C'Blayney 2-25
Kilclief (Down) 4-8

Castleblayney's Michael McHugh put on an exhibition of point taking to help propel his side through to the semi-final of the Ulster club intermediate hurling championship at the expense of Down champions Kilclief in this tough, hard-hitting contest in Pairc Esler, Newry on Sunday last. Despite a shaky start it was Castleblayney who dominated the second quarter and they were not at all flattered by their eight points half-time lead, Castleblayney 0-15, Kilclief 1-4.

In the second-half Castleblayney always had their noses in front as Kilclief continued to concede frees but early in the final quarter the home side had the margin down to six points but Castleblayney retained their composer and the result was never in doubt after substitute Hugh Byrne lashed to the Kilclief net within minutes of his introduction. Barry Reilly also found the Kilclief net in the closing stages as Castleblayney finished with a flourish to kill the game off completely. The home side also finished the game with 14 players when Niall Conway was sent off also on a red card although they were probably fortunate that they had only one player dismissed given their over physical approach.

Teams and Scorers: C'Blayney: Ronan McAteer, Barney Connor, Paul Murphy, Jimmy Lacey, Peter Treanor, Jim McHugh, Mark Treanor, Gary Boyd 0-3, Brian McGuigan, Barry Reilly 1-2, David Connolly, Fergal Rafter 0-3, Michael McHugh 0-16, Gerard Brady 0-1, Stephen Forde. Subs: Hugh Byrne 1-0 for S Forde, Brian Flanagan for B McGuigan.
Kilclief: Michael Deegans, Stephen McMullan, Martin McKendry, Conor Magee, Nathan McMullan, Ryan Kerr, Chris Hogan, Fintan Conway 1-2, Aidan McCann, Thomas Mason 0-1, Niall Conway, Karol Shields, Paul Magee 0-3, Liam Deegans 1-1, Conor Hynds 2-1. Subs: Colin Shields for T Mason, Luke Maguire for C Hogan.
Referee: Gerard Devlin (Armagh). Tweet

Most Read Stories