Only two remain to be crowned The Toughest
Croke Park will be a sea of green and white on March 17 for the AIB GAA All-Ireland club hurling final, after Kilmallock and Ballyhale Shamrocks both recorded wins today in their respective semi-finals.
The Kilkenny side enjoyed a 2-17 to 1-15 win over Gort in a thrilling game in Tullamore, while Portaferry could not compete with Munster champions Kilmallock in Mullingar, slumping to a 2-19 to 0-12 defeat.
Ballyhale fought back from conceding a goal from Richie Cummins after three minutes to lead at the break by 2-9 to 1-8.
TJ Reid getting the opening goal while the second from his brother Eoin was just about scrambled over the line.
Gort were wasteful in front of goal and a number of poor wides in the opening 30 minutes was a key factor in the four-point deficit at the break
The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw Gort try and close down the space that allowed Ballyhale, and especially Shefflin at centre-forward, to carve open their defence time and time again. But the Galway side had no response to strong running from TJ Reid, the passing accuracy of Shefflin or the power of Colin Fennelly and in truth the Kilkenny side never truly looked in danger of slipping up.
Gort did have a late chance to reduce the gap when trailing by 2-17 to 1-15 but the pass from the onrushing Michael Mullins was too high for Cummins and the Noresiders cleared the danger to run out five-point winners
In Mullingar, whatever chance Portaferry had of upsetting the odds once again were quickly extinguished by Kilmallock after they scored a goal within the very first minute from Paddy O'Loughlin.
The Limerick side dominated throughout and with Bryan O'Sullivan and Paudie O'Brien supreme in midfield, they led by 1-8 to 0-6 at the break.
The Down side needed to come out after half-time and get some much needed momentum to stem the tide but the Limerick side proved much too strong for their Ulster opponents in almost every area of the field. Graeme Mulcahy's second half goal just before full time sealed a comfortable win by 2-19 to 0-12 and they will face the Kilkenny side on March 17th in Croke Park.
