Suspension and injury worries for Ballyhale Shamrocks ahead of Clough Ballacolla Leinster final

Laois senior hurling champions Clough-Ballacolla now know who they will face in the Leinster club senior hurling final on Sunday after Kilkenny kingpins Ballyhale Shamrocks had lady luck on their side as they came through a massive battle with Offaly side St Rynagh's on Sunday to win 3-24 to 2-18 after extra time.

St Rynagh's were in the ascendency coming down the final stretch and led by three points before a last gasp goal with almost the last puck of normal time gave Ballyhale a lifeline and forced extra time.

The Kilkenny men powered through extra time and won in the end by nine points but it may prove to be a costly outing for them. Wing forward Joe Cuddihy picked up a straight red card in the opening half meaning they played 35 odd minutes of the game with 14 men before being restored to their full compliment for extra time.

Clough Ballacolla through to Croke Park Leinster final after heroic display

LEINSTER CLUB SENIOR HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINAL

While they will likely appeal his card for what was a rash and high challenge on St Rynagh's wing back Matthew Maloney, as things stand, he will miss the Leinster final through suspension.

Then in extra time, Captain and ace marksman Colin Fennelly was forced off with what looked like a shoulder injury. While Fennelly didn't look in too much discomfort coming off the field, they only have six full days to recover the body after the bruising affair that also saw full back Joey Holden go down with cramp.

They outscored St Rynagh's by five points to one in the first period of extra time, six points to one in the second period but the final scoreline in no way represented what happened in this game. It was an extraordinary, drama packed game that provided fantastic entertainment for the large crowd. It was absolutely enthralling and St Rynagh's were in very hard luck not to win. They were the better team in normal time and really should have won.

THE SCORERS

Ballyhale Shamrocks: Eoin Cody 2-2, TJ Reid 0-7 (5f), Adrian Mullen 0-5, Colin Fennelly 1-0, Brian Cody 0-3, Evan Shefflin and Ronan Corcoran 0-2 each, Darragh Corcoran, Eoin Reid and Eoin Kennealy 0-1 each.

St Rynagh's: Luke O'Connor 1-8 (6f), Ronan Hughes 1-2, Paul Quirke 0-4, Aidan Treacy 0-3 (2f), Stephen Quirke 0-1.

THE TEAMS

BALLYHALE SHAMROCKS: Dean Mason; Kevin Mullen, Joey Holden, Brian Butler; Evan Shefflin, Richie Reid, Darragh Corcoran; Ronan Corcoran, Brian Cody; Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, Joe Cuddihy; Eoin Kennealy, Colin Fennelly, Eoin Cody. Subs – Patrick Mullen for Kennealy (49m), Darragh Mullen for Butler (52m), Eoin Kennealy for Fennelly (61m), Conor Phelan for Shefflin (70m).

ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Conor Hernon, Pat Camon, Stephen Wynne; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Dermot Shortt; Joseph O'Connor, Aidan Treacy; Paul Quirke, Simon Og Lyons, Garry Conneely; Luke O'Connor, Sean Dolan, Stephen Quirke. Subs – Ronan Hughes for Camon, inj. (3m), Aaron Kenny for Garry Conneely (40m), Ciaran Flannery for Stephen Quirke (60 +2m), Stephen Quirke for Flannery (start of extra time), Ciaran Flannery for Stephen Quirke (68m), Niall Wynne for Kenny (68m), Brian Rigney for Lyons (75m).

Referee – Chris Mooney (Dublin).

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