MacKenzie Smith the saving grace

We gathered at Dr Cullen Park, a pretty little bandbox straight from the set of On Home Ground, and left wondering why the fictional television side doesn't enter the Leinster club championship. On this evidence, they would have a decent shout.

The saving grace of a provincial quarter-final ruined by too much huff and even more puff was the closing five minutes when both teams, spurred by the dismal prospect of having to meet one another again, shaped up and went for the kill.

Ultimately, Sarsfields demonstrated a truth that had glimmered through the murky play all afternoon; that when it came to the cut, they were the purer stone.

Faced with a fervently patriotic crowd and a two-point deficit after O'Hanrahan's Gavin Walker fired over after collecting a dropping ball, the Sarsfields unit took a deep breath and went about rescuing the game.

Despite the absence of talisman Niall "Nuxer" Buckley, whose place was compromised by the dual difficulty of his being hamstrung and also, allegedly, in America, the Kildare champions had the quality to advance.

As a match, the quality improved even as the sunlight dwindled and over the closing quarter of an hour, Sarsfields swept impressively upfield, only to cede to dire shooting.

That flaw was eliminated at the vital time, however, and corner back Martin Dunne benefited from the approach play of Niall Hedderman and Brian Moylan before angling over after 54 minutes.

Two minutes later, the bulky Enda Freeney was hauled down by the swarming O'Hanrahan's defence and Dermot Earley ambled up to dispatch the free from 45 metres. With the scores at 0-6 apiece, the last three minutes were of the helter-skelter variety, with Earley sweeping wide another distance free and the industrious Pa Kavanagh almost breaking through for an O'Hanrahan's assault on goal before the visitors settled the issue.

A long clearance skipped over midfield and was collected by Barry Moylan who found John Whelan. The wing-forward spotted the hulking figure of Stuart MacKenzie-Smith deep in O'Hanrhan's territory and drilled a low ball towards his man.

MacKenzie-Smith, a name that suggests Gaelic's gain was Romantic Poetry's loss, turned and shot with blistering economy and thus brought O'Hanrahan's provincial reign to an abrupt ending.

When they examine the game, last year's holders will write this off as one of their more forgettable outings. There were some fine individual efforts; Barry English excelled at corner back, Mark Carpenter had good spells in the forwards and the half-back trio were busy but overall, it was dreadfully ordinary. Indecisiveness among the forwards began to seem a preferable option when their pot-shots saw the wide tally grow. Pa Kavanagh's accuracy as a place-kicker was neutralised by his persistently falling a few yards short from frees. They had possession enough to live through the scrap.

Sarsfields will need to improve on their scoring rate if they are to advance through the semi-finals but they have a fine defence and enviable midfield.

Dermot Earley made a series of breathtaking catches around centre-field but his attempts to build on those were diligently dealt with by the O'Hanrahan's unit of Philip Nolan and Alan Bowe.

In fact, the teams just cancelled each other out for most of the afternoon. It took 15 minutes for the first score from play to emerge and as it took a 32nd minute point from Brian Walker to leave it poised at 0-2 each at half-time.

SARSFIELDS: G Slicker; N Campbell, M McIntyre, M Dunne (0-1); N Hedderman, L Sex, T Brennan; D Earley (0-1, free), A Barry; J Whelan, B Moylan, D Earley; P Brennan (0-1, free), S MacKenzie-Smith (0-3), E Freeney. Sub: M Brown (0-1) for P Brennan (16 mins inj.).

O'HANRAHANS: J Brennan; B English, A Corden, V English; W Kinsella, K Walker, K Kavanagh; P Nolan, A Bowe; G Walker (0-1), P Kavanagh (0-2, 1 free), D Bermingham (0-1), B Walker (0-1), A Kavanagh, M Carpenter (0-1). Subs: S Farrell for B Walker (42 mins), J Lennon for D Bermingham (56 mins).

Referee: J Bannon (Longford)