Semi final pairings revealed in Senior Hurling Championship

The semi final pairing for the Kepak Senior Hurling Championship are now known after Oran and St. Dominic’s secured victories this afternoon.

Oran will face five in a row chasing Four Roads next after Francie Quine’s side defeated Pádraig Pearses in their quarter final. St. Dominic’s will play Tremane after the former secured a comfortable 2-17 to 1-10 win over Athleague. Those games are down for decision in three weeks time.

In the first of today’s quarter finals Oran just about held on to secure passage through to a semi-final clash with Four Roads at the expense of Pádraig Pearses, but they made life a lot tougher for themselves than they needed to before the final whistle sounded on their 0-17 to 1-12 win in Ballyforan.

Last year’s beaten finalists were utterly dominant for the opening 20 minutes, marching out to a 0-8 to 0-1 lead. Seamus Hussey dropped out from the full-forward line to play a very effective role as a third midfielder, Eamon Kenny hoovered up a world of ball as a deep-lying centre back, and their inside back line had Pearses on lockdown.

Darragh Finn was the leading light for Pearses as he shot two points and earned another free that Keelan Doran converted to reduce the gap to five (0-9 to 0-4) at half-time, but Oran continued to find scores easier to come by.

Cathal Kenny shot two crucial points in response to a delicate flicked goal from Luke Corbett, but Oran’s tally of 18 wides meant they never pulled clear, and late points from Daniel Staunton and Matthew Comerford left just two points between the sides deep in stoppage time.

Oran did have to deal with one final long dropping free from Karl Feehily, but amidst a crowd of 25 bodies, Micheál Hussey leapt up to claim the sliotar in his own 13m line and ensure that there would be no late smash and grab from the Woodmount side.

St. Dominic’s sent Athleague packing from the championship for the third successive year as they secured a 2-17 to 1-10 victory in the second game of Sunday’s double header. Mickey Joe Egan’s tally of 1-9, 1-6 from play, helped St. Dominic’s pick up their first win in four games as they avenged their final round group game defeat to Athleague.

St. Dominic’s scoring surge midway through the opening half paved the way for this win. The victors appeared the more balanced outfit throughout but yet the sides were level four times in the opening 17 minutes. A free from the returning Naos Connaughton tied the game at 0-5 apiece and it proved the catalyst for a run of 1-5 without reply for the winners.

Connaughton’s long range free found the net in the 19th minute while Egan’s four opening half points from play saw St. Dominic’s lead 1-9 to 0-6 at half time. The sides shared the opening six points of the second half before a crucial sequence of events in the 44th minute swung the pendulum further the way of St. Dominic’s.

Cian Murray saw his attempted chip effort on goal saved by Mark Miley while from the resulting puckout, Connell Kennelly’s shot was batted by Ronan O’Meara but only to Egan, who finished emphatically to the top right corner of the net. Two further pointed frees from Egan made it 2-14 to 0-9 and even though Cian Murray produced an assured finish to the net in the 51st minute, St. Dominic’s were never in danger of being reeled in.

Reports from both of Sunday’s SHC quarter finals in Tuesday’s Roscommon Herald