Ahascragh Fohenagh 1-17

Beagh 0-16

Gerard Mulreaney in Loughrea

NINE points from Mark Kelly along with a goal from Luke Murray was enough for Ahascragh-Fohenagh to keep alive their chances of promotion to the top flight following a quarter-final victory over Beagh in the Senior B hurling championship in Loughrea on Saturday.

While just four points separated the sides at the end of the game, it could, and should have been much more as Ahascragh-Fohenagh were pretty wasteful throughout the game, shooting 14 wides. It took until the second half for them to stamp their authority on the game. They will need to address that over the next couple of weeks if they want to progress further in this years’ championship.

Beagh sneaked into the quarter-finals at the expense of newly relegated Killimor, despite losing heavily to Kilnadeema-Leitrim in their final group game. Their only championship win this year coming against Padraig Pearses, a game they won by four points.

Ahascragh-Fohenagh have fared much better and have only been beaten once in the championship – in a two-point defeat to Liam Mellows – while they overcame Athenry in their opening match, before drawing with Liam Mellows in their final group outing. They went into the game as favourites, and duly obliged.

Despite the recent spell of warm weather, it was a chilly afternoon that greeted the players as they took to the pitch, with Beagh missing their key forward Daithí Keane, after breaking his leg.

Galway senior panellist Adrian Tuohey opened the scoring for Beagh in the second minute followed by a free from captain Evan Hunt. It didn’t take long for Ahascragh-Fohenagh to respond, as a free and a 65’ from forward Mark Kelly levelled the scores in the ninth minute.

Pictred: Owen Naughton of Ahascragh-Fohenagh is chased by Beagh’s Ferdia Tuohey and Darren Hynes during Saturday’s Senior B Championship quarter-final in Loughrea. Photos: David Cunniffe.