“ YOU never know what to expect when local rivals meet each other, but all those Glenroe wides in the first half gave us the chance to build up a lead,” was manager Aidan Fitzgerald's take on Blackrock's 0-23 to 0-11 victory over Glenroe on Saturday in Knocklong that keeps them in the hunt for a place in the semi-finals of the Lyons of Limerick premier intermediate hurling championship A more composed build-up, a strong presence up the middle right through the lines and a range of finishing options allowed Blackrock to leave their opponents with a mountain to climb after the break by which time they had already shot twelve wides. There were occasions when Glenroe threatened a fightback but they were fighting off the back foot in most positions which left them shooting more in hope than in confidence. Whatever hopes Glenroe had of reducing the game to an arm wrestle faltered on a sustained burst of Blackrock scores in the first quarter and they never really got the chance to settle down as the 'Rockies were always able to find an extra gear whenever a response threatened to turn into a rally.
The result leaves Blackrock fighting it out with five other contenders for a place in the semi-finals with two qualifying rounds to go. For the winless Glenroe, it looks as if their season is now reduced to a head-to-head with fellow strugglers Na Piarsaigh in their refixed clash to avoid relegation. Despite Liam Dennehy giving them the lead straight off the throw-in with a point, Glenroe started early to rack up wides and, after Fionn Heffernan's immediate reply, Blackrock went about building a lead as the equaliser was followed by Cathal O'Keeffe, Heffernan, Seán O'Neill, Richie McCarthy and Paudie Leahy putting five points between the sides before Darren Frewen's shot from way out left broke the sequence.
It might have got better for Glenroe had Frewen's speculative shot into the top corner of the net not being pulled back for a square ball and the 'Rpckies made the most of their escape as McCarthy, Jimmy Quilty and O'Neill tacked on another three scores. However, despite the axis of Daithi Heffernan and Quilty in ther defence closing off Glenroe's offensives up the middle, as well as setting up the moves forward, their focus wandered a bit after O'Keeffe struck from a pointed free and from play in response to an O'Connell free before scoring resumed coming up to the break with an exchange between Dennehy and Lyons to leave the winners enjoying an advantage of 0-12 to 0-4. David McCarthy's point got Glenroe moving again within seconds of the restart, but Blackrock extinguished any hopes of a comeback as O'Neill, O'Keeffe's free and Fionn Heffernan extended their lead further with points before Darren McCarthy's reply was met by Quilty's huge long range point from deep inside his own half and O'Connell's free by Lyons's terrific effort from halfway.
At that point, the Rockies dkilled off all remaining hopes of a fightback as sub Ruairí O'Shaughnessy struck with two points inside a minute to move the margin out to twelve and, as it stayed at that following Frewen's point being answered by O'Keefe's free on the three-quarter mark, they could afford the luxury of giving Quilty a rest on the bench. Dennehy pointed on the run before O'Keeffe and O'Connell swapped frees. As the subs piled on, Frewen had a chance to provide some late drama but his goalbound shot was smothered by Richie Murphy.
When everything settled down after two dismissals, Leahy sent over a free and this was followed by a point from O'Neill before a late O'Connell free in reply closed the scoring. SCORERS: BLACKROCK: Cathal O'Keeffe 0-6 (4 frees), Seán O'Neill 0-4, Fionn Heffernan 0-3, Richie McCarthy, Paudie Leahy (1 free), Jimmy Quilty, Shane Lyons, Ruairí O'Shaughnessy 0-2 each. GLENROE: Mark O'Connell 0-4 (4 frees), Liam Dennehy 0-3, Darren Frewen 0-2, David McCarthy, Darren McCarthy 0-1 each.
BLACKROCK: Richie Murphy; Ian O'Brien, Daithí Heffernan, James Philpott; Killian Aherne, Jimmy Quilty, Callan Ensor; Paudie Leahy, Shane Lyons; Fionn Heffernen, Colm O'Keeffe, Seán O'Neill; Barry O'Shaughnessy, Richie McCarthy, Aidan Gilligan. SUBS: Ruairí O'Shaughnessy for Barry O'Shaughnessy (half-time), David Moloney for Jimmy Quilty (46 minutes), Seán O'Dwyer for Colm O'Keeffe (51 minutes). GLENROE: Ian O'Sullivan; Bob Frewen, Jordan Sheehy, Shane O'Donoghue; Shaun Moloney, Stephen Walsh, Darren McCarthy; Eoin Gallahue, Brian O'Connell; Mark O'Connell, Liam Dennehy, Ciarán Kelly; Moss O'Brien, David McCarthy, Darren Frewen.
SUBS: Oisín Browne for Bob Frewen (injured, 38 minutes), Cillien O'Brien for Shaun Moloney (50 minutes), Pa Holian for Eoin Gallahue (50 minutes), Zach McCarthy for Moss O'Brien (50 minutes), Darren Carroll for David McCarthy (50 minutes). REFEREE: Timmy McGrath (Oola)..
