Strong finish sees Ballygiblin stay on course to retain Munster JHC title

Strong finish sees Ballygiblin stay on course to retain Munster JHC title

Report by Therese O’Callaghan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Ballygiblin 2-10 Grangemockler-Ballyneale 0-11

Ballygiblin remain on track to defend their AIB Munster club JHC title after they finished strong in Saturday’s quarter-final at FBD Semple Stadium.

A goal from Darragh Flynn in the 50th minute eventually put daylight between these sides. The north Cork men went on to outscore Grangemockler-Ballyneale three points to one thereafter.

Mention too for a sterling defensive display which only saw two points from play scored by Grangemockler-Ballyneale over the hour.

Defending champions Ballygiblin had the breeze in the first-half, but it was Grangemockler-Ballyneale who got the scoreboard moving with their chief-scorer Darragh Shelley firing over a ’65 in the third minute.

Ballygiblin free-taker Joseph O’Sullivan levelled a couple of minutes later.

The Tipperary representatives – although beaten in their county final by Upperchurch/Drombane — were up for the challenge as midfielder Shelley arrowed over the next two points from placed balls.

Ballygiblin, with Mark Keane dominant as sweeper at centre-back and Darragh Flynn playing a roving role, landed four points unanswered between the 13th and 22nd minute – Joseph O’Sullivan (free), Sean O’Sullivan, Dean Barry and Darragh Flynn to lead 0-5 to 0-3.

Indeed, both Sean O’Sullivan and Barry scores could have been goals after O’Sullivan’s shot took a deflection over the bar and Cathail O’Mahony had a shot off the post before Barry gathered the breaking ball for his point.

Grangemockler-Ballyneale finished the half confidently with four points on the trot from Shelley (frees), John Lyons and Conor Hahessy to lead at the interval, 0-7 to 0-5.

On the restart, Cathail O’Mahony netted in the 34th minute. To his credit, the corner-forward had much work to do, but he picked his spot to score the game’s opening goal.

A wonderful point from Joseph O’Sullivan from distance kept the Cork champions in the ascendancy – albeit by a single point – in the 40th minute.

Grangemockler-Ballyneale weren’t going away, and at the three-quarter stage, it was level pegging thanks to another Shelley free, 1-6 to 0-9.

The sides were still level when Darragh Flynn ran through for another important Ballygiblin flag – his team’s second goal in the 50th minute following good work by Dillon Sheehan, 2-7 to 0-10.

Late goals not enough for Inniscarra

Late goals not enough for Inniscarra as Roscrea power on

Report by Stephen Barry for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Munster Club IHC semi-final: Roscrea (Tipperary) 1-17 Inniscarra (Cork) 3-9

A second-half Roscrea blitz once again overpowered their opponents as they blazed to victory despite two last-gasp Inniscarra goals.

Down by three when an Owen McCarthy free opened the second-half scoring, Roscrea blasted 1-6 without reply and outscored the Cork champions by 1-10 to 0-1 between the 32nd and 58th minutes.

Cashin accounted for 1-5 of that run, his 41st-minute goal making it 1-12 to 1-7, while Alan Tynan added two points as the Roscrea defence, led by James Synnott, Darren O’Connor, and Darragh Tynan, totally nullified their opponents’ threats.

Into four minutes of stoppage time, Roscrea keeper Daryl Ryan made saves from a Pádraig Holland free and McCarthy but there was still time for consolation goals for substitute Jerry Roche (64 minutes) and Seán O’Donoghue from a 66th-minute free that proved the final puck of the sliotar.

A Munster IHC final against Monaleen awaits, justifying Tipperary’s decision to regrade their second-tier senior B competition as premier intermediate in its first year.

Roscrea charged out of the starting blocks, Evan Fitzpatrick scoring after 11 seconds. They had nine shots in the first 11 minutes but only converted four with four more wides and John O’Keeffe saving from dangerous target-man Sam Conlon.

Inniscarra began to drop men to choke that space the Roscrea forwards were so enjoying, with Liam Ryan influential. The Tipp champions only had one shot in the next 10 minutes as Inniscarra struck 1-2. The goal came from their county final hero Colm Casey, pouncing on a dropped ball by the Roscrea free man, bookended by Andrew McCarthy and O’Donoghue points to make it 1-4 to 0-4.

An Alan Tynan point settled Roscrea and there were goal chances for Conlon, blocked by David Keane, and Conor Sheedy, saved by O’Keeffe, as Casey’s goal remained the difference at the break; 1-6 to 0-7.

Scorers for Roscrea: L Cashin (1-8, 0-6 frees, 0-1 65); A Tynan (0-4); E Fitzpatrick (0-2); Daryl Ryan (free), C Sheedy, S Conlon (0-1 each).

Scorers for Inniscarra: O McCarthy (0-5, 4 frees); S O’Donoghue (1-1, 1-0 free); C Casey, J Roche (1-0 each); A McCarthy, J Enright (65), F O’Leary (0-1 each).

ROSCREA: Daryl Ryan; S Davis, K McMahon, J Synnott; D Tynan, D O’Connor, M Campion; Daniel Ryan, J Fitzpatrick; A Tynan, S Fletcher, E Fitzpatrick; C Sheedy, L Cashin, S Conlon.
Subs: K Lee for J Fitzpatrick (38), C Dooley for Conlon (49), J Gilmartin for Cashin (55), C Phelan for O’Connor (60+1), J Carroll for Synnott (60+4 inj).

INNISCARRA: J O’Keeffe; D Keane, B O’Mahony, J O’Sullivan; A McCarthy, L Ryan, S Sheehan; J Harrington, J Enright; F O’Leary, S O’Donoghue, C Casey; O McCarthy (capt), P Holland, D O’Keeffe.
Subs: K Rice for O’Leary (h-t), J O’Callaghan for O’Sullivan (49), C O’Leary for Harrington (49), J Roche for D O’Keeffe (55), M Nagle for Holland (60+1).

Referee: N Malone (Clare).

Munster loss for St.Finbarrs’

AIB Munster Club SHC semi-final

Ballyea 1-12 St Finbarr’s 0-14

By Eoin Brennan at Cusack Park

It took all of Ballyea’s recent Munster experience to finally shake off 14 man St Finbarr’s in what was a tense seesaw semi-final showdown.

Having soared to historic provincial success in their breakthrough year of 2016, this may have been Ballyea’s first Munster victory since, despite being their third attempt, but crucially they remained composed in a frantic finish to prevail by the minimum.

In front of a 1,891 crowd, there was never more than two points between the sides at any stage but there were defining moments, no more so that in the first quarter when the wind-assisted Barrs suffered a double whammy in the space of a minute.

First former Clare senior football captain Gary Brennan was permitted to drive through the heart of their defence to score the only goal of the hour in the eighth minute at 1-1 to 0-2 before key player Conor Cahalane was red-carded in the next passage of play following an off-the-ball altercation with marker Jack Browne.

Such a double hammerblow would have detrimental to most sides but the Barrs, mainly through the outstanding marksmanship of Ben Cunningham, kept on Ballyea’s coat-tails throughout.

The home side did manage to keep their noses in front, helped by a brace of Mossy Gavin points, to edge 1-5 to 0-7 in front by the break. However, despite welcoming the conditions for the new half, the back-to-back Clare champions were finally reeled in by the two-thirds mark.

Inevitably it was 19 year old Ben Cunningham, son of manager Ger, that led the backlash as his three point unanswered rally handed the Cork champions the lead for the first time in 35 minutes at 0-10 to 1-6.

That alteration in narrative sparked Clare’s four-time All-Star Tony Kelly into life with two superb strikes from the left wing in what would subsequently become a blow-for-blow duel with Cunningham. Indeed, the sides would be level on five occasions in the final 20 minutes before Ballyea defender Brandon O’Connell popped up for the winning point from halfway in the 62nd minute.

The Barrs did manufacture one final chance at forcing extra-time when earning a ’65, but Cunningham’s 66th minute strike just drifted agonisingly wide of the right post to ensure that a relieved Ballyea inched through to the Munster decider in a fortnight’s time.

Scorers for Ballyea: Tony Kelly 0-5 (1f, 2’65s), Mossy Gavin 0-3, Gary Brennan 1-0, Niall Deasy 1f, Gearoid O’Connell, Aaron Griffin, Brandon O’Connell 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s:Ben Cunningham 0-9 (5fs), Ben O’Connor, Brian Hayes 0-2 each, Ethan Twomey 0-1.

*Ballyea: *Barry Coote; Paul Flanagan, Peter Casey, Brandon O’Connell; Gearoid O’Connell, Jack Browne, James Murphy; Stan Lineen, Gary Brennan; Niall Deasy, Pearse Lillis, Cathal O’Connor; Mossy Gavin, Tony Kelly, Aaron Griffin

*Subs: *Cillian Brennan for Lineen (48), Morgan Garry for O’Connor (53) Martin O’Leary for Gavin (55).

*St Finbarr’s: *Shane Hurley; Cian Walsh, Jamie Burns, Eoin Keane; Glenn O’Connor, Damien Cahalane, Billy Hennessy; Ben O’Connor, Ethan Twomey; Padraig Buggy, Ben Cunningham, Conor Cahalane; William Buckley, Brian Hayes, Jack Cahalane

*Subs: *Sam Cunningham for Buckley (45), Ciaran Doolan for G. O’Connor (56), Eoghan Finn for J. Cahalane (60).

*Referee: *Michael Kennedy (Tipperary).

Cahalane hopes St. Finbarr’s can live up to Munster tradition

Damien Cahalane of St Finbarr’s at the launch of this year’s AIB Camogie All-Ireland Club Championships and the AIB GAA All-Ireland Club Championships.

By John Harrington gaa.ie

In a St Finbarr’s hurling team studded with precocious young players, Damien Cahalane is very much the grizzled veteran.

He’s still only 30, but he’s been fighting the good fight now for a long time, 14 seasons to be precise.

They knew from a young age in the club he was made of the right stuff, which is why he was thrown into the fray earlier than most.

“Yeah, I was 16, I wasn’t even 17 yet,” says Cahalane. “Con Roche, a Barr’s legend, gave me my debut.

“My hurling career was lucky enough to take off after he gave me my first opportunity.

“Up until that, I wouldn’t have played any real top-grade underage hurling in Cork. Con gave me my chance and I was lucky enough that I took it. It put me on the radar for other setups maybe.

“My first game I was marking Paudie O’Sullivan, who was one of the real top hurlers in the county at the time.

“In the semi-final when we played Newtownshandrum I marked Ben O’Connor, probably one of the top hurlers in the country. Those were great experiences for a young kid who had been watching these guys in the stand a year beforehand.

“To be able to pit yourself against them and play against them was an opportunity and was special.”

Winning their first county senior hurling championship for 29 years has meant an awful lot to every St. Finbarr’s club member, but perhaps for Cahalane more than most.

He’s put in countless hours of hard graft to make it to the top of the mountain and endured no shortage of set-backs along the way, so the view from the pinnacle of Cork club hurling when he finally made it there was very satisfying indeed.

“It was unreal,” he says. “It’s something that you always dreamed of.

“A number of us have been on the road 12 or 13 years. You’re kind of wondering ‘Is it going to happen at any stage? It was unbelievable to get over the line in the end.”

All the more special too that when it finally came he got to share the moment on the pitch with his brothers, Conor and Jack, two more key cogs in this St. Finbarr’s team.

“Growing up at home, there was seven of us,” says Cahalane. “Three lads and four girls. The girls are probably putting us to shame in terms of their medal haul and what they have done in their games.

“But it’s something that you dream of growing up to be able to play with your brothers.

“The older you’re getting, I was 30 this year, you’re wondering can you prolong your career, hold on and play with Jack. I had played with Conor at that stage.

“It’s something that’s nice. You know what you have got with them. You know you can trust them on the field. It probably adds to it a bit.”

When a club wins a county title for the first time in 29 years, chances are they’ll be happy with their lot.

Such is the tradition in some clubs though that it comes naturally to hungrily look around for what else they can win.

St. Finbarr’s have two All-Irelands and four Munster titles in their honours won list.

So you can be sure they’ll eye Sunday’s Munster Club Hurling Championship semi-final against Ballyea with expectation rather than just be happy to be there.

“From the history and tradition of the thing, you don’t know how often this opportunity is going to come up,” says Cahalane.

“We won a county this year and that was obviously the fruits of hard work, this year and all up through the years at underage, but you don’t know when that opportunity is going to come again.

“Cork county championships are hard-won and you’re in a position now where you can be happy with what you’ve done or you can challenge yourself to pit yourself against the champions from other counties and see how far you can go.

“I’d like to hope that we’re in the second bracket, that we can try and challenge ourselves to push on a bit.

“We have a massive challenge ahead of us against Ballyea, we know that, but it’s up to us to do the work to make sure that we’re in a good position to perform on the day.”