Goals see off Gort
Coolderry 3-16 Gort 0-17
Suddenly a drop of hope is returning to Offaly hurling and Coolderry's All-Ireland Club semi-final success at the Gaelic Grounds was achieved with the required mixture of spirit and skill.
Ken Hogan's outfit will head for Croke Park on St Patrick's Day heartened by this dynamic display.
Cathal Parlon was a menacing threat at full-forward for Coolderry, who led by 0-7 to 0-5 by the 22nd minute. Then the busy Eoin Ryan dashed through the heart of the Gort defence to rattle an opportunistic goal that nudged Coolderry five points clear.
Gort battled back to trim the deficit before the interval, but Coolderry still led 1-10 to 0-9 at the break.
Coolderry grabbed a second goal five minutes after the restart when Parlon flicked home a Damian Murray handpass as Hogan's charges extended their lead to 2-12 to 0-10.
Gort then hit four points on the spin from Gerry Quinn, Ollie Fahy, Brian Regan, and Jason Grealish, but Coolderry were unperturbed as they ruled the last quarter.
Having absorbed Gort's passion, Coolderry capped the win in the 57th minute with Murray's delightful third goal.
Scorers -- Coolderry: D Murray 1-8 (0-5f), C Parlon 1-2, E Ryan 1-0, B Carroll, B Teehan 0-2 each, K Teehan, M Corcoran 0-1 each. Gort: G Quinn 0-10 (7f, 2 '65'), G O'Donoghue 0-2, A Harte, O Fahy, R Cummins, B Regan, J Grealish 0-1 each
Coolderry: S Corcoran; B Kelly, T Corcoran, A Corcoran; D King, J Brady, B O'Meara; K Teehan, K Brady; B Carroll, B Teehan, M Corcoran; E Ryan, C Parlon, D Murray. Sub: K Connolly for K Teehan (46)
Gort: P Cummins; A Coen, M McMahon, M Cummins; J Grealish, B Regan, S Og Linnane; G Lally, S Forde; G Quinn, P Killilea, A Harte; R Cummins, O Fahy, G O'Donoghue. Subs: T Linnane for McMahon (29), K Killilea for Forde (31), M Mullins for Regan (44), M Nestor for Harte (59)
Referee: J Sexton (Cork)
