Clonea 2-21; De La Salle 1-15 (After Extra Time)
A rousing extra-time performance eventually saw Clonea see off the challenge of De La Salle in an exciting Eastern Intermediate hurling semi-final in Walsh Park last Saturday.
All the way through normal time, the city side held the advantage before a late fightback from Clonea forced extra-time.
In the added period, Clonea finally forced home their advantage to eventually win by nine points.
In the early stages, the teams were tit for tat on the scoreboard as they went about feeling each other out. Mark Moore, Colm Morris and Kevin Gahan scored from play for De La Salle while Eoin Madigan knocked over a brace of frees.
Up at the other end, Robbie Power and Fergal Fogarty were very much to the fore as Clonea hung on to the shirt tails of De La Salle.
De La Salle made the first significant move in the 20th minute when Eoin Madigan scored a goal from a 21-yard free, which put his side four points in the clear.
Despite the free-taking of Fogarty, those four points still remained between the sides at the break as Derek McGrath scored a point for De La Salle.
Clonea came roaring out of the blocks in the second half and points from Fogarty and Eoin Walsh narrowed the gap.
A delightful pass from Eoin Madigan to pick out Dermot Dooley allowed the De La Salle College teacher to keep his side’s noses in front.
With the wind now at their backs, Clonea moved up through the gears and a point from substitute Liam Walsh and a monstrous effort from Ronan Cahill narrowed the deficit to a single point with 20 minutes to go.
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