Walsh kicks The Nire to vital win - Waterford SFC Round 3

 

The headline act of the weekend didn't live up to expectations as The Nire and Ballinacourty fielded below full strength and appeared rusty on Saturday evening at Fraher Field.

Shane Walsh landed three points in a row as Benji Whelan's charges got their title defence back on track with a 0-8 to 0-6 success. After losing to Clashmore, another slip-up would have put them in a difficult spot in terms of the knockout stages and they bombarded the Ballinacourty goal in the second period.

The Nire started without Conor Gleeson, Jamie Barron and Liam Lawlor while their opponents couldn't call on Stephen Enright, Shane Briggs, Michael O'Halloran and Gary Hurney. Title favourites Courty went in a point up (0-3 to 0-2) following a forgettable first half. Both sides looked out of sorts following the three month break and they shot 13 wides between them over the opening thirty. Patrick Hurney and Shane O’Donovan moved Ballinacourty three points ahead on the restart but they failed to score for 24 second half minutes. Despite missing two goal chances through Darren Guiry and Michael O'Gorman, The Nire knocked over six without response. Walsh supplied two long distance scorchers before fisting over a third to register their second win of the season.

Clashmore made it three wins on the spin on Saturday afternoon to qualify for the quarter finals. Paudie O’Rourke claimed 1-7 as they weathered a late rally from neighbours Ardmore (1-15 to 1-12). Their inside line did all of the damage early on as Brian O’Halloran and Sean Fleming kicked five from play between them. On 22 minutes, O’Rourke intercepted Sean Barron’s short kick out and slipped it to the net with only the goalkeeper to beat. The centre forward added two white flags to push them 1-9 to 0-5 clear at halfway. Ardmore narrowed the gap to two points as Michael Cronin’s wicked shot deflected in off Clashmore defender Sean Bourke with six minutes left. O’Rourke clinched their last eight spot with an injury time point.

Stradbally also progressed to the latter stages with a 2-18 to 1-7 demolition of a depleted An Rinn on Friday. Donie Breathnach, Lorcan Ó Corraoin and Ray Ó Ceallaigh were all marked absent for the Gaeltacht side. Ten different players contributed for the winners with corner forwards Daniel Weldon (1-2) and Michael Sweeney (0-5) in top form. The Reds set to work right from the throw in. Weldon had the ball in the net after just 13 seconds following a determined run by Shane Ahearne. On 17 minutes, goalkeeper Tomás Ó Cadhla blocked Ahearne's shot but Ger Power bundled the loose ball over the line. An Rinn reacted with a goal from Bilí Breathnach two minutes later after he was set up by Liam Ó Lonáin. Stradbally scored seven points in a row either side of half time however to cruise home.

Rathgormack eased their relegation fears courtesy of a 2-10 to 2-7 win over De La Salle at St Mollerans. Jason Curry shot 1-7 and Jason Gleeson was also among the goals. Lee Hayes and Michael Roche netted for Salle inside the opening three minutes but Rathgormack gained the upper hand by half time to lead 1-6 to 2-1.