points from Donal Larkin and Edmund Hogan helped to bring Rathgormack back into contention, but once John Prendergast put a penalty past Brendan Curry on 49 minutes after a foul on Sean Fleming, there was no doubting the final outcome.

Rathgormack finished the game with thirteen players after Tony Power and Billy Power were ordered off late in the game.

The first of three games played on Saturday saw Stradbally beat Ardmore with three points to spare.

The Cove Men started brightly and were three points to the good after eleven minutes.

A Clinton Hennessy penalty levelled the game on twelve minutes, but it was the eventual winners that finished the stronger of the two sides and went in at the break holding a 1-6 to 1-1 lead, the Stradbally goal coming on twenty five minutes when Robert Ahearne converted a penalty he won himself.

Ardmore did much better in the second half. The introduction of Seamus Keating made a massive impact on the team. They added a second goal on forty-seven minutes when Seamus Keating set up another sub Tony Galwey.

On the day Stradbally kicked a massive twenty wide’s and on another day would have been well beaten as a consequence. Ardmore will be cursing their luck. Had Seamus Keating and Tony Galwey who both made an impression in this game started, the final outcome could have been different.

The game of the weekend was without doubt the meeting of The Nire and Kilrossanty. A goal from Owen Cummins gave Kilrossanty a 1-3 to 0-2 lead, which they held until the twenty sixth minute when a high Liam Lawlor delivery from out near the sideline found Seamus Lawlor in front of goal and he finished to the net to level matters. A Liam Lawlor point in added time at the end of the first half was good enough to give The Nire a 1-5 to 1-4 lead at the break.

Much of the third quarter was an even enough encounter, and after forty minutes the sides were locked at 1-7 a piece.  However, four points from The Nire and a single response from Kilrossanty saw The Nire lead 1-11 to 1-8 after forty-five minutes.

With eight minutes of the game remaining, Kilrossanty won a free in their own left corner back position which was sent across the goal where Liam Lawlor was unmarked and with the goal at his mercy, he took the easier option and punched over the cross bar to give his side a 1-14 to 1-9 lead.

Kilrossanty dominated the remainder of the hour. Joey Veale pointed on fifty four minutes and four minutes later a long ball in found Paul Keating who rounded Tom Wall in The Nire goal to leave just one between the sides. A Paul Whyte point, three minutes into stoppage time levelled matters (2-11 to 1-14) to send the game into extra time.

At the break in extra time, The Nire held a one point lead. Paul Whyte pointed three minutes after the restart but points from Shane Walsh and James McGrath handed The Nire a slender advantage at the switch of ends.

Niall Walsh and Paul Whyte pointed for Kilrossanty in the second half of extra time and they looked good for a victory. But with the last kick of the game, inter county hurler kicked a free too level matters, meaning the two sides will have to do it all over again.

The final quarter final game of the weekend saw Ballinacourty beat An Rinn by three points.

An Rinn got off to a dream start when they won a penalty after just twenty-six seconds which Donie Breathnach made no mistake with. An Rinn proved to be slightly the better of the two sides in the early exchanges, but a Mark Ferncombe goal on twenty-two minutes gave them the lead and they never looked back.

Leading 1-5 to 1-3 at the break, they further extended their lead with a brace of Patrick Hurney points inside three minutes of the restart.

A Second Lorcan Ó Cuirrín goal on forty two minutes levelled matters (1-8 to 2-5), but it was Ballinacourty that finished the stronger of the two sides. Points from Gary and Patrick Hurney followed. Donie Breathnach cancelled these out with a brace of scores, and when the board went up to indicate that there would be three added minutes, the signs were that extra time would be needed for the second time on the evening.

However, Points from Gary Hurney, James Mahony and Mark Ferncombe in added time ensured that Ballinacourty’s name would be in the semi final draw.

After the game the game the draw for the semi finals were made. Stradbally were paired with Ballinacourty, while Clashmore will have to wait a little longer to find out if it is The Nire or Clashmore that they will be playing.

Meanwhile, Saint Saviours have retained their senior status for the 2013 campaign after they beat Dungarvan at Lemybrien in a relegation play off.

Shaun Corcoran hit the games first goal on eighteen minutes and shortly afterwards, John Paul Jacob gave the Ballybeg based outfit a seven point advantage.

Saint Saviours added a third goal three minutes from the break, Brian Power finishing to the net after he was set up by Adam Brophy, a score which helped his side to a 3-4 to 0-6 lead at the break.

The saints began the second period as they had ended the first. Brian Power hit his second goal early in the second half and from here there was no doubting the outcome of the game.

With thirteen minutes to play, a number of Dungarvan players were involved in a good movement and when Kevin Moore finished to the net there was just six points between the sides.

Dungarvan threw everything at the Saint Saviours defence in the closing minutes of the game, but they were not able to breach it sufficiently to change the final outcome of the game.