Belmont beat Birr as Rynagh's also advance to last four

Offaly Senior Hurling Championship quarter-finals

Belmont 0-20 Birr 0-18

Belmont and St Rynagh's advanced to the semi-final stages of the Offaly senior hurling championship following narrow wins over their respective opponents, Birr and Shinrone, at the weekend.

Played in Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore, on Sunday evening, Belmont held a seven point half-time lead, but were forced to work for their quarter-final win in the second period as Birr came more into the contest.

The game was ultimately won in the first half as Belmont exerted their dominance on proceedings from the throw-in and sailed into a commanding lead.

Belmont's scorer-in-chief David Nally set the tone for what was to come in the opening half when he pointed within the opening minute and six minutes elapsed before Birr impacted the scoreboard when All-Star nominee Eoghan Cahill opened his account.

This was to be the first of only five points which Birr would score in the first half as Belmont slipped into a scoring stride. Further points from Nally were complemented by scores from Paddy Clancy (2), Ronan Flynn and Colin Egan and with five minutes remaining before the interval whistle, the victors held a six-point lead.

Cahill momentarily stemmed Belmont's gallop but the half played out with the men from the west in the ascendancy by seven points.

Birr, looking at a championship exit, responded to the challenge in the second half and three points in the opening five minutes saw the lead reduce to four points. Indiscipline also helped the Birr cause, as Belmont's concession of frees saw Cahill point at will.

Approaching the 50th minute the lead, was reduced to the minimum with the momentum now firmly in Birr's favour.

A quick-fire brace of points from Nally seemed to restore Belmont's control, but Cahill responded in kind to level proceedings as the game ebbed towards a tense conclusion.

Conor Grennan fired over a massive score for Belmont on 58 minutes, but despite a levelling score from Cahill, it was Nally who fittingly had the game's final score to ensure victory for Belmont, who will now play Ballinamere in their semi-final.

Scorers - Belmont: D Nally 0-10 (7 frees); P Clancy 0-3, R Flynn 0-2; J Clancy, C Egan, D Kelly, O Kelly and C Grennan 0-1 each. Birr: E Cahill 0-13 (11f, 1 sideline); B Murphy 0-2; A Watkins, L Nolan and E Nolan 0-1 each.

Belmont - Damien Egan; Aron McCabe, Ciaran Cahill, Darragh Flynn; Pat Taaffe, Leon Fox (captain), Jack Clancy; Ronan McEvoy, Ronan Flynn; Paddy Clancy, David Nally, David Kelly; Colin Egan, Oisin Kelly, Brian Carroll. Subs: Adam Nugent for C Egan (47 mins), Mark Egan for D Kelly (47), Conor Grennan for R McEvoy (inj. 51), Conor Dunican for B Carroll (60).

Birr - Adam Fitzgerald; Jimmy Irwin, Cormac Kenny, Sean Ryan; Ben Miller, Padraic Watkins, Colm Mulrooney; Joe Ryan, Brendan Murphy; Ailbe Watkins, Luke Nolan, Barry Harding; Morgan Watkins (Capt.), Eoghan Cahill, Darragh Tierney. Subs: Ian Kerin for Darragh Tierney (28 mins), Campbell Boyd for Jimmy Irwin (half-time), Emmet Nolan for Barry Harding (h-t), Niall Lyons for Brendan Murphy (50), Lochlann Quinn for Luke Nolan (56).

Referee - Brian Gavin (Clara).

St Rynagh's 1-24 Shinrone 0-25

Meanwhile, St Brendan's Park, Birr was the venue for the quarter-final meeting of St Rynagh's and Shinrone on Saturday evening.

Trailing by four points with ten minutes of this eagerly contested fixture, it appeared that St Rynagh's championship season was coming to an end, but a late rally saw the Banagher men overcome a determined Shinrone team to claim a two-point win (1-24 to 0-25).

A goal from St Rynagh's midfielder Stephen Quirke proved to be the game's crucial score. Arriving midway through the second half, it provided St Rynagh's with the impetus that eventually saw the Banagher based club progress to the final four of the competition.

Such an outcome appeared unlikely as Shinrone still held sway at the time of Quirke's goal following a dominant start to the second half of the game.

Shinrone made a whirlwind start with three points in the opening minutes, but the game soon assumed an end-to-end feel with points being scored at will.

By the 12th minute of the game there had been 15 points scored with St Rynagh's leading by three points. The scores continued to flow and despite the lack of green flags, it was Rynagh's who managed to hold a two point lead at the end of the opening half, with scorers-in-chief Eoin Woods and Shane Rigney prominent on the scoreboard.

Shinrone emerged from the dressing room and to take immediate control of the second half. Donal Morkan and Eamonn Cleary contributed scores as Shinrone edged into a four point lead on 50 minutes, but Quirke's goal saw the game swing in St Rynagh's favour.

Sean Cleary steadied the ship for Shinrone, but with Rynagh’s now in confident mode, they hit the next five points without reply to secure a semi-final berth.

St Rynagh's will face the challenge of reigning champions Kilcormac-Killoughey in their semi-final.

Scorers - St Rynagh’s: E Woods 0-7 (3f); S Rigney 0-5; Stephen Quirke 1-0; D Scully, L O’Connor and G Conneely (3f) 0-3 each; E Houlihan, R Hughes and A Molloy 0-1 each. Shinrone: D Morkan 0-7 (6f); A Cleary and S Cleary 0-3 each; L Watkins, J O’Sullivan, A Landy and E Cleary (2f) 0-2 each; J Sampson, Ki Sampson, D Doughan and JP Cleary 0-1 each.

St Rynagh’s - Conor Clancy; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Dominic Healy; Pat Camon, Joey O’Connor (captain), Gary Conneely; Stephen Quirke, Evan Houlihan; Shane Rigney, Ronan Hughes, Eoin Woods; Darragh Scully, Luke O’Connor, Aaron Molloy. Subs: Ciaran Daly for Evan Houlihan (43 mins), Paul Quirke for Aaron Molloy (49).

Shinrone - Eamonn Cleary; Dominic Healy, Darragh Landy, Gearoid Maher; Dan Doughan, Killian Sampson (captain), Dara Maher; Luke Watkins, Adrian Cleary; James O’Sullivan, Jason Sampson, Adam Landy; Sean Cleary, Paul Cleary, Donal Morkan. Subs: JP Cleary for Donal Morkan (49 mins), Declan Cleary for Luke Watkins (52), Eoin Bailey O’Brien for James O’Sullivan (57), Fionn Carney for Sean Cleary (57).

Referee - Matthew Farrell (Tullamore).