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Minor Hurling: Kilruane MacDonaghs 2-12 Borris-Ileigh 1-13
By Gilbert Williams
20 July 2009

The MacDonaghs minor hurlers made an encouraging start to the championship with a hard fought two point win against Borris-Ileigh in MacDonagh Park. When these sides met in the u-16 championship two years ago Borris-Ileigh had a comfortable home victory and were favourites going into this encounter. Eleven of the Kilruane team are under age again next year but they have made great progress in the last two seasons under the astute management of Brian Gaynor. Borris-Ileigh won the toss and elected to play into the village end with the aid of a slight breeze. However, MacDonaghs opened brightly and drew first blood with a pointed free from David Reddan. Ronan Boyle raced in from the left wing and scored a great point. Borris-Ileigh got off the mark when centre forward Benny Harkin raised a white flag and soon the visitors were on level terms with their second point. Niall O Meara put MacDonaghs ahead again with his first point and David Reddan was on target from a free after Niall O Meara was fouled. Niall was causing all kinds of problems for the Borris defence. A notable feature of the game at this stage was the workrate of the Kilruane forwards who harried and hounded the Borris backs. Dan McCormack reduced the arrears with a point from the left corner but David Williams restored the two point advantage. Niall O Meara fetched a long delivery and struck a delightful point to give MacDonaghs a three point lead with twenty one minutes gone. Niall O Meara hit his third point and Borris-Ileigh responded with a second point from Benny Harkin. David Reddan had the final score of the half from a free to leave the score 0-8 to 0-4 in favour of MacDonaghs. Midway through the half Borris-Ileigh played a third midfielder but Justin Cahill mopped up an amount of ball as the extra man and they soon returned to a more orthodox formation.


Borris-Ileigh moved Dan McCormack to midfield for the second half in an attempt to break the dominance of Morgan Conway and David Reddan. Dan pointed a free to reduce the gap but Ronan Boyle swung over his second point to restore the four point cushion. Niall O Meara was on target again and put five points between the sides. Dan McCormack punished another Kilruane indiscretion to reduce the gap. The same player was on target from a sixty five to leave just three between the sides. The visitors were now getting the upperhand at midfield and the MacDonaghs defence was under pressure. Borris-Ileigh hit their eighth point to leave two points separating the teams Then in the eleventh minute the game turned on its head. Eoin Williams raced through the Borris-Ileigh defence, handpassed to David Williams who crashed the sliotar to the net. A minute later Eoin scythed through the defence again and passed to Niall O Meara. The keeper parried Niall’s shot but David Williams was on hand to whip the ball to the net to give MacDonaghs an eighth point lead. Boris-Ileigh responded with a goal and a point to reduce the margin to four. They could have eaten further into the Kilruane lead but Robert Ward, David Reddan and Justin Cahill saved Dan McCormack’s effort from a penalty. The ever-accurate Dan soon raised another white flag from a free as some MacDonaghs players indulged in the rather costly hobby of fouling. Eoin Williams restored the four point lead with a point before two Dan McCormack frees left the minimum between the sides. Niall O Meara was moved to centre forward and he slotted over his fifth point. Borris-Ileigh pressed for a goal but the home defence held firm and were relieved to hear the final whistle.


This was a morale-boosting win against a good Borris-Ileigh side who made a determined bid for victory in the final quarter. MacDonaghs were the better team in the first half and were full value for their four point lead at the break. Some of the players seemed to tire in the second period and a few were guilty of needless fouling. Once these two areas are rectified MacDonaghs can be a match for the best in the competition.

Scorers: David Williams 2-1, Niall O Meara 0-5, David Reddan 0-3, Ronan Boyle 0-2 and Eoin Williams 0-1

Team: Robert Ward, Niall Murphy, Eanna Hogan, P.J. Cleary, Jack Peters, Justin Cahill, Keith Kelly, Morgan Conway, David Reddan, James Sullivan, Thomas Cleary, Eoin Williams, David Williams, Niall O Meara and Ronan Boyle.
Selectors: Brian Gaynor (Manager), Mick Cleary, David Quinlan, Eoin Hogan and Freddie Williams.
Referee: T.P Sullivan Lorrha & Dorrha