A Round-Up of weekends Go-Ahead Irelands Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship

The Go-Ahead Ireland Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship commenced on Saturday evening with Naomh Olaf getting their campaign off to a winning start when overcoming Setanta by 2-21 to 1-13 in Poppintree. 

The visitors seized the initiative through a first-half penalty from Eoin Foley and put further distance between the teams after the break as Sean Bourke also found the net. 

Dónal Leavy chipped in with a brace of points for a Naomh Olaf side that maintained control of events through the impressive individual displays of Daragh O’Brien, Cian O’Connor, Finn Murphy and Tom McGuirk. 

In Broomfield, St Sylvester’s pulled away in the second-half as they got the better of Naomh Fionnbarra by 1-21 to 1-15. 

There was only a point to separate the teams at half-time with a Killian O’Flynn goal at the start of the final quarter handing the hosts the initiative. 

Finbarrs struck back through a goal by Conor Carberry with Tommy O’Neill accruing eight points over the hour while Cian Peppard Leonard showed well at full-back for the visitors. 

However, they were powerless in preventing Syls from claiming the win with Cian Whitney proving a handful throughout as he finished the contest with 0-16 to his name. 

There was another home win in Rathcoole as Commercials were pushed all the way before accounting for a battling St Vincent’s by 0-24 to 2-15. 

The contest went right down to the wire as the hosts were indebted to brothers Callun Morris, Jack Morris and Tadhg Morris in keeping matters tight at the back while Dublin senior Diarmuid Ó Dúlaing kept their scoreboard ticking over with 0-8 (5f). 

Adam Drewett was another to shine for Commercials as he clipped over five points from play and with the match on a knife-edge, Daniel O’Kelly popped up with three critical scores in the final quarter to lead his team home with three points to spare. 

In Shanganagh Park, Cuala struck goals at crucial times on their way to an ultimately comfortable 5-22 to 2-13 victory against O’Toole’s. 

The foundation for their dominance lay in their strong midfield pairing of Liam Ryan and Adam Sheerin with goalkeeper Cormac Quinn and full-back Eoin O’Carroll excelling in a defensive capacity for the hosts. 

Simon Timlin chipped in with three points from wing-back as the contest evolved as Cuala pulled away by the final whistle courtesy of the healthy scoring returns of Paddy Egan, Cillian Dockery and Colum Sheanon.    

Go-Ahead Ireland Premier IHC: St Sylvester’s 1-21 Naomh Fionnbarra 1-15; Setanta 1-13 Naomh Olaf 2-21; Commercials 0-24 St Vincent’s 2-15; Cuala 5-22 O’Toole’s 2-13.