PIHC R1 – Kilworth 0-20 Valley Rovers 0-12

An excellent second half display from our men in red and white saw Kilworth overcome Valley Rovers last Sunday to book their place in round three of the Cork County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship. Every player from 1 to 15, along with substitute Eoin McGrath made their presence felt after the break as we outscored our opponents 0-13 to 0-04. It was also fantastic to report that all 20 of our points came from play with six players getting their names on the score sheet. Kilworth had a slow and sluggish start to the game with a poor first half performance. We were 0-04 to 0-00 down after just four minutes on the clock. Points through Eoin Carey and Jamie Sheehan eventually got us out of the blocks in the seventh and eighth minute but Valley came back at us again and by the twentieth minute they led 0-07 to 0-04. In that time, we had wasted a lot of possession, making life difficult for ourselves by not taking some scorable points. However, despite this we still only trailed by a single point at the break, 0-08 to 0-07 as we began to find our rhythm in the last ten minutes before half time and considering how we had played, we were still in a good position heading into the second half.

The first four points after the interval were evenly shared as Valley Rovers opening proceedings followed by two points from Kilworth through Noel McNamara and then brilliantly worked point from Liam Whelan before Valley tagged on another to make it 0-10 to 0-9 by the 39^th minute. Liam Whelan who was having a stormer at mid-field, levelled proceedings less than a minute later and from there Kilworth took over the game. They popped over points and found the target from all kinds of angles and distances. Eoin McGrath was unlucky not to see his shot hit the back of the net in the 43^rd minute when the ball hit off the post and rolled back across the goal only to stay outside the white goal line. Eoin Carey, Liam Whelan, Noel McNamara, Jamie Sheehan and Will Condon all got on the scoresheet for the second half as we built up a healthy lead and kept Valley Rovers to scoring just two points inside the last 21 minutes of the game. Kilworth dominated the second half, with every player putting in a tremendous effort. As the final whistle was sounded, Kilworth celebrated a deserving first round win and we now relish the challenge that will await us in round three in a few months’ time. Until then we have six league games to play and they are all competitive fixtures to keep us going. The club would like to congratulate everyone involved on Sunday, from the management to the players on a fantastic win. We would also like to thank everyone who came out to support the lads on Sunday. Your presence was felt and your support was greatly appreciated. Kilworth Abú!

Team and Scorers: Kieran Walsh, Maurice McNamara, Kieran Lane, Mark O’Connor, Nathan Byrne (0-1), Dave Twomey, Austin O’Hara, Brian Tobin, Liam Whelan (0-5), Tom Twomey, Paddy Moakley, Eoin Carey (0-4), Noel McNamara (0-3), Jamie Sheehan (0-2) and Will Condon (0-5). Subs Used: Eoin McGrath.