EOIN REID PROVED Ballyhale’s saviour as his late goal rescued a 2-18 to 1-21 draw for the All-Ireland kingpins tonight against Tullaroan in the Kilkenny senior hurling opener at UPMC Nowlan Park tonight.
Tullaroan looked set for a famous win after only being promoted from the intermediate ranks last year but were denied at the finish after they had pushed three points clear.
Both teams registered goals in the opening quarter with Bill Gaffney providing an early boost for the fortunes of Tullaroan before Ballyhale countered when TJ Reid’s delivery deceived the goalkeeper and ended up in the net.
Watch the Full-Time Highlights of Shamrocks v Tullaroan in Round 1 of the Kilkenny Senior Hurling Championship here on GAANOW!
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 31, 2020
Full-Time Score:
Shamrocks: 2-18
Tullaroan: 1-21 pic.twitter.com/PNTczOunpe
For Ballyhale this game marked a time of change. It may have been their first night out in the Kilkenny senior campaign but 2020 had already yielded a moment of pure joy when they collected the Tommy Moore Cup in January. In the six month spell since that All-Ireland glory, Henry Shefflin stepped down as manager, Michael Fennelly retired after operating as defensive colossus and Adrian Mullen had been struck down with a tore cruciate.
Their opponents also entered with fresh memories of national triumph, Tullaroan conquering the intermediate grade the night before that Ballyhale win. Those narrative were bound together by the presence of James O’Connor, now the new Ballyhale coach and back then at the helm of Fr O’Neill’s as they lost a spellbinding classic to Tullaroan.
It was 1-9 apiece at the interval with Martin Keogan striking over some fine points for Tullaroan and their experienced stalwart Tommy Walsh got on the scoresheet during a closely contested second half. Tullaoran forged ahead by three only for an impressive Ballyhale move culminated in TJ Reid offloading the pass for his brother Eoin to find the net.
The other games in Kilkenny tonight saw O’Loughlin Gaels defeat Bennettsbridge 1-18 to 1-14 while Clara ran out 1-21 to 0-16 victors over Graigue-Ballycallan. This year’s Kilkenny championship is operating with four groups of three before progressing to the knockout stages.
There was plenty other senior club championship games on around the country.
Results
Galway SFC
Claregalway 0-11 Killanin 0-10
Kerry SFC
Kenmare Shamrocks 3-6 Templenoe 1-11
Kildare SFC
Raheens 3-9 Maynooth 0-8
Laois SHC
Rathdowney-Errill 1-16 Clough-Ballacolla 2-13
Limerick SHC
Adare 1-19 Doon 0-22
Meath SFC
Ratoath 5-21 Nobber 2-6
Offaly SHC
Kilcormac-Killoughey 0-17 Birr 0-14
Roscommon SFC
St Brigid’s 0-14 Strokestown 1-7
Wexford SHC
Cloughbawn 1-13 Oulart-the-Ballagh 3-14Fethard 0-11 Faythe Harriers 1-14
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
