Last years beaten finalists got their championship proceedings off to the perfect start following a 1-18 to 1-12 victory over a stubborn Crusheen outfit at Cusack Park.
Sean Rynne opened the scoring for the combination on three minutes and found his effort immediately cancelled out by Cillien Mullins. The sides continued to swap scores until Inagh Kilnamona’s leading talisman on the day in Aidan McCarthy found the back of Donal Tuohy’s after latching onto a Josh Guyler Delivery after twelve minutes.
Ross Hayes, Jamie Fitzgibbon , Breffni Horner and frees from Murrough McMahon kept Crusheen in touch however it was scores from Niall Mullins , David Fitzgerald and a haul of 1-4 for Aidan McCarthy that sent the combo down the tunnell with a commanding interval advantage of 1-11 to 0-07.
To their credit Crusheen went for the jugular on the restart to stay in contention, a long Ross Hayes delivery forced a stunning save from Eamon Foudy however the county panelist was beaten moments later from an Oisín O’Donnell strike leaving just five points between the sides.
Unfortunately for the champions of 2011 it was Inagh Kilnamona who notched the all important next three scores to quench the comeback momentum.
Despite scoring interventions from full back Cian Dillon , a haul of 1-7 for Aidan McCarthy ably assisted by Josh Guyler and Niall Mullins ensured victory for Inagh Kilnamona on a score line of 1-18 to Crusheen’s 1-12
