AIB Leinster Club SHC semi-final

KILCORMAC-KILLOUGHEY (Offaly) 2-21 MOUNT LEINSTER RANGERS (Carlow) 0-10

By Kevin Egan at Bord na Móna O'Connor Park

Both Kilcormac-Killoughey and Mount Leinster Rangers have savoured the unique experience of hurling in an All-Ireland club final in recent years, but it was the Offaly side who succeeded in rediscovering that sort of form this afternoon at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park, as they produced a remarkable performance to easily brush aside the challenge of Mount Leinster Rangers.

A red card for county midfielder Cillian Kiely after 25 minutes, at a stage when the tie was finely poised with Kilcormac-Killoughey holding a narrow two-point lead, threatened to derail the home club.

Instead it was the spark that ignited a spectacular spell of hurling from Stephen Byrne’s side, starting with a close-range goal from James Gorman within a minute. This was followed with six Kilcormac-Killoughey points in succession, all scored in a ten-minute spell either side of half time.

Mount Leinster Rangers briefly threatened to mount some sort of comeback when they picked off two points in a row around the 36 minute mark, but instead the response from Kilcormac-Killoughey was both swift and decisive.

Dan Currams and James Gorman picked off scores in quick succession, Stephen Leonard scored a magnificent point on the run down the left wing, and then a trademark goal from Currams settled the tie, placed in the bottom corner after he fielded the ball close to the left-hand touchline and then glided towards goal with an electric burst of pace.

A wild pull from David Phelan across the legs of Damien Kilmartin cost Phelan both his hurl and his place on the field as he carried his broken stick away following a straight red card, and five more Kilcormac-Killoughey points followed before a series of late scores boosted the Carlow men’s tally slightly – even if it did nothing to mask the incredible gulf that existed between two sides that were expected to be very evenly matched.

For the first 25 minutes, this tie played out exactly as most pundits would have expected, with plenty of hard but fair hurling and scores relatively evenly shared between the two sides.

Conor Mahon led the way for the Offaly side with a couple of excellent points from play in the first five minutes, however Mount Leinster Rangers showed great composure in their use of the sliothar from half back and midfield, feeding low balls into Ted Joyce and Chris Nolan close to goal.

Joyce fired over two early points that helped Brendan Fennelly’s side into an 0-3 to 0-2 lead after ten minutes, the only time they led in the contest, and even after scores from Peter Geraghty and Ciarán Slevin restored Kilcormac-Killoughey’s lead, it would still have taken a brave pundit to predict the winner with any great degree of confidence.

The balance appeared to tip marginally in favour of Mount Leinster Rangers when Kilcormac-Killoughey were reduced to 14 men shortly before half time after Kiely was red-carded.

But instead of battening down the hatches, Kilcormac-Killoughey rose to the challenge – Conor Mahon fielded a puckout and burst past two tacklers, driving through to get a shot away on goal.

A stunning save from Frank Foley saw the sliothar fall perfectly for James Gorman to sweep in an easy goal, and from then on Mount Leinster Rangers had no answer to a whirlwind display from Kilcormac-Killoughey.

**Scorers for Kilcormac-Killoughey: **J Gorman 1-5, D Currams 1-3, Ciarán Slevin 0-5f, C Mahon 0-3, P Geraghty 0-2, C Kiely, S Leonard & T Geraghty 0-1 each.

**Scorers for Mount Leinster Rangers: **C Nolan 0-4 (0-2f), D Byrne 0-2 (0-1f), T Joyce, D Murphy, P Coady & J Nolan 0-1 each.

**Kilcormac-Killoughey: **Conor Slevin; K Leonard, G Healion, E Grogan; K Grogan, D Kilmartin, J Quinn; Ciarán Slevin, C Kiely; J Gorman, C Mahon, T Geraghty; P Geraghty, P Healion, D Currams. Subs: S Leonard for P Healion (18), A McConville for Leonard (60), J Geraghty for K Grogan (52), S Lowry for Kilmartin (55), S Guinan for Currams (56).

Mount Leinster Rangers: F Foley; W Hickey, R Kelly, M Doyle; E Coady, D Phelan, G Kelly; R Coady, D Byrne; E Byrne, J Murphy, P Coady; D Murphy, C Nolan, T Joyce. **Subs: **M Malone for Hickey (18), K McDonald for R Coady (26), G Lawlor for E Coady (HT), J Nolan for D Murphy (HT).

**Referee: **John O’Brien (Laois)