St Eunan’s hurlers continue upward trajectory with Ulster win

St Eunan’s moved into the Ulster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship semi-finals as they defeated Castleblayney in O’Donnell Park at the weekend.

Down 0-10 to 1-5 at the break, the hosts were disappointed to be behind, but they put in a terrific second-half performance to win by 2-15 to 0-16, much to the delight of captain Conor O’Grady.

“It was looking ropey enough at half-time there,” O’Grady told DonegalLive after the match.

“We played a lot of ball in the first half, but Blayney bring such intensity into the tackle and they’re so good at swarming. We were taking too much out of it and they were overturning us.

“But in the second half we wanted to move the ball quicker and get it into our inside line, the first ten minutes we got it in quick, and the boys in there really put them to the sword. Russell (Forde) caught a big ball and put it over the bar, and Peter Kelly was excellent and he’s becoming our marquee forward, but he’s taking it in his stride.

“Kevin Kealy also had a brilliant game and he just has this real athletic physique, and once he gets going, he’s hard to stop.”

St Eunan’s did respond brilliantly after the restart, hitting 1-4 in a row, starting with O’Grady leading by example with a monstrous point from his own ‘65.

He almost did the same soon after, but it dropped just short, and Kealy struck for an important goal.

“I was putting that in for him!” O’Grady quipped.

“I knew it was a dry day, and if I got one around our own ‘65, I’d be able to whip it and the first came in right then; the next dropped short and worked out well. It can be hard inside to read them, but they know what way we can deliver it, and that ten-minute period really drove us on and got us out in front to hold that lead.

“The goals were big, and this year that has been a thing for us, where we dig in when we’re down, as opposed to other years where we may have laid down, so it shows we’re well able to come from behind and do the business.”

It’s a first win in Ulster since the Junior semi-final in 2023, before they lost out to Castleblayney in the final.

They went into the Intermediate Championship last year and lost out to eventual winners Éire Óg Carrickmore, so it’s another important step in the right direction for the club, who play St Patrick’s Lisbellaw of Fermanagh in the semi-final, last year’s beaten finalists against Carrickmore.

“I know we played Blayney two years ago, but that was Junior, so it’s a different level.

“We were really focused on ourselves and getting our own game right; we aren't too concerned about who comes into our zones. We just hurl the ball in front of us, and that's standing to us rather than worrying about marquee forwards.

“We lost last year's first day out to Carrickmore, and we had that Junior run where we lost to Blayney, so it was really good to just get one under our belt, especially in O’Donnell because it’s a special place for us. It’s big for us as a group to keep pushing on, and hopefully we can deliver another performance in the semi-final.”