Graigue had a real battle on their hands
But they had to endure a tough fight against Young Irelands of Gowran at Nowlan Park yesterday.
Make that several fights, as - in a first-half that spilled over into ugliness on several occasions - a match-up that should have featured all the best that Kilkenny hurling has to offer instead featured the worst.
Low pulls, high pulls, late pulls, arguments, brawls, the lot. It wasn't confined to the pitch either, with even the mentors getting entangled on a couple of occasions.
Half-time was the nadir, a mass brawl involving several players and officials from both sides at the tunnel entrance that did nothing to enhance the reputation of either club.
Thankfully, sanity was restored during the break, and though we did see a further two yellow cards, to go with the six issued by a very tolerant referee in the opening 30 minutes, the second half saw a decided improvement in spirit, if not in hurling quality.
Playing into the breeze, Graigue-Ballycallan had marginally the better of things in the first-half and led 1-6 to 0-7 at the break. Four of those points came from late call-up Kevin Cleere, two from placed balls, while the goal came from county star Eddie Brennan.
For Young Irelands, ageless wonder DJ Carey was again the major scoring threat, with three of the Gowran points. Nevertheless, point of the half for Young Irelands came from another Carey, goalkeeper Martin, a massive free from well inside his own 45.
The first of the two second half Graigue-Ballycallan goals came in the 39th minute, a welcome touch of class that saw Brennan win possession, take the ball on at pace, draw the defence, before parting with perfect timing to centre-forward John Hoyne, who scored from point-blank range.
That score was answered within a minute when Dick Carroll pounced on the break of a dangerous high centre from James Fitzpatrick (Thomas Drennan doing the work), a tap-in goal. Coming in the 40th minute, that score tied the game, 2-7 to 1-10, and with just one additional point apiece, it was still tied ten minutes later.
In the final ten minutes, however, the champions of 1998 and 2000 finally began to pull clear. It started with a couple of points, from sub James Dunphy and midfielder James Young, answered by a drilled 20-metre free from the right sideline by DJ; then came another two Graigue-Ballycallan points, the first from another substitute, Tommy Dermody, second from the flying Brennan, now working hard out the field.
Final score for Graigue was the most decisive, and it came from a man who had been having a frustrating kind of an afternoon. Former Kilkenny star Adrian Ronan, winner of All-Ireland medals in 1992 and 93, is no longer the ball of energy he once was but in the 62nd minute he pounced on a long delivery from Michael Hoyne to slip the ball past Martin Carey.
A two-goal lead; not even DJ, who has worked the oracle so many times - even with Charlie now also on the park - could engineer a comeback from that, and Graigue-Ballycallan deservedly progress.
With a solid defence, good midfield, bit of threat up front, they'll trouble Stephens in the semi-final.
: Graigue-Ballycallan: K. Cleere 0-6 (0-5 frees); E. Brennan 1-2; A. Ronan 1-0; J. Hoyne 1-0; J. Young 0-2; J. Dunphy, T. Dermody, 0-1 each.Young Irelands: DJ Carey 0-6 (0-3 frees); D. Carroll 1-2; O. Carter 0-2; M. Carey (free), J. Fitzgerald, C. Phelan, 0-1 each.
: P. Dermody; J. Butler, J. Ryall, B. Dalton; C. Hoyne, M. Hoyne, D. Walton; J. Young, D. Byrne; K. Cleere, J. Hoyne, G. Cleere; E. Brennan, A. Ronan, P. Kennedy. Subs: J. Dunphy (G. Cleere 37); T. Dermody (Kennedy 53).
: M. Carey; C. Carroll, C. Fitzgerald, D. Phelan; E. Farrell, O. Carter, C. Phelan; S. Byrne, J. McDermott; J. Fitzgerald, T. Drennan, T. Carroll; L. Phelan, DJ Carey, D. Carroll. Subs: F. Farrell (T. Carroll 38); A. Doyle (L. Phelan 53); C. Carter (C. Phelan inj. 60).
: P. Neary (James Stephens).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
