Roanmore, De La Salle and  Fourmilewater march into Waterford semis

The trio join Saturday winners Ballygunner in the last four

Waterford SHC quarter-final at Carrickbeg, Ballygunner v Dungarvan. Pictured is Ballygunner Jake Foley and Dungarvan's Robbie Wall. Photograph: Patrick Browne

Waterford SHC 

Roanmore, De La Salle and Fourmilewater joined champions Ballygunner in the semi-finals of the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship following a thrilling day of action across the county.

Gavin O’Brien hit a personal tally of 0-15 in a superb display for Roanmore, who saw off an Austin Gleeson-inspired Mount Sion by 1-18 to 0-17.

Roanmore started the brighter in the clash with their city rivals at the SETU Arena, with Gavin O’Brien scoring two frees then a well-taken point from the left flank. A Lee Flanagan dead ball opened the Sion account.

Austin Gleeson and Gavin O’Brien (2) traded further frees, as Billy Nolan walloped over a tremendous point from his own half to push Roanmore 0-6 to 0-2 ahead on the quarter hour.

Mount Sion began to grow into the tie, Alan Kirwan setting up Stephen Roche before knocking over a score of his own, and two excellent scores from Jamie Gleeson improved their prospects.

O’Brien was immense from the dead ball in the first half, pointing 0-8 in total as he struck over the bar amongst a crowd, but despite their slight superiority, Roanmore only had a two-point advantage to show for their first half endeavours - 0-10 to 0-8 at the break.

The sides traded scores for the majority of the third quarter, with some of the free-taking on display from Austin Gleeson (0-8) and O’Brien worth the admission fee alone, Gleeson twice pointing from the edge of his own area.

Martin ‘Blondie’ O’Neill hit two inspirational scores as did Gleeson and younger brother Jamie, and suddenly the sides were locked at 0-15 apiece. It was at this juncture that the pivotal moment came, Shane Mackey picking up the sliotar and blasting it across Iggy O’Regan into the roof of the net for the game’s solitary goal.

Emmet O’Toole was lucky not to receive his marching orders for an incident off the ball with Tommy McGrath, but despite throwing the kitchen sink at their rivals, The Monastery Men couldn’t dent Roanmore’s advantage, as they held on for local bragging rights.

Fourteen-man Fourmilewater saw off 13-man Abbeyside 0-15 to 2-08 at Fraher Field to make the last four for the first time since 2015, in a game where three red cards were shown in the opening quarter.

Michael O’Halloran received a straight red card from referee Nicky O’Toole with just five minutes played, as he was adjudged to have been the cause of an incident where a Fourmilewater player’s helmet was removed. It went from bad to worse for Abbeyside, as his teammate Willie Beresford joined him in the stand on 12 minutes - lashing out at Conor Gleeson, having been fouled by the Waterford defender.

Two minutes after that, it was Gleeson’s turn to leave the field - he was shown a second yellow card by O’Toole having dragged down Brian Looby.

It was a game unlikely to be remembered for hurling, but Fourmilewater led 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, largely thanks to the efforts of star midfield duo Dermot Ryan (0-4) and Jamie Barron.

Michael Ryan’s men motored seven points clear after the break as they looked to have made their numerical advantage count, but they suddenly found themselves with their backs to the wall late on.

Abbeyside threw men forward in search of goals and drew blood when Michael Kiely buried a penalty on the brink of stoppage time. Hearts were soon in Fourmilewater mouths as Seanie Callaghan picked out Conor Prunty and he battered the sliotar to the net to make it a one-point affair, but it was the Ballymacarbry men who held on by the skin of their teeth.

De La Salle booked their place in the final four courtesy of a 2-21 to 0-22 win against Eastern rivals Clonea in Carrickbeg. The Gracedieu side got off to the perfect start, with impressive youngster Jack Twomey netting his third goal of the championship with less than three minutes on the clock.

Clonea battled back valiantly from that early setback with the usual suspects of Billy Power and Jason Gleeson to the fore, but they were dealt a hammer blow on the cusp of half time as De La Salle struck their second green flag.

Eddie Meaney caught Shaun O’Brien’s puckout and went on a wonderful run up the field, before finishing with aplomb to give his side a 2-9 to 0-11 lead at the interval.

Clonea hit back with a number of scores but it was De La Salle who prevailed on a scoreline of 2-21 to 0-22, with Reuben Halloran and Thomas Douglas shining in the second half. Halloran finished the afternoon with a personal tally of 0-10.

On Saturday evening, Ballygunner made it 53 games unbeaten in Waterford as they cruised past Dungarvan 0-23 to 1-11.

Kevin Mahony, Conor Sheahan, Dessie Hutchinson, Pauric Mahony and Peter Hogan all contributed well to the champions' tally in Carrickbeg.