Conroy and Delaney star as Slieve Bloom book Laois GAA IHC semi-final berth

Slieve Bloom booked their place in the semi-finals of this year’s Laois Shopping Centre Intermediate Hurling Championship on Saturday evening after seeing off Borris-Kilcotton’s second string in Trumera GAA.

Their reward is a last-four meeting with Clonad, opponents they’ve already faced in this year's championship. On that day, it was Clonad who came out on top, so Slieve Bloom will be eager to turn the tables when the sides meet again.

Borris-Kilcotton faced into a strong breeze during the opening half, with the wind blowing straight down the pitch.

Ben Conroy was the standout performer for the victors throughout, finishing with an impressive personal tally of 14 points. It was Conroy who opened the scoring with a free in the early stages.

Emmet Jones replied from a placed ball before Slieve Bloom hit a quick burst of 1-2 in the space of two minutes. Enda Conroy and Ben Conroy (free) tagged on points, while Fergal Burke sent Martin Delaney through on goal, and he turned sharply before firing to the net.

Jones and Ben Conroy then swapped scores from play, with Jones adding another free shortly after. Jake Collins and David Ryan also raised white flags, the latter providing Borris-Kilcotton’s final score of the half.

From there, Slieve Bloom moved into overdrive, rattling off seven unanswered points before the interval. Ben Conroy hit four in succession, one from a placed ball, while Darragh Delaney and Kelvin Burke chipped in with scores of their own. Conroy capped the half with another free to leave Slieve Bloom in complete control at the break, 1-12 to 0-4 ahead.

Borris-Kilcotton had the first chance of the restart but Gavin Conroy superbly stopped Jones’ effort, though he did point the resulting 65. Ben Conroy answered back with another free, before centre-back Ciaran Coss slotted at the opposite end.

Still trailing by ten, Borris-Kilcotton briefly found a spell of dominance but couldn’t make it count, hitting six wides in a row. They finally managed to notch back-to-back points, one from a Jones free and the other through David Scott.

Ben Conroy and Oisín Fleming swapped efforts before Slieve Bloom sealed the result with a late burst. Conroy landed his 14th of the evening, while Martin Delaney rattled home his second goal, adding to his earlier strike.

Jones tested Gavin Conroy again, but was denied; the Slieve Bloom keeper turned it over for a point via the 65. Another fine save from Conroy minutes later led to another placed ball, which Jones converted, but the Borris-Kilcotton man could not find the net.

Conroy stood tall once more in the dying moments, determined to protect his clean sheet, and his saves ensured a comfortable 12-point victory. Slieve Bloom will now face Clonad in two weeks, with a county final place at stake.

FINAL SCORE

Slieve Bloom 2-18

Borris-Kilcotton 0-12

SCORERS— Slieve Bloom: Ben Conroy 0-14 (0-5 frees), Martin Delaney 2-0, Enda Conroy, Jake Collins, Darragh Delaney, Kelvin Burke 0-1 each. Borris-Kilcotton: Emmet Jones 0-8(0-5 frees, 0-2 65’s), David Ryan, Oisín Fleming, David Scott, Ciaran Coss 0-1 each. 

SLIEVE BLOOM: Gavin Conroy; Rory Power, Shane Farrell, Dylan Collins; Tom Delaney, Evan Power, Gearoid Lowry; Fergal Burke, Darragh Delaney; Kelvin Burke, Ben Conroy, Ben Shore; Enda Conroy, Martin Delaney, Jake Collins. Subs: James Delaney for Martin Delaney and Damien Dowling for Shore (Both 57 mins), Tadgh Drea for J Collins (60 mins)

BORRIS-KILCOTTON: Michael Grehan; Noel Delaney, Keilan Kelly, Cillian O’Riordan; William Campion, Ciaran Coss, Jim Fitzpatrick; David Scott, Daire Fogarty; Daniel Fitzpatrick, Evan Carey, Oisín Fleming; Kyle Abraham, David Ryan, Emmet Jones. Subs: Seamus Costigan for O’Riordan (25 mins, inj), Daire Quinlan for Fogarty (HT).

Referee: Jamie McDonald (Rosenallis)