Impressive Ratoath march on to Leinster Final

Andy Dermody's Ratoath were outstanding in their Leinster Club IHC win over Lusmagh

Ratoath 0-22

Lusmagh 1-12

Ratoath were strong 1/3 favourites with the bookies for their Leinster Club IHC semi-final clash with Lusmagh in Birr on Saturday. On paper, it looked a lot closer than the odds suggested, but the bookies were proven right as the Meath champions, on their way to victory, made a very good Lusmagh side look quite ordinary.

There was no wide hit at either end in the first 10 minutes. Ratoath did look stronger though and after a hectic start, they held a three-point advantage. The Meath champions really seized control in the second quarter. They outscored their opponents by 0-9 to 0-1 and led by 10 points at the break.

With such a significant lead, the second half was all about game management for Ratoath, and they did that quite well. Despite the best efforts of Lusmagh and in particular, their centre-back Eimhin Kelly, Ratoath kept the scoreboard ticking over and after 45 minutes, they led by nine points.

A Lusmagh goal against the run of play gave the home supporters something to cheer about but despite manager Andy Dermody’s being handed a red card, the men in blue and yellow closed out proceedings well and booked a spot in the final of the Leinster Club IHC final against Kilkenny’s Danesfort.

After a chaotic opening five minutes, a cracking puck-out from Colm O’Riordan picked out Cian Rogers in lots of space and the 2025 Meath Hurler of the Year made no mistake with the strike to put Ratoath ahead by 0-3 to 0-2. O’Riordan’s distribution was key to Ratoath’s game plan, and in the first-half, they only lost one of their own restarts.

A well-struck free from Padraig O’Hanrahan in the ninth minute, put Ratoath 0-6 to 0-3 ahead and after a five-minute lull period, Bryan McMahon split the posts as Ratoath completely seized momentum.

Teenage sensation, Rob Hayes got on the end of a lovely pass from O’Hanrahan and increased the gap to five. The two Rogers brothers then lit up St Brendan’s Park as Cian hit another two points for himself. His brother Domhnall set up Gavin McGowan for a nice score before he also contributed to Ratoath’s tally.

Padraig O’Hanrahan finished out the half well with three points on the spin, one of which included another fantastic assist from O’Riordan and at half-time, Ratoath led 0-15 to 0-5.

Lusmagh had to respond quickly and the exploits of Eimhin Kelly helped the Offaly side make some inroads into Ratoath’s lead. The centre-back hit two points in quick succession and in the 10 minutes that followed the restart, Lusmagh outscored Ratoath by 0-4 to 0-1.

Hayes settled Ratoath with a lovely score before Gavin McGowan got on the end of two very well-worked moves and maintained Ratoath’s 10-point advantage. The two Lusmagh midfielders, Eibheann Kelly and Graham Lynch tore open Ratoath’s sturdy defence with some lovely link-up play. Lynch then set up Daire Kelly who finished to the back with 14 minutes remaining.

That was as good as it got for the Offaly Senior ‘B’ champions and the only slight blip that Ratoath experienced in the closing stages was when their manager, Andy Dermody, was giving his marching orders for an alleged altercation with the linesman.

Ratoath - Colm O'Riordan; Liam Corbett, Ben McGowan, Conor McGill; Rob Hayes (0-2), Darragh Kelly (0-1), Domhnall Rogers (0-1); Ciaran O'Hanrahan, Jack McGowan; Niall McLarnon, Daithi McGowan, Padraig O'Hanrahan (0-8 five frees); Bryan McMahon (0-1), Cian Rogers (0-6), Gavin McGowan (0-3). Subs - Tomas Corbett for L Corbett 44m, Liam Kelly for J McGowan 56m.

Lusmagh - Alan Kelly; Rory Quinlan, Andy Flynn, Ruairi Kelly; Lorcan Troy (0-1), Eimhin Kelly (0-4 three frees), Daire Temple; Eibheann Kelly, Graham Lynch (0-1); Eoin Quinlan (0-3), Darren Healy (0-1), James Kelly; Paul Kinsella (0-1 one free), David Kelly (0-1), Luke Bowe. Subs - Daire Kelly (1-0) for David Kelly 35m, Aidan Byrne for Eibheann Kelly 62m.

Referee - Rory Hanley (Dublin)