Commercials exit Leinster Championship with defeat to Danesfort

COMMERCIALS 0-10

DANESFORT 1-19

It proved a disappointing day for Commercials as they succumbed to Danesfort by twelve points in their AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final at UPMC Nowlan Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Dublin champions failed to produce their best form against a powerful home team but they have plenty to build on for next year following their promotions to SHC2 and AHL2.   

The bulk of the damage was done by the interval as they trailed by 1-10 to 0-4 with an early Fionn Mahony goal just reward for Danesfort’s bright opening.

Despite holding their opponents scoreless for an eighteen-minute period after the break, Commercials could not close the gap sufficiently to unduly trouble Danesfort with a flurry of late points from the hosts failing to reflect the improved efforts of the Rathcoole outfit.

The hosts began on the front foot through early points from Des Dunne and Anthony Ireland Wall before Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing opened the Commercials account with an excellent 4th minute score.

Any positivity that score might have generated was nullified two minutes later as Mahony raced through down the left flank and placed an accurate finish past Shane Clohessy from ten yards.

Colm Phelan and Cathal O’Neill put further distance between the teams as the contest evolved while a Mahony point left the visitors facing a seven-point deficit by the end of the first quarter.

Conor Cleary ended a barren period of sixteen minutes when he popped over Commercials’ second score and a 23rd minute Ó Dúlaing free offered further crumbs of optimism to the away side.

The latter clipped over his third point of the half soon after but Danesfort finished the half in the ascendancy as Mahony and Daire O’Neill pointed to leave Commercials facing an uphill task in the second-half.

That gradient became even steeper in the early stages of the restart as Cathal Kearney (free) and Ireland Wall added to the home tally.

While Rhys Butler replied at the opposite end, it proved an isolated moment of encouragement for the visitors as they fell further behind following points by Mahony and Dan Dowling.

Ó Dúlaing converted two frees either side of the three-quarter mark as Commercials continued to battle away and the Dublin attacker came close to netting but fired just wide of the upright with ten minutes remaining.

Danesfort rode their luck at times at the back but were deserving winners as Robbie Walsh, Cathal O’Neill, Daire O’Neill and Ireland Wall all added late points by the final whistle.    

Scorers – Commercials: D Ó Dúlaing 0-7 (4f); C Cleary, R Butler, D Simpson 0-1 apiece.  Danesfort: F Mahony 1-3; A Ireland Wall 0-4 (2f); R Walsh, C Phelan, C O’Neill, D O’Neill 0-2 each; D Dunne, S Hayes, C Kearney (f), D Dowling 0-1 apiece.

Commercials: S Clohessy; N Lawless, K Butler, M O’Keeffe; C McCarthy, C Morris, T Morris; R Butler, C Cleary; F Ó Nualláin, D Ó Dúlaing, D O’Kelly; S McCarthy, A Drewett, J Flanagan. Subs: J O’Keeffe for S McCarthy (40), D Simpson for Flanagan (40), A McGarr for C McCarthy (57), C Ó Luasa for Cleary (58), J Morris for T Morris (60).

Danesfort: P Hogan; A Byrne, D Phelan, D Coverdale; D Dunne, P Murphy, D O’Neill; C Kearney, C O’Neill; R Walsh, D Dowling, S Hayes; A Ireland Wall, C Phelan, F Mahony. Subs: A Cowley for C Phelan (53), P Mullen for Dowling (56), C Condon for Byrne (63), S Doheny for Dunne (63).

Referee: James McGrath (Westmeath).