Tulla make early gains

Tulla 4-16 Lixnaw 2-6:Kerry's 45th attempt to win a game in the Munster club hurling championship ended in disappointment before 1,615 spectators at Lixnaw yesterday afternoon.

The Kerry champions, trained by former Offaly manager Eamonn Cregan, were well beaten by Clare champions Tulla, who were by far the slicker side.

Lixnaw had to line out without Michael Conway, who broke his wrist last weekend, and also had to leave county footballer Paul Galvin on the bench until the second half because of a slight knock.

Lixnaw needed a good start but it was Tulla who exploded into action.

They struck for three goals inside the opening 10 minutes as the result of Lixnaw's defensive errors.

The opening goal came in just 23 seconds when a long ball from Brian Lynch saw Mike Cronin slip as he was about to gather and Aidan Lynch stroked the ball to an empty net. Lynch followed up with a quick point and despite two James Flaherty frees and a point from play by Stephen Power, it was obvious Tulla were quicker to the ball.

Setback number two for the home side came in the sixth minute when a long delivery from Declan Murphy saw goalkeeper Martin Stackpoole and Cronin fail to deal with the situation, leaving full forward Kieran Brosnan with the simple task of rolling the ball into the net.

Then in the 10th minute the home crowd watched on in total dismay as a goalkeeping error led to Brennan being gifted another goal. At 3-1 to 0-3, the game was over as a contest.

The Tulla half back line of Paul Lynch, Mark Quinn and Cian McInerney were magnificent while Brian Lynch and Conor O'Halloran ruled the roost at midfield where Eamon Fitzmaurice was struggling, having just flown in a couple of hours before the game from his honeymoon.

James Flaherty, Lixnaw's only scoring threat in the absence of Conway, scored a brilliant 18th-minute goal but that was it for the first period, as Tulla took over with corner forward Aidan Lynch plundering some superb scores to end the half with 1-5 as to leave his side leading by 3-9 to 1-4.

Lixnaw introduced the Galvin brothers, Paul and Ray, early in the second half but despite Paul making some useful bursts , Tulla had his measure and Aidan Lynch added three more points. Brian Quinn, Paul Lynch, and subs Alan Leamy and Cathal Dinan added points from play.

Enda Galvin got a late consolation goal for Lixnaw while Danny O'Halloran scored another goal for Tulla, who will now face the Waterford champions Ballyduff Upper at home in the semi-final.

TULLA: P Brennan; E Cooney, S Torpey, J Brennan; P Lynch (0-1), M Quinn, C McInerney; B Lynch (0-2), C O'Halloran; B Quinn (0-1), M Murphy (0-1), D O'Halloran (1-1); D Murphy, K Brennan (2-0), A Lynch (1-8, 0-3 frees). Subs: C Dinan (0-1) for A Lynch, A Leamy (0-1) for B Quinn, B Quinlivan for M Murphy.

LIXNAW: M Stackpoole; M Cronin, P Dowling, P Corridan; M Quilter, T McKenna, M Corridan; E Fitzmaurice, J Griffin; P Lyons, E Galvin (1-0), K Dowling (0-1); C Fitzmaurice, S Power (0-1), J Flaherty (1-4, 0-1 frees). Subs: D McCarthy for M Cronin, P Galvin for P Lyons, R Galvin for C Fitzmaurice, F Fitzmaurice for E Fitzmaurice, T Brosnan for R Galvin.

Referee: John Sexton (Limerick).