AIB Connacht Club IHC Quarter-Final

TOOREEN 2-23                FOUR ROADS 0-14

Kevin Egan at Waldron Park, Athleague

Reigning AIB Connacht Intermediate champions Tooreen are back in pursuit of glory out west after they recorded a commanding victory in this afternoon’s provincial quarter-final contest with Four Roads, breaking their opponents’ resistance with two first half goals into the wind and then moving through the gears in the final quarter.

Seven years ago Four Roads beat Ballyhaunis by a goal in this fixture but since then, the Mayo champions have knocked out their Roscommon counterparts every time, with Tooreen particularly dominant in recent years.

Four Roads showed some signs of causing problems for their opponents in the early stages of this tie, when good scores from Conor Mulry and James Cunniffe and a long range free from Micheál Kelly helped them into an 0-4 to 0-3 lead. However with a strong breeze blowing behind them, they needed to pile on the scores and instead they were struggling to win enough possession, with the Tooreen half-back line utterly dominant.

A seven-minute spell at the start of the second quarter left the underdogs with a mountain to climb. Conor Henry set up a fine score from distance for Seán Kenny, Shane Boland whipped a low shot to the bottom corner of the Four Roads net, Kenny Feeney knocked over a masterful point from the right hand sideline and when Daniel Huane played in Cathal Freeman, a simple batted finish from Freeman made it 2-6 to 0-5.

Cathal Dolan’s excellent freetaking meant that Four Roads stayed in contention for long stretches, getting to half-time 2-8 to 0-9 behind and then splitting the only six points of the third quarter equally with their opponents.

At this stage of the game both sides had plenty of extra cover at the back and scores were hard to come by, while Tooreen were racking up the wides, posting ten by the 45th minute.

They never add an eleventh, and once they found their stride in the final quarter, they laid siege to the Four Roads goal and outscored their opponents by 0-12 to 0-2.

Kenny Feeney was a key figure during this late onslaught, adding four of his five points in that time, while Joe Boyle, Liam Lavin, Fergal Boland and Oisín Greally also got in on the act with good points from play. Four Roads meanwhile just ran out of ideas, and while veteran Micheál Kelly put in a totemic performance at centre back, no scores from play and just three pointed frees from the 33rd minute onwards illustrated the gulf between a side that was delighted to get back on top domestically when they won the Roscommon senior title eight days ago, and a team that very definitely has Croke Park on their mind, even at this early stage of the AIB club championship season.

Scorers for Tooreen: Shane Boland 1-4 (0-3f), Seán Kenny 0-7 (0-5f), Kenny Feeney 0-5, Cathal Freeman 1-2, Fergal Boland 0-2, Joe Boyle 0-1, Liam Lavin 0-1, Oisín Greally 0-1.

Scorers for Four Roads: Cathal Dolan 0-10 (0-8f), Conor Mulry 0-1, James Cunniffe 0-1, Conor Coyle 0-1, Michéal Kelly 0-1f.

Tooreen: Bobby Douglas; Oisín Greally, Michael Morley, Conor Henry; David Kenny, Stephen Kenny, Joe Boyle; Daniel Huane, Seán Kenny; Shane Boland, Fergal Boland, Brian Morley; Eoin Delaney, Kenny Feeney, Cathal Freeman.

Subs: Liam Lavin for B Morley (36 mins), John Cassidy for Delaney (50 mins), Gary Nolan for Greally (53 mins), Paddy Lyons for Huane (57 mins), David Harrison for S Boland (58 mins).

Four Roads: Noel Fallon; James Dillion, Cormac Coyle, Donal Kelly; Eamon Mulry, Micheál Kelly, Johnny Moran; Conor Coyle, Mikey Lohan; Brian Lawlor, Adam Donnelly, James Cunniffe; Brendan Mulry, Cathal Dolan, Conor Mulry.

Subs: Cormac Mulry for Conor Mulry (22 mins), Jimmy Hoey for Lawlor (44 mins), Jamie Lawlor for Donnelly (58 mins), Oisín Campbell for Dillion (58 mins), Martin McLoughlin for Cormac Coyle (60 mins).

Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway).