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Hurling Championship Updates

November 8, 2018

Both our adult hurling teams were in championship action over the weekend and both had great wins. At Riverstown on Saturday night the Seniors defeated C.I.T. by a five point margin to qualify for the last 8 in the Cork Senior Hurling Championship for the second year in a row. On Monday night in Castlelyons the Junior ‘B’ team took on Dungourney in the semi final of the East Cork Hurling Championship. In the end we won by a single point to qualify for the Divisional ‘B’ grade hurling final for the sixth time in the club’s history – the previous finals we were in were 1966, 1975, 1993, 1994 and 2000. 

Seniors Finish Strongly

After a woeful forecast early in the week Saturday evening turned out fine, cold but dry. A strong breeze blew down the pitch from the Castle Tavern end. We won the toss and decided to play against the wind, this also meant a strong sun in Denny Fitzgerald’s eyes early on. The starting fifteen was the same as in our win over St Finbarrs in May with a few positional changes. The College team were short three players from their victory over Muskerry but still fielded a strong fifteen. With great vocal support we got off to a flying start. Terry flicked over a point and a goal from Michael Collins had us on our way. Despite playing into the strong wind we were in command in most sectors. Two further points from Terry were split by 2 pointed frees from Terry Johnson saw us 1-5 to 0-1 ahead after 21 minutes. Brian Murphy was marshalling the defence well and Padraig and Barry were lauding it at midfield. C.I.T’s goalie and captain, Cork sub keeper, Anthony Nash had huge puckouts but our half backline were well on top. Leading by 7 points against the wind seemed too good to be true and so it proved. We missed a couple of chances which could have killed off the game. The College side started to dominate and the scores came to them and by the 25th minute there was only a goal in it. A Barry Johnson point made it 4 but C.I.T. had a similar score to leave it 1-6 to 0-6. Sean Ryan had a good point with 2 minutes left in the first half to extend our lead to four. Then just before the short whistle Limerick player Eoin Chauke pounced on the sliotar after a great save by Denny, Goal. The half time whistle went and we were just a point ahead. This was disappointing as we had dominated the first half. C.I.T. started the second half as they’d finished the first. A point from a free in the 3rd minute levelled the scores 1-7 each. A good point from Sean Ryan came after hard work by Jerome O’Driscoll. C.I.T. then moved up a gear and 4 points in a row between the 6th and 11th minutes put them three ahead 1-11 to 1-8. Things looked shaky at this stage but in fairness the lads kept calm. Barry Murphy, Trevor Moloney and James Murphy all put in good clearances before Donal Ryan raised the green flag from close in – we were level. C.I.T. went a point ahead 1-12 to 2-8 in the 16th minute. ‘Twas still anyone’s game. We finished strongly with 6 unanswered points from Barry Johnson (’65), Michael Collins, two from sub Barry Hazelwood, Padraig Murphy and a point from a penalty from Barry Johnson. In the end we had to defend heroically as C.I.T. sought goals. We won by 2-14 to 1-12 and now meet old rivals Midleton in the quarter final.

Team & Scorers: D Fitzgerald, B Walsh, B Murphy, J Murphy, T Moloney, B Murphy, P Walsh, P Murphy (0-1), B Johnson (0-5, 2 frees, 1 ’65, 1 penalty), D Ryan (1-0), S Ryan (0-2), R Cahill, M Collins (1-1), J O’Driscoll, T Broderick (0-3).Sub: B Hazelwood (0-2) 

Co. Senior Hurling Championship

Our quarter final against Midleton will be played in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday September 9th or Sunday September 23rd. It all depends on the Cork Under 21 hurlers. They play Galway in the All Ireland semi final in Thurles on Saturday next at 3.30 with Dublin awaiting the winners in the final on September 9th. If Cork U-21’s loose on Saturday we play on the 9th, if Cork U-21’s win on Saturday we play on the 23rd.  

Munster Senior Hurling League

On this Thursday night August 23rd we are away to Garryspillane of Limerick in Round 1 of the Munster Senior Hurling League. This game was postponed two weeks ago. It is timed for 7pm in Garryspillane. 

Junior ‘B’ Hurlers in East Cork Final

For the first time since 2000 we have qualified for the East Cork Junior ‘B’ Hurling Final. Having defeated Lisgoold and Midleton in earlier rounds we faced Dungourney in the semi final in Castlelyons on Monday night last. This was a tough hard game of hurling which ended in a welter of excitement. This was a game which we should have won well but in the last few minutes we were holding on to a one point lead. For most of the game we were well ahead with an extra man for fifty minutes of the contest. Dungourney had the wind advantage in the first half but we started very well with 2 points from Pat Cotter (1 free) and a Shane Murphy point. Team captain Jim O’Connor ably led the defence which dealt well with the Dungourney forwards. Further points from Daniel Dooley, Shane Murphy and Shane Kearney gave us a six points to 2 lead at the break. With the wind in the second half we kept up the pressure. Colm O’Keeffe and Pat Cotter (free) put us 8 points to 4 ahead before Dungourney got one back. We had the lions share of possession in the second half but a total of eleven wides meant we never put the game out of Dungourney’s reach. Points from Shane Kearney and Pat Cotter saw us lead 0-10 to 0-4 with ten minutes left. Then the game changed in a twinkle. Dungourney got a goal which halved our lead. They pointed a ’65 and then pointed a free to leave just the minimum between the sides. We were under pressure now but the experience of Alan Broderick and Mike Hogan and the running of Shane Murphy and Mike Kearney kept us in the game. After three minutes of added time the final whistle went and we were in the final for the first time since 2000. it was tough but we got there – well done lads. The other semi final between Sarsfields and St Catherines will be played next Sunday night August 28th.

Team & Scorers: G Quill, P Barry, A Broderick, J O’Connor, B Cotter, L Forde, J O’Dowd, K Collins, S Kearney (0-2), M Kearney, M Hogan, S Murphy (0-2, 1 free), P Cotter (0-4, 3 frees), C O’Keeffe (0-1), D Dooley (0-1). Subs: A O’Keeffe, T Kearney.

Our previous winning ‘B’ Grade hurling semi final were as follows:

1966 Bride Rovers 3-8  St Catherines 2-8

1975 Bride Rovers 4-10 Cobh 3-9

1993 Bride Rovers 0-5  Carrignavar 0-4

1994 Bride Rovers 2-8  Fr O’Neills 2-7

2000 Bride Rovers 1-6  Midleton 0-8 

U-21 Hurling Championship

On next Saturday night we meet Cloyne in the Under 21 Hurling Championship at Lisgoold at 7pm. In 2006 we had 2 great games against Cloyne in this competition with Cloyne winning in a replay. We defeated Aghada in a replay in our opening game this year while Cloyne defeated Watergrasshill in their game. Saturday night’s game will present a very tough challenge for our U-21 side and we will have to really put on a top class display to win this game. Go for it lads.

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