Slieve Bloom end eight-year wait in style
The Slieve Bloom team celebrate their Intermediate Hurling Championship final win over The Harps at Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday Photo Denis Byrne
THERE were raucous celebrations in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday evening as Slieve Bloom claimed their first Laois Shopping Centre Intermediate Hurling Championship title since 2018 with a 14-point victory over The Harps.
It was a hugely tense first half with both sides having their dominant patches and plenty of hard hitting tackles from both sides and some fantastic scores - it had a real championship final feel to it and engrossed the crowd.
The second half couldn't have been any different as Slieve Bloom completely dominated from the first minute of the half right down to the wire in a brilliant display.
Ben Conroy was outstanding in that second half for the victors, moving back into a more defensive area than usual and running the show from there with excellent ball into his forwards and a further three points from play.
The Harps were without their free taker Mick Lanigan for the final, so the placed-ball duties were left to Cathal Murphy and he duly delivered, opening the scoring within a minute with his first effort.
His opposite centre forward Martin Delaney fired from play at the other end before Pat Walsh and Kelvin Burke traded excellent scores.
Murphy stuck a point from play and added another free before assisting Shane Fitzpatrick for one with an excellent sideline cut.
The excellence continued from Murphy when he was impeded from taking a free out on the right side by Gearoid Lowry and the ball was moved in front of the goals, which allowed Murphy the chance to stitch it in for the opening goal.
After a disastrous opening ten minutes Slieve Bloom found some hope when a shot from Conor Madden rebounded out to Delaney to fire it home just seconds after Murphy's effort.
Ben Conroy got off the mark after an outrageous catch and strike from the left wing and his brother Ciaran added a free before a point for Madden straight from The Harps' puckout.
The tempo began to ramp up massively and the game had a real final feel, with plenty of battles across the field but the standout one was the old school tussle between Pat Walshe and Sean Nowlan, and any Slieve Bloom back that dared to challenge him in truth.
Murphy got The Harps back on track with a 65 before adding a second goal, this time his free was outside the 21 on the right side of the field and he hit a daisy cutter into the far corner of the net.
A pointed 65 by Murphy put The Harps six points to the good with ten minutes left in the half.
Slieve Bloom got back to work once again on cutting down the gap with a point from Kelvin Burke just inside the post and a brilliantly taken goal by Madden after good work by Ben Conroy down the right side.
A point from play by Fearghal Burke followed by a quick double via Ciaran Conroy before half time gave Slieve Bloom their first lead at 2-9 to 2-8.
Murphy got the opener in the second half, four minutes after the restart but that would be the end of the scoring for The Harps for over twenty minutes and Slieve Bloom.
Kelvin Burke and Ben Conroy then each hit on the double with excellent scores from play as the onslaught started from the men in orange.
There was little protestation from The Harps as Slieve Bloom bowled along and added further points from Fearghal Burke followed with a trio of scores from Ciaran Conroy, two from frees and one from play.
Josh Holmes then got his name on the sheet with a good score before The Harps gave themselves a slight glimmer of hope when he latched onto a rebounded save and bundled it into the net past Gavin Conroy.
There was little The Harps could do from there however as the Slieve Bloom crowd cheered home the final scores from Ben Conroy and Ciaran Conroy.
Slieve Bloom: Ciaran Conroy 0-7 (0-4fs, 0-1 65), Martin Delaney 1-1, Conor Madden 1-1, Kelvin Burke 0-4, Ben Conroy 0-4, Fearghal Burke 0-2, Josh Holmes 1-1.
The Harps: Cathal Murphy 2-7 (2-4fs, 0-1 65), Pat Walsh 1-1, Shane Fitzpatrick 0-1.
Gavin Conroy; Rory Power, Sean Nolan, Tom Delaney; Gearoid Lowry, Evan Power, Darragh Delaney; Ciaran Conroy, Shane Farrell; Fearghal Burke, Martin Delaney, Ben Conroy; Kelvin Burke, Conor Madden, Josh Holmes.
Subs: Jake Collins for Lowry (44m, inj), Enda Conroy for Delaney (60m), John Lowry for Madden (61m).
Peter Walsh; Aaron Mahon, Cathal Phelan, Eoin Holland; Jimmy Whyte, Conor Dunne, Conor Brophy; Will Duggan, Shane Fitzpatrick; Loclan Curran, Cathal Murphy, Danny Comerford; Jay Brophy, Pat Walsh, Liam Dunphy.
Subs: Eoin Clancy for Comerford (4-7m, blood), Eoin Clancy for Comerford (12m, inj), Ben Dunphy for Holland (36-41m), Ben Dunphy for Duggan (41m), Cormac Dunne for C Brophy (50m), Jack Dunphy for Holland (53m, inj), Darren Maher for Walsh (60m).
: Mick Cleere (Rathdowney/Errill)
