St. Mary’s booked their place in the South U21A Hurling Championship decider with a relatively easy win over Ballingarry on Saturday afternoon in Fethard.

This game was well and truly in the melting pot at half-time as the sides were separated by only three points with Marys’ goal coming in fortuitous enough fashion as Ballingarry fought well with a talented group of Clonmel hurlers; many of whom played in the recent U19A county final.

However, the second half was a disappointing affair. Another sloppy long-range goal from a free dropped into the Ballingarry net within two minutes of the restart, which seemed to floor the Ballingarry morale, with Mary’s taking control thereafter.

The game started slowly, with frees being the main source of scores early on, particularly in Ballingarry’s case, as Diarmuid Ryan hit their first four points from placed balls in the opening quarter.

St. Mary’s had young Aaron Cagney on the frees and he had three of the first five Mary’s points accounted for with placed balls in that time, while Dean Cagney and Peter McGarry (2) found their range early doors to give the Clonmel hurlers a 0-6 to 0-5 lead after 15 minutes of play.

McGarry had half a goal chance with his second point in the 14th minute but a poor first touch closed the door for him, but he was looking dangerous and his third point came sandwiched in between two Ballingarry frees - one each from Diarmuid Ryan and Simon Blackmore - as the men in maroon were living off frees and keeping the game close.

Thomas Charles banged over his first point for Mary’s in the 19th minute to open up a three-point lead for his side. Still, it was level-pegging just a minute later when Thomas Walton picked up a ball on the St. Mary’s 21-yard line, burst through a tackle and despite the attentions of Charles behind him, he lamped the ball high to the back of the net past Cian Corcoran. Draw game.

That was a score that sprung the game out of its stasis and Mary’s responded well to that major as Jamie O’Keefe fired over a fine effort before they were gifted a three-pointer a couple of minutes later; a long ball from Ross Slattery deceiving Ballingarry keeper Sean Ryan to drop clean into the back of the net. Mary’s ahead now 1-9 to 1-5.

The scores were coming easier for Mary’s as 1-8 of their 1-11 total came from play, in stark contrast to Ballingarry who got all of their points from placed balls as they narrowed the gap to three at half-time thanks to three more Diarmuid Ryan points. Marys ahead 1-11 to 1-8 at the interval.

It was still all to play for despite St. Mary’s doing more of the hurling but the Ballingarry challenge took a major hit just 90 seconds after the restart, when Aaron Cagney’s long-range free fell short into the square and with Joe Higgins obstructing the ball, it dropped again into the back of the net.

From here, Mary’s went into the ascendancy, and after Diarmuid Ryan scored another free in the 36th minute, it would be 14 minutes before they would score again - Marys scoring eight points in that time with Ruairi Leahy springing from the bench to point along with Oisin Forristal, and Ross Slattery who now had 1-1 scored from full-back!

The level of conditioning on the Mary’s side was apparent now and with the substitutions making an impact they sprinted for home as Shane Ryan added two fine points off the bench late on to secure the win.

To Ballingarry’s credit, they stayed pouring forward and they were rewarded late on when the boundless Tommy McGrath broke onto a loose ball in behind the Mary’s defence and proceeded to bury a brilliant effort to the back of the net to put some respectability on the score line but in the end, it was the Clonmel side who march onto the decider where they will face Carrick Swans.

St. Marys: Cian Corcoran; Mark Corcoran, Ross Slattery (1-1), Eoghan Walsh; Daragh O’Connor, David McSweeney, Tadgh Sheehan; Thomas Charles (0-1), Jamie O’Keefe (0-1); Niall Deely (0-1), Dean Cagney (0-1), Joe Higgins (0-1); Oisin Forristal (0-1), Peter McGarry (0-4), Aaron Cagney (1-7, 1-6f).

Subs used: Ruairi Leahy (0-1) for Deely (41); Darragh Landers for McSweeney (44); Shane Ryan (0-2) for A Cagney (48); Alex Creed for Forristal (55); James Power for Charles (55).

Ballingarry: Sean Ryan; Lee Cleere, Micheal Ryan, Bill Cahill; Kieran Murray, Tommy Blackmore, Simon Blackmore (0-1f); Darragh Pollard, Thomas Walton (1-0); Cian McCormack (0-1), Ben Ruttle, Tommy McGrath (1-0); Adam O’Connell, Diarmuid Ryan (0-10, 0-9f, 0-1 65), Ben Ivors.

Subs used: Tadgh O’Brien for Murray (49); Michael Kerwick for McCormack (56).

Referee: Nigel Carrigan (Ballybacon Grange)

Match report by Enda Treacy.