IT Sligo 1-8 Athlone IT 1-9
Athlone IT, trailing to a spirited and skilful IT Sligo senior hurling side, stole a place in the last four of the Datapac Ryan Cup Higher Education Hurling Championship with two late injury-time points to cruelly rob the home college of a deserved victory last Wednesday in Ballinode. The home side were missing the starting talents of Sligo senior David Collery and former Kilkenny minor Peter Barron through injury, and Wexford back Danny Conway, and centre-forward former Waterford minor Cha O’Neill were unavailable due to work placements. However they fielded a talented 15 against the more illustrious recent Fizgibbon Cup quarter-finallists.
IT Sligo had lead their midland rivals from the 12th minute in a wind-assisted first half when a well-worked Sean Chaplin point gave them a 0-2 to 0-1 lead. They held the advantage until injury time in the second period when Galway senior Darren O’Shaughnessy fired over the equaliser on full time despite the best efforts of the Sligo backs. Mark McNicholas then gave Athlone IT a match-winning lead with a long-range pointed free on the whistle. However by this time IT Sligo should have extended their six point lead, 1-7 to 0-4, that they had attained with 20 minutes to go against the pre-match favourites AIT. However in-form IT Sligo half-forward John Sinnott could add only one additional point in the 45th minute as Athlone IT pegged back the deficit. They were helped in part by a very contentious goal for the visitors and minutes later IT Sligo forward Ronan Hayes had a goal disallowed by referee Michael Carroll.
Athlone IT started the sharpest with a point from Mullagh forward Colm Fahy in the second minute before towering Sligo full forward Ronan Hayes from Sixmilebridge equalised following a quick pick up and turn. Sean Chaplin gave the home side the lead on 12 minutes from play and Wicklow senior John Sinnott extended the lead with a fine strike resulting from a flowing passing move initiated by IT Sligo star midfielder Declan McKillop. Corner-back John Roche had an excellent game throughout, McKillop and co-midfielder Niall Phelan from Freshford in Kilkenny outshone former Galway minor stars Niall Corcoran and Kevin Briscoe, and John Sinnott displayed speed and deft skills throughout. However some below par displays particularly in the forwards meant that IT Sligo didn’t fully capitalise on the efforts of an accomplished defensive performance particularly well marshalled by solid full-back Liam Murphy and excellent half-back John Fordham who marked Galway senior star Darren O’Shaughnessy with aplomb.
Ronan Hayes finished the sliothar into the net following a scrambled goalmouth incident to give the IT Sligo a 1-3 to 0-1 lead on 23 minutes. Athlone IT pressed hard but a combination of wides and hurried striking meant that it wasn’t until the 27th minute when McNicholas hauled a point back from a free. Sean Chaplin added a free from a close-in free just before the break to give IT Sligo a deserved 1-4 to 0-2 half-time lead.
However Athlone IT started the second period with the wind on their backs and all guns blazing, adding points from play in the opening two minutes from substitute Ciaran O’Reilly and McNicholas. Sean Chaplin restored the Sligo advantage with two neatly taken frees three and six minutes into the half. An IT Sligo win looked likely when John Sinnott whipped over a super point on the run following a great passing interchange between John Roche, captain Benny Lawless and Declan McKillop who caught ball, battled and ran effortlessly throughout. This gave IT Sligo a 1-7 to 0-4 lead. However the tiring Sligo team began to err and run into blind alleys, and were punished for wasteful play when Athlone captain and centre-back Declan Qualter latched onto a free ball, raced into the Sligo half and pointed from distance. O’Shaughnessy added a score from the wing his first of the game and shortly after shot a blistering strike against the bar. John Sinnott added his third point following an elusive run and accurate strike in the 45th minute of a blistering second half opening. Then came the contentious period. Substitute Ciaran O’Reilly fell over the sliothar and smothered its progress on the Sligo 45m line. When referee Carroll raced over, it seemed he was about to award a free or a throw ball, but he waved play on, and the alert Colm Fahy raced in past a static Sligo back line to hammer the ball past the hapless IT Sligo keeper Shane Connelly. This sparked a revival from IT Sligo as a long drive from centre-back Kieran Flaherty was athletically gathered by Ronan Hayes, who turned and struck the sliothar with venom into the Athlone goal. However the score was ruled out for a square-ball offence that seemed very marginal at the least. IT Sligo had a number of goal and point chances wastefully spurned. Athlone IT in return added points from O’Reilly and a McNicholas free to narrow the gap. Indeed with normal time up the home side lead by a point 1-8 to 1-7 and were awarded a free some 25m out. Unfortunately the normally reliable Sean Chaplin lobbed it narrowly wide, and on the puck out the Darren O’Shaughnessy escaped the shackles of John Fordham and fired over to level the game. Following some poor use of possession IT Sligo conceded a free three minutes into injury time some 70m out that to the dismay of the IT Sligo team and support was expertly converted by Mark McNicholas to give the visitors an unlikely and largely undeserved victory.
IT Sligo Team and Scorers:
IT Sligo: Shane Connelly (Galway); John Roche (Wexford), Liam Murphy (Limerick), James Hyland (Laois); John Fordham (Galway), Kieran Flaherty (Galway), Paul Fitzpatrick (Clare); Declan McKillop (Antrim), Niall Phelan (Kilkenny); John Sinnott (Wicklow) 0-3, Andrew Hall (Offaly), Benny Lawless (Galway); Sean Chaplin (Clare) 0-4 (0-3 frees), Ronan Hayes (Clare) 1-1; David McDonagh (Galway).
Substitutes: Peter Barron (Kilkenny) for McDonagh, Rory Conroy (Laois) for Barron (injury).