After an even opening ten minutes Conahy Shamrocks took control of this AIB Leinster Junior Club Hurling Championship Quarter-Final against Dublin side Fingallians to comfortably qualify for the semi-final against Longford's Clonguish.
The Kilkenny junior championship runners-up were forced to line out without injured attacker and captain James Bergin and his hamstring injury will also keep him out of the semi-final against Clonguish.
Conditions were ideal in the first half in Lawless Park Swords, but it was an all-together different story in the second half as heavy rain descended, making conditions extremely difficult for the players on both teams.
Little separated the sides in the opening quarter, but once Conahy got on top around the middle third of the pitch the scoring opportunities grew.
Bill Murphy got Conahy off the mark after a minute, but almost immediately the home side availed of lots of space in the Conahy rear-guard to level through Darragh Power. They went ahead for the first and only time in the game one minute later when Sean Hickey, who has seen action with Dublin at underage level, pointed the first of many frees.
Three unanswered points for Conahy from Kieran Mooney (two frees) and Edmond Delaney (another free) edged the visitors ahead, but two bouts of indiscipline by Conahy saw Sean Hickey point both frees to tie the game.
Entering the second quarter Conahy began to dominate. That dominance started with the visitor's defence which held their opponents in a vice-like grip with the only down-side being the concession of a number of careless frees which were punished by the unerring Sean Hickey. Multiple Dublin All-Ireland medal winner and All-Star Paul Flynn started at full-forward but he was well contained by Conahy full-back Davy Healy.
Fingallians were equally guilty of conceding numerous frees with Kieran Mooney's accuracy edging Conahy further ahead. Further points for the Kilkenny side from Thomas Rice, Edmond Delaney and Tom Phelan left five points between the sides five minutes form the interval.
The goal that Conahy has been threatening came close to half-time when Fingallians were penalised for holding Eoin Cahill as he attempted a shot on goal. Kieran Mooney's well struck shot gave Fingallians goalie Shane Nolan no chance.
With the weather conditions deteriorating rapidly as the second half got underway, players on both sides struggled to gain clean possession.
Conahy Shamrocks continued to control the game and three early points from Bill Murphy, Thomas Rice and another Kieran Mooney free pushed the margin out to ten points.
It took the home side thirteen minute to get their first score of the second half, another pointed free from Sean Hickey.
The score that finally ended the game as a contest came in the nineteenth minute when a Kieran Mooney delivery was tapped to the net by Tom Phelan. There was no come back for the home side at that stage, although they did enjoy a greater share of possession in the closing ten minutes.
Fingallians short-passing game saw them built some good attacks in the second half with Conahy goalie Padraic Delaney saving brilliantly on a couple of occasions. He could do nothing about the home side's only goal which came in the twenty-third minute from Darragh Power following a bout of good inter-play.
Conahy might have had a third goal five minutes form the end, but Tom Phelan's blistering shot sailed over the bar. Phelan and Thomas Rice finished the Conahy scorning with a brace of points, with midfielder Shane Howard grabbing a late consolation point for the home side.
Without their main talisman and captain this was a good win for Conahy, especially in the testing second half conditions. The winners used two goalies in the game, Karl Downey and Padraic Delaney and both acquitted themselves well. A strong defence built around the Healy brothers Davy and Brian dominated from start to finish.
Conahy, through Donal Brennan and Edmond Delaney, narrowly edged the midfield exchanges, while in attack Tom Phelan, Kieran Mooney and Thomas Rice provided the bulk of the scores.
Fingallians worked hard all through but their short passing game came up short on too many occasions. They had a good central spine to their defence in Danny Lynch and Ian Kenny, while midfielder Sean Hickey was an excellent free-taker.
The home side's attack struggled to make headway against the Conahy defence with Darragh Power, Paul Graves and Peter Daly best in this sector.
Conahy Shamrocks
Karl Downey; Simon Callinan; Davy Healy; Liam Cass; Darren Cuddihy; Brian Healy; Eoin Carroll; Donal Brennan; Edmond Delaney (0-2, 0-1 free); Eoin Cahill; John Mullan; Tom Phelan (1-3); Thomas Rice (0-3, 0-1 free); Kieran Mooney (1-7, 0-7 frees & 1-0 Penalty); Bill Murphy (0-2).
Subs – Padraig Delaney (for John Mullan); Thomas Nolan (for Bill Murphy); Padraig Gunner (for Simon Callinan); Cian Harding (for Eoin Carroll); Michael Bergin (for Tom Phelan).
Fingallians
Shane Nolan; Alex Smyth; Danny Lynch; David Fagan; Conor Byrne; Ian Kennedy; Eoghan Brady; Sean Hickey (0-7, 0-6 Frees); Shane Howard (0-1); Donagh Williams; Peter Daly; Darragh Power (1-2); Paul Graves; Paul Flynn; Marc Smith.
Subs – TJ Howard (for Paul Flynn); Barry Rogers (for Marc Smith); Cian O'Brady (for Eoghan Brady); Ciaran Bambrick (for Conor Byrne); Stuey McNeill (for Donagh Williams).
Referee – Caymon Flynn (Westmeath).
The Conahy Shamrocks players and supporters appreciate the post-match reception from Fingallians GAA Club at their wonderful facility at Lawless Park.
