Doon 2-20
Kilmallock 1-17
STAR LIMERICK NAMES may have been marked absent yet injuries did not hit Doon hard enough as they summoned a brilliant display to see off Kilmallock this evening and book a spot in the county senior hurling final.
Doon have got their heads around the absence of their defensive cornerstone Richie English, struck down with a cruciate in the spring, but the recent loss of another All-Ireland winner in Darragh O’Donovan compounded their injury misfortunes. His withdrawal in last Sunday’s quarter-final was a setback but one they withstood when taking to the field at the Gaelic Grounds six days later. Now they’ll have a chance to lift this long-desired title for the first time next weekend.
Their advancement here was largely down to their other flagship names pointing the way. Pat Ryan fired over the first point of the evening, by the interval he had produced that feat on five occasions and hs finished with the sparkling total of 0-7 from play. His centre-forward play provided Kilmallock with a constant headache, on one occasion before the break there were six opponents converging on him yet Ryan still managed to engineer a free.
That was converted by Barry Murphy, who supplied a 0-5 haul of his own in the first half. The towering Josh Ryan was another danger man closer to goal, he raised two white flags early on and carved open the Kilmallock rearguard in the 24th minute with a run that culminated in Jack Ryan bundling a shot to the net.
It was Ryan who banged home the second goal later on after being released by a Dean Coleman delivery. That essentialy clinched the victory with Graeme Mulcahy cracking home a late strike to the net for a Kilmallock team who could not bridge the gap.
Mulcahy shone in the opening period with his weaving runs and he caused damage by hitting 0-3. But Doon got a handle on him in the second half as their defence was more compact, spearheaded by Tommy Hayes and Mikey O’Brien.
They utilised Josh Ryan cleverly as well, a target man inside in the first half and withdrawn to use his size effectively around the middle third in the second half.
The sideline battle pitted Clare’s Tony Considine against Galway’s Tony Ward. Considine hoping to replicate the success he savoured with Kilmallock a decade ago when they ended a 16-year gap for Limerick senior honours. Ward has built up plenty experience with Galway camogie and U21 teams before taking on this role with Doon.
Kilmallock were always chasing this game once they had leaked that early goal. They hit three points in succession before the interval to go 1-10 to 0-10 adrift yet trailed by five midway through after a brace of Murphy frees.
That was the pattern in the second half as Doon built up a sufficient lead, ahead 1-17 to 0-15 by the second water break, and then Ryan’s second goal sealed this one.
Scorers for Doon: Barry Murphy 0-8 (0-6f, 0-1 ’65), Pat Ryan 0-7, Jack Ryan 2-0, Josh Ryan 0-3, Denis Moloney, Darragh Stapleton 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kilmallock: Graeme Mulcahy 1-3, Micheal Houlihan 0-4 (0-2f, 0-1 ’65), Oisin O’Reilly, Kevin O’Donnell, Paudie O’Brien 0-2 each, Gavin O’Mahony (0-1f), Ciaran O’Connor, David Woulfe, Robbie Egan 0-1 each.
Doon
1. Eoghan McNamara
2. Chris Thomas
3. Eoin Fitzgibbon
4. Tommy Hayes
7. Jack Cummins
6. Mikey O’Brien
5. Cormac Ryan
8. Micheal Ryan
9. Eddie Stokes
12. Barry Murphy
11. Pat Ryan
10. Denis Moloney
13. Josh Ryan
14. Darragh Stapleton
15. Jack Ryan
Subs
20. Dean Coleman for Stokes (half-time)
19. Patrick Cummins for Micheal Ryan (49)
17. Cian O’Donovan for Jack Cummins (58)
18. Niall Maher for Stapleton (58)
Kilmallock
1. Barry Hennessy
5. Mark O’Loughlin
3. Philip O’Loughlin (captain)
2. Dan Joy
4. Aaron Costello
8. Ciaran O’Connor
6. Gavin O’Mahony
10. Paudie O’Brien
25. Robbie Hanley
13. Micheal Houlihan
7. Paddy O’Loughlin
17. David Woulfe
11. Graeme Mulcahy
12. Kevin O’Donnell
15. Oisin O’Reilly
Subs
14. Robbie Egan for Woulfe (39)
Referee:
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