Belmont stand up and show character to survive fierce Birr second half fight back

JUST when it was looking like their old second half demons were returning to haunt them, Belmont stood up like men, dug deep and showed real character advance to a semi-final meeting with Ballinamere in the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship at O'Connor Park on Sunday afternoon.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final

Belmont 0-20

Birr 0-18

It was heart attack stuff at times in the second half when Belmont looked to be doing their utmost to throw another game away but they did really well to find a way to win it in the closing ten minutes.

0-12 to 0-5 up and in total control at half time, Belmont were tested to the maximum by a rejuvenated Birr in the second half. They went a point behind, 0-16 to 0-15 after fifty minutes and were staring another devastating, soul destroying defeat in the face.

Belmont had earned a reputation as a real first half team in this championship. They got into a winning position at half time in their group games against Shinrone and Ballinamere, ending up losing on both occasions. It looked like history was going to repeat itself here but Belmont somehow managed to find their composure again in the red hot heat of a winner takes all quarter-final and they deserve huge credit for the way they won it.

For 20 second half minutes, it looked like Belmont were going to beat themselves as they conceded way too many frees, a few of them very avoidable and with an ace marksman in Eoghan Cahill on the Birr team, they might as well have thrown the ball over their own bar. They missed a few fairly straightforward chances themselves and there was a few minutes when their hurling bordered on the calamitious as they made some basic mistakes, giving the ball away and their first touch deserting them.

Belmont certainly don't do things the easy way but that is not down to any big moral failure or deficiency in character. No group of player has suffered as many devastating heartbreaking defeats as the hurlers and footballers in Belmont and Ferbane in recent years, yet they keep coming back, hunting the double with ravenous intent every year. This all consuming desire got them across the line here and Belmont finished with all guns blazing as they got five of the last seven points for an ultimately deserved win.

After a quite horrific first half display, Birr had turned things around with a really good second half. They were too reliant on Eoghan Cahill frees and found it too difficult to get scores in open play but their intensity levels got up to championship level and they did very well to get into a winning position with the end line in sight. They couldn't sustain that level of intensity as Belmont drew a second breath but Birr's second half display and the fighting spirit they showed rescued this game from the doldrums.

When Brendan Murphy pointed to put Birr 0-16 to 0-15 ahead in the 50th minute, Belmont were in severe peril but despite their misses and unforced errors, they battled all the harder for everything and it got them a place in the semi-final.

David Nally came good late on. Arguably Belmont's most gifted hurler and certainly their most important and most consistent performer, there has been occasional questions about his ability to deliver when the pressure comes on in the closing stages of big games but he gave two fingers to the people asking them here. He levelled up with a crucial point from play in the 52nd minute and edged them in front with a 53rd minute free.

Those scores were huge momentum changers, even though Belmont continued to make life hard for themselves. Mark Egan missed an easy chance and a half hit sideline ended with a free that Eoghan Cahill slotted over for the equaliser in the 57th minute.

Conor Grennan got a fantastic point from out on the right to edge Belmont back in front and Nally fired over another point from play as it edged into injury time. Paddy Clancy had a wide from a position that he would normally score before Cahill's 61st minute free left a point in it and two more minutes plus of injury time to be played.

Belmont controlled the last couple of minutes very well and Clancy eased their nerves with a great free from way out right to give them a two point lead in the 63rd minute and leaving Birr needing a goal to survive.

The first half was a very scrappy, disjointed affair and did little for spectators. The first ten minutes was particularly poor and the sides were level at 0-2 each after 13 minutes. Birr were positively awful in the first half and got very little going. They only managed five points and only one of these was from play. Belmont improved considerably in the second quarter, dominating every sector. The scores began to flow over from a variety of sources and they were full value for their 0-12 to 0-5 half time lead.

Birr had three subs introduced by the start of the second half and they were an entirely different team. You would imagine that their half time dressing room was no place for sensitive players but whatever was said, it had a positive impact and from the throw in, you could see that Birr had a much better attitude.

They worked harder and played much more hurling with Brendan Murphy and Eoghan Cahill getting them going with quick scores. Birr were the better team early on but Belmont managed to match their three points and still held a seven point gap, 0-15 to 0-8 after 36 minutes.

Belmont didn't score from the 36th to the 52nd minutes and it almost unravelled for them in this spell. Birr played very well and scored eight points without reply to take that 0-16 to 0-15 lead. The problem for Birr, however, was that five of those eight points were from Cahill frees – Belmont fouled too much but they forced Birr to work so hard for scores from play and it eventually sapped their energy.

They did manage three in a row from play through Luke Nolan, Emmet Nolan and Brendan Murphy from the 47th to 50th minute but it says something about their forward struggles that Brendan Murphy was taken off immediately after his excellent under pressure strike – presumably the slip had been ready to go before it -, Luke Nolan went in the 56th minute and Emmet Nolan only came on at half time.

However, the fact that they were finally scoring from play was a huge positive for them. A couple of points in the 47th and 49th minutes suggested that they would win. Luke Nolan's and Emmet Nolan's points came immediately after poor misses by Oisin Kelly – one of the most talented hurlers in Offaly, Kelly is trying very hard but it hasn't happened for him yet this season and it probably won't happen for Belmont either in the coming weeks unless he can produce the hurling he has in his locker.

Those two points got Birr on level terms and just when it was looking like being one of those days for Belmont, they stood up all over the field and an excellent, powerful late surge put them into yet another semi-final. And when Birr engage in their necessary post morten on a disappointing season in the coming weeks, all the reasons for their defeat can be found in the first half here and not the second.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Leon Fox (Belmont): Belmont had several players who played really well. David Nally and midfielders Patrick Taaffe and Ronan Flynn were instrumental in them winning – Nally got them across the line, Flynn, who is having an excellent year, did a lot of very good hurling and Taaffe also contributed powerfully.

Paddy Clancy had a great first half in an attack where Belmont had a few struggling playyers and we go back for the selection. The defence did commit too many fouls and Leon Fox was by no means innocent in this regard but he showed terrific leadership qualities, winning crucial ball and clearing it when Belmont were crying out for inspiration. Strong in the air, strong on the ground and strong on the ball, he had a big influence on Belmont making the final.

Eoghan Cahill was the single biggest reason Birr were so close to making the final, while Ben Miller did a lot of very good tidying up at the back and Joe Ryan worked very hard in midfield but one point from play in the first half and six in all won't win senior championships.

THE SCORERS

Belmont: David Nally 0-10 (6f), Paddy Clancy 0-3, Ronan Flynn 0-2, Jack Clancy, David Kelly, Colin Egan, Oisin Kelly and Conor Grennan 0-1 each.

Birr: Eoghan Cahill 0-13 (11f and one sideline), Brendan Murphy 0-2, Ailbe Watkins, Luke Nolan and Emmet Nolan 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

BELMONT: Damien Egan; Arron McCabe, Ciaran Cahill, Darragh Flynn; Patrick Taaffe, Leon Fox, Jack Clancy; Ronan McEvoy, Ronan Flynn; Paddy Clancy, David Nally, David Kelly; Colin Egan, Oisin Kelly, Brian Carroll. Subs – Adam Nugent for Colin Egan (47m), Mark Egan for David Kelly (47m), Conor Grennan for McEvoy, inj. (51m), Conor Dunican for Carroll (59m).

BIRR: Adam Fitzgerald; Jimmy Irwin, Cormac Kenny, Sean Ryan; Ben Miller, Padraic Watkins, Colm Mulrooney; Joe Ryan, Brendan Murphy; Barry Harding, Luke Nolan, Eoghan Cahill; Morgan Watkins, Ailbe Watkins, Darragh Tierney . Subs – Ian Kerin for Tierney (28m), Emmet Nolan for Harding (HT), Campbell Boyd for Irwin (HT), Niall Lyons for Murphy (50m), Lochlann Quinn for Luke Nolan (56m).

Referee – Brian Gavin, Clara.

REFEREE WATCH

Brian Gavin's fast experience and understanding of hurling shone through in the way he handled it. Birr did get a lot of frees in the second half and a couple looked soft but Belmont were certainly guilty of some very careless fouling and brought a lot of this on themselves.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Conor Grennan's 58th minute point was a huge score. A son of one of a great 1990s Offaly footballer, Sean Grennan, he showed inaccurate forwards the way when arrowing over a great point from the left wing. It gave Belmont a lead that they never lost and was a big factor in them winning.

VENUE WATCH

This was the first senior hurling game of the year in O'Connor Park and as you would expect, there were no issues.

WHAT'S NEXT

Belmont go into the semi-final against Ballinamere.

STATISTICS

Wides: Birr - 8 (6 in first half); Belmont – 10n (6 in first half).

Yellow cards: Belmont – 1 (Colin Egan); Birr – 2 (Ian Kerin, Joe Ryan).

Red cards: 0