Ahascragh/Fohenagh ready to put best foot forward in club’s biggest ever game

THE hurlers of Ahascragh/Fohenagh will make their bid for GAA immortality as they bid to become the first ever Galway club to win the All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title when they face Kilkenny champions Carrickshock in Croke Park on Saturday (4:45pm).

Ahascragh/Fohenagh’s semi-final win over a fancied Lismore outfit has certainly garnered the attention of many inside and outside the county – not least in Carrickshock – and they will have to produce another high-octane display if they are to do what no other Galway club has done before.

For this is another huge challenge for the Galway intermediate champions, underlined by the fact that Carrickshock boast of five players – Michael Rice, John Tennyson, John Dalton and Richie and John Power – who have 26 All-Ireland senior medals won with Kilkenny between them.

The quality of opposition is not lost on Ahascragh/Fohenagh manager Willie Dilleen. “It is an uphill task. That is probably how you would see it. We are playing a top Kilkenny team who are playing intermediate hurling and they are facing an up-and-coming Ahascragh/Fohenagh team just up from the intermediate ranks.”

That said, this is a Cup final and in a Cup final anything can happen. Dilleen agrees. “Yeah, a Cup final is probably the best way to describe it. You would be hoping we would put in a right good display and that we will be there or thereabouts after 60 minutes. We know the big names that they have but hopefully we will perform on the day.”

This side of the country, Ahascragh/Fohenagh’s run to the All-Ireland final has been well-documented. For Carrickshock’s part, they defeated Lisdowney (1-20 to 0-8) in the Kilkenny quarter-final before squeezing by championship favourites Tullaroan (1-18 to 1-17) in the semi-final.

They subsequently accounted for Tullogher Rosbercon on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-6 in the county final and later dispatched of Kiltale of Meath (2-12 to 2-9) and Celbridge of Kildare (3-12 to 1-16) in the Leinster semi-final and decider respectively.

Although Carrickshock required a Michael Rohan goal three minutes into injury-time to get them over the line against Celbridge, Dilleen insists the Kilkenny men should not be under-estimated on that evidence.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.