Fr Dalton's defeat Clonkill to reach third county decider on the trot

Slevin's Coaches Westmeath IHC Semi-Final Fr Dalton's 1-10 Clonkill 1-5 Fr Dalton's are through to their third intermediate hurling final in three years, after a second half strike from Kieran Martin put paid to the march of Clonkill's ambitious 'B' side at Cusack Park on Saturday last. After perennially knocking on the door of Westmeath hurling's top tier since the club was reformed in 2008, manager Joe Mackey and his charges will hope that 2012 is their year. Boasting a loyal and vocal entourage from Ballymore and surrounding areas, Dalton's - who were heavily reliant on frees from Colum Mackey - will, however, need to call on a lot more against Crookedwood in the forthcoming decider. The standard of hurling on show in Saturday's first semi-final was fairly poor, and Fr Dalton's trailed 1-3 to 0-5 at half-time against a fancied Clonkill, who rarely showed any of the promise displayed in earlier championship ties. It took Martin's 46th minute effort to settle matters, ending Clonkill's bid for a clean sweep of the county's hurling championships. The Loughegar men - sporting The Downs' black and amber, due to a colour clash with Fr Dalton's (who wore white) - got off to the ideal start after 30 seconds, when veteran Larry Donoghue cut through a porous Dalton's defence to fire to the net from ten metres. In an uninspiring first quarter, Fr Dalton's clawed their way back to parity, with points from Joe Kenny and Enda Kincaid (two, the first from a free) levelling matters by the 11th minute. Donoghue fired Clonkill in front with two masterful '65s' either side of Kieran Martin's first score for Fr Dalton's, and in the meantime, the Ballymore side's marquee free taker, Colum Mackey, missed a couple of dead ball efforts from distance. On 23 minutes, Mackey finally restored parity with a successful 50-metre free. Shortly before the break, the upright prevented Robert English from notching up his first point, and handing Dalton's their first lead. They were punished for this and other missed opportunities when Luke McGrath shot a fine point in injury time to give Clonkill's the slenderest of half-time leads. Without Fr Dalton's ever impressing, the Loughegar side's fortunes took a turn for the worse after the restart, and they added just two points to their first half tally. The Ballymore men, meanwhile, did the necessary, with Colum Mackey tagging on two frees to put them a point ahead. As Fr Dalton's heaped pressure on Clonkill, Enda Kincaid had a gilt-edged chance to find the net on 45 minutes. But after showing great concentration to latch onto a flighted ball, he drove his shot well wide of Brian Murray's net. Kincaid and co didn't have long to wait for the breakthrough though, and a minute later, Murray did well to save a shot from Kieran Martin, only to watch Martin smack down the high rebound with his hurl to give Fr Dalton's a 1-7 to 1-3 advantage. Martin's goal came at the right time, and without it, a point from Clonkill's Liam Farrell on 53 minutes would have restored parity, giving the Loughegar men a psychological edge. Instead, Mackey cancelled out Farrell's effort with another free, and Fr Dalton's were firmly in the driving seat. Substitute Mick Maloney went close to applying the coup de grace on 56, but two further frees from Mackey ensured a five-point win for Dalton's, with Clonkill's only answer a superb stoppage time score from Sean Loughlin. Scorers Fr Dalton's: K Martin 1-1, C Mackey 0-6 (6 frees), E Kincaid 0-2 (1f), J Kenny 0-1. Clonkill: L Donoghue 1-2 (0-2 '65s'), L McGrath, L Farrell and S Loughlin 0-1 each. Fr Dalton's Brian McCabe; Christy Maloney, Fergus Shaw, Donal Glynn; Andy Fox, John Gilligan, Jack O'Kelly Lynch; Colum Mackey, Trevor English; Kieran Martin, Robert English, Enda Kincaid; Joe Kenny, Pat Hickey, Robert Dillon. Subs used: Mick Maloney for Dillon (51), Sam Whooley for Hickey (56). Clonkill Brian Murray; Ciaran Morrison, Finbar Thompson, David O'Reilly; Enda Morrison, Daniel Sheridan, Sean Loughlin; Liam Farrell, Dylan O'Regan; Luke McGrath, Larry Donoghue, Paul Farrell; Philip Dowdall, Fergal Fagan, Paul Poynton. Subs used: Ciaran Crentsil for P Farrell (40), Mark Scally for Fagan (40), Niall Folan for E Morrison (40), Mickey Heffernan for Poynton (50), Conor Thompson for O'Regan (53). Referee Barry Kelly (St Oliver Plunkett's).