The average winning margin in round four stood at eleven points as four of the six matches turned into lop sided contests. Attendances remain very low with the individual gate receipts for The Nire v Rathgormack, Stradbally v St Saviours and Clashmore v De La Salle not exceeding €300. Brickey Rangers and An Rinn played out the game of the weekend as the 2014 intermediate champions and 3/1 underdogs posted their first win with a late, late point by Cormac O'Grady. Ballinacourty and The Nire joined Clashmore, Stradbally and Kilrossanty in the quarter finals as the championship halts until late next month.
Courty were made to grind for the points on a misty Saturday night in Dungarvan as Ardmore pushed them all the way before they carved out a three point victory (1-12 to 1-9). Patrick Hurney (0-5), Michael O’Halloran (0-4) and Shane O’Donovan (1-1) helped them rebound from last weekend’s narrow loss to The Nire and earn a spot in the last eight. O’Donovan’s bullet finish to the top corner powered them into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead after 12 minutes. Ardmore reacted with captain Kenny Murphy spearheading the charge. Conor O’Shea smashed in a goal before the interval to depart only two points adrift (1-6 to 1-4). Patrick Hurney notched four second half points, including one disputed effort, to keep their opponents at arm’s length.
Brickey Rangers edged out fourteen man An Rinn by 1-14 to 1-13 in an enjoyable tussle on Sunday night. Cormac O’Grady kicked the winner in the third minute of injury time for last year’s intermediate champions. The corner forward finished on six points (five from play). Fearghal Ó Ceallaigh and Carthach Barry traded goals either side of half time. Donie Breathnach delivered nine points for An Rinn but they let slip a three point lead over the final quarter.
The Nire romped to a nineteen point win over Rathgormack (4-12 to 0-5) on Friday night as the holders ran amok in the second half to confirm their quarter final status. Darren Guiry netted a second half hat trick as nine different scorers inflicted pain on their local rivals. Rathgormack held The Nire scoreless for the first fifteen minutes but only managed to register a sixth minute free from Jason Curry. The Ballymacarbry side punished those misses when Gearoid Hearn found the corner of the net at the second attempt and they led 1-4 to 0-4 at the break. The Nire put their opponents to the sword with Guiry’s goal rush and outscored their opponents by 3-8 to 0-1 in the second period.
Stradbally made it four wins from four with a 0-20 to 1-3 destruction of St Saviours. Eleven names appeared on the scoresheet for the Reds with Paddy Kiely, Robert Ahearne and Michael Sweeney striking three points each. Kevin Boland raised a green flag for Saviours.
Kilrossanty also returned their fourth win on the trot with a 2-13 to 0-6 triumph against Gaultier. They shaded the first half exchanges by 0-4 to 0-3 as their Eastern opponents kicked ten wides. JJ Hutchinson levelled matters on the resumption but losing Sean Whitty to a second yellow wounded them. Two goals in three minutes by Paul Whyte and Joey Veale midway through the second period allowed Kilrossanty charge away.
Clashmore claimed a facile 3-18 to 1-4 win over De La Salle on Monday night. Declan Allen shot 1-4 with Sean Fleming and Cillian O'Keeffe also among the goals. Kenneth Byrne netted a second half consolation for Salle. Clashmore will dispute top spot with Ballinacourty and The Nire in the final round of group games.
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