Eire Og Annacarty 2-13, Mullinahone 1-15.

The 13 men of Eire Og Annacarty defied the odds to snatch a dramatic victory over Mullinahone in the opening quarter-final of the County Senior Hurling Championship in Semple Stadium today. This was a victory that nobody, even the most die-hard Eire Og supporters, expected especially after a brace of first half dismissals and behind by 3 at the interval.

The opening minutes began low-key enough with Mullinahone much the better team as they led 0-03 to 0-02 after 10 minutes. Pat Aherne and a Conor O'Brien free the Eire Og scorers. The West finalists were living on scraps as they struggled to break down a water-tight Mullinahone defence, not helped by poor decision making and wayward shooting. Sean Curran stretched the Mullinahone lead further with points from play and placed balls before a pair of Seanie Ryan frees followed by a point from Kev Fox brought Eire Og back into the game with six minutes remaining to halftime with the score 0-06 to 0-05.

The closing minutes of the half brought drama when following a point from Mullinahone's AJ Cronin, Eire Og were reduced to 14r men following the dismissal of Pat Aherne. Sean Curran and Conor O'Brien swapped points before the latter's day was ended when he was dismissed 2 minutes before the break. Kev Fox closed out the first half scoring to leave 3 between the sides, 0-09 to 0-06 in favour of Mullinahone. On top of that, the South side had a 2-men advantage.

The second half with a Donal O'Dwyer point from the first attack. However Mullinahone quickly replied with a brace of Sean Curran points to stretch their advantage. With 2 extra players on the field, Mullinahone would expect to push on as they were well in control of their own puck-out denying Eire Og primary ball. But the West side weren't going to give up without a fight, and this was proved in the 37th minute when  when Kev Fox powered through the heart of the Mullinahone rearguard to stun goalie Alan Walsh with a powerful shot into the net. Eire Og came to life at this score to leave the margin at one point. However Mullinahone hit back with a goal of their own, Kevin Walzer rounding Daragh Mooney to finish from close range in the 43rd minute.

Lesser teams in this situation would've thrown in the towel but such talk isn't in the vocabulary of Eire Og Annacarty, as inspired by the likes of Eoin Bradshaw, Diarmaid Ryan and in particular the Fox brothers, Brian and Kev, they came to life in the final quarter. Brian Fox (2), Seanie Ryan (free) and Stephen O'Brien had points to leave the margin at the minimum with 5 minutes remaining. Next came the decisive score, when a dropping ball caused panic in the Mullinahone rearguard, resulting in Brian Fox popping up to scramble the ball into the net. The teams were now level and then for the first time in the game, Eire Og hit the front through a brace of Seanie Ryan frees. Sean Curran pulled a point back, as the game went into injury time. Mullinahone could not breach the heroic Eire Og rearguard to either force extra-time or gain victory. Wild celebrations ensued amongst Eire Og players, mentors and supporters when referee Johnny Ryan blew full-time. Eire Og Annacarty had defied the odds to emerge one point winners and into the County semi-finals and one step away from the County Final.

Every Eire Og player was heroic from goalie Daragh Mooney to the subs that came in. They showed their battling prowess in abundance and plenty of hurling ability to boot. Especially when short the likes of Tom Fox through injury. Standing out in particular were Diarmaid Ryan, Eoin Bradshaw, Stephen O'Brien, Brian and Kev Fox amongst a team of many heroes. 

Eire Og Annacarty: Daragh Mooney, Diarmaid Ryan, Eoin Bradshaw, Dan Hogan, Stephen O'Brien (0-1), Paidi O'Dwyer, Brian Fox (1-2), Conor O'Brien (0-2, 1 free), Michael O'Brien, Pat Aherne (0-1), Kev Fox (1-2), Ronan O'Brien, Seanie Ryan (0-4, frees), Donal O'Dwyer (0-1), Dinny Crosse. Subs used: Conor Bradshaw for Michael O'Brien, Michael Buckley for Ronan O'Brien, Willie O'Neill for Dinny Crosse.