Ballygiblin 3-12 St Kieran’s (Limerick) 0-11
Report from Denis Hurley, The Echo, read full report on www.echolive.ie
Weekends won’t come better than this one for Ballygiblin’s Shane Beston.
On Saturday, he was married to Kildorrery native Emma Coughlan; then, on Sunday he celebrated his new status by helping Ballygiblin retain theirs – scoring 3-3 as they won a second successive AIB Munster Club JHC title.
A change in approach from Cork County Board made the unprecedented achievement possible – the Lower IHC was renamed the Premier JHC, with the winners advancing to Munster. Having won the county JAHC in 2021, Ballygiblin went on to claim Munster honours in their opening match of 2022, against Tipperary’s Skeheenarinky on January 9 – with the PJHC on the sideboard, they have matched that achievement as the goalscoring firepower was too much for St Kieran’s of Limerick. It’s not the end of the year just yet, though, as an All-Ireland semi-final against Commercials of Dublin or Wexford’s Horeswood awaits in a fortnight.
Beston’s three first-half goals ensured that Ballygiblin retired with a 3-2 to 0-7 half-time lead, after playing against the wind.
S Beston 3-3, J O’Sullivan 0-9 (0-7 f, 0-1 65).
I Mackessy 0-10 (0-8 f, 0-1 65), D Treacy 0-1.
C Noonan; L Finn, F Herlihy, J Mullins; B Coffey, M Keane, M Lewis; R Donegan, K Roche; D Flynn, D Barry, S Beston; C O’Mahony, S O’Sullivan, J O’Sullivan.
K Duggan for Barry (27, injured), D Sheehan for Lewis (53).
C Ambrose; D Mulcahy, P McCarthy, A Heffernan; JB Harnett, B McCarthy, C McEnery; S Ryan, M Shine; D Treacy, J McCarthy, C Mann; I Mackessy, J Muckell, E McEnery.
D Nolan for Muckell (11, injured), A Molyneaux for Mann (43), M Flynn for Nolan (53).
C Doyle (Tipperary).