County Junior C Football Final

2020 Bon Secours Junior C Football Final will take place on Sunday at 3pm. Lough Rovers will meet Freemount in the decider.

Path to the final for Lough Rovers began with an opening City derby with Ballyphehane which they won 5-6 to 1-8. Freemount beat Araglen by two points, winning 1-7 to 1-6. In the Semi-Final stage, Lough Rovers beat Lismire on penalties after both sides fininshed level 3-14 each. Freemount getting over Gleann na Laoi by two points, winning 3-9 to 1-13.

Bon Secours Cork Junior C Football Championship

Q-Final Stage

Ballyphehane 1-8 Lough Rovers 5-6
Lismire 1-7 Rathpeacon 1-6
Gleann na Laoi 5-17 Rochestown 1-2
Freemount 1-7 Araglen 1-5

Semi-Final Stage

Gleann na Laoi 1-13 Freemount 3-9
Lough Rovers 4-14 Lismire 3-14

 

Cork defeated by Galway in final hurling league game.

Allianz Hurling League Division 1A

GALWAY 3-25 CORK 2-23

Courtesy of www.gaa.ie

Cork were defeated by Galway, who secured top spot in Division 1 Group A of the Allianz Hurling League as a 12-point second-half turnaround gave them victory over Cork at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon.

Trailing by 2-12 to 0-12 at half-time, the Tribesmen fell further behind as Patrick Horgan landed a free for Cork on the resumption but a Conor Whelan goal brought Galway right back into contention and further green flags from Conor Cooney and Cathal Mannion helped them to prevail by five points. The result means that a championship meeting between Galway and Kilkenny this year will double up as the league final.

Cork had a great start, with Conor Cahalane’s goal helping them into a 1-2 to 0-1 lead, but Galway found their feet and they scored five of the next seven points while Evan Niland was denied a goal by a Patrick Collins save. Joseph Cooney’s point – he was one of 12 scorers for the visitors – left them just two points behind, 1-4 to 0-6, at the first-half water break. While Horgan had his fourth point when the action resumed, Galway were level by the 25th minute when Brian Concannon scored the first of his four points.

Three in a row from Cork, two Darragh Fitzgibbon points sandwiching one from Mark Coleman, gave them breathing space again and, just before half-time, they had a fillip as Jack O’Connor scored a point and then intercepted the resultant puckout to slot home a goal for a six-point lead.

That advantage stretched to seven thanks to Horgan’s sixth of the day but Whelan, set up by Cathal Mannion, produced an instant riposte for Galway with a goal and Joseph Cooney followed that with a point.

With Shane Kingston’s point Cork’s only score from play in the third quarter, Galway were able to eat into the deficit, helped by the relocation of Cathal Mannion to centre-forward. He had two points in quick succession and then Galway were level just before the water-break as Fintan Burke’s sideline cut was won by Brian Concannon, who fed Conor Cooney and he fired home.

While Pádraic Mannion put Galway in front after the break, Cork looked to have steadied as Horgan (two frees) and Fitzgibbon pointed, but they didn’t lead again after Niland and Fintan Burke levelled for the visitors.

Daithí Burke set up Concannon to put Galway in front and, though Fitzgibbon levelled with his fourth, Cathal Mannion’s goal, a batted finish from David Burke’s pass, put three points between the sides. Points from Galway subs Niall Burke and Jason Flynn opened up a five-point advantage going into injury time and, after the remaining four points were shared, that was the margin at the end, too.

Scorers for Galway: Evan Niland 0-8 (0-4 frees, 0-2 65), Cathal Mannion 1-2, Conor Cooney 1-2, Brian Concannon 0-4, Conor Whelan 1-1, Joseph Cooney 0-2, Pádraic Mannion, Fintan Burke, David Burke, Niall Burke, Jason Flynn (free), Seán Loftus 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cork: Patrick Horgan 0-11 (0-8 frees), Jack O’Connor 1-2, Darragh Fitzgibbon 0-4, Conor Cahalane 1-1, Shane Kingston 0-2, Mark Coleman, Robbie O’Flynn, Billy Hennessy 0-1 each.

GALWAY: Éanna Murphy; Darren Morrissey, Gearóid McInerney, TJ Brennan; Pádraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Fintan Burke; Seán Loftus, Cathal Mannion; Adrian Tuohey, Conor Whelan, Joseph Cooney; Brian Concannon, Evan Niland, Conor Cooney. Subs: Jack Fitzpatrick for Morrissey (44, injured), David Burke for Tuohey (47), Jason Flynn for Conor Cooney (53), Niall Burke for J Cooney (57), Jarlath Mannion for Niland, Seán Linnane for McInerney (both 64).

CORK: Patrick Collins; Eoin Cadogan, Damien Cahalane, Seán O’Donoghue; Tim O’Mahony, Mark Coleman, Ger Millerick; Luke Meade, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Conor Cahalane, Séamus Harnedy, Shane Barrett; Shane Kingston, Patrick Horgan, Jack O’Connor. Subs: Alan Cadogan for Barrett (half-time), Alan Connolly for Harnedy (53), Robbie O’Flynn for Conor Cahalane (both 53), Billy Hennessy for Meade (63), Declan Dalton for O’Connor (64), Tadgh Deasy for Kingston (67), Seán O’Leary Hayes for Millerick (69).

Referee: Paud O’Dwyer (Carlow)

Cork hurling and football squads pay their respects to GAA stalwart Tommy Lynch

Courtesy of Denis Hurley (The Echo)

BACK in December 2014, it was my pleasure – along with John Horgan and Finbarr McCarthy – to cover the last game in the old SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Ciarán Cormack and Seán Powter powered St Francis College, Rochestown to a 2-14 to 1-8 victory over Midleton CBS in the semi-final of the O’Callaghan Cup, with Cormack scoring the last point in that iteration of the venue. Of course, the report that appeared was less focused on the match than an elegy for the stadium, and it ended thusly: “On leaving, the last person seen was the man with the most stories to tell, ubiquitous groundsman Tommy Lynch. As it always was.”

Tommy, who died this week at the age of 91, had seen it all in four decades or so of service to Cork GAA but – underlining perhaps why he came to be so well-trusted in his various roles – he wasn’t too keen to talk about himself or his job. Any requests to interview him were politely declined, as he focused on doing his work well, without seeking plaudits.

Former Cork County Board chairperson Tracey Kennedy can’t ever remember a time where Tommy wasn’t present in the background.

“He liked what he did and he liked the people he spoke to,” she says, “but he didn’t want the limelight at all.

“I’d have been in and out of SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for years as a club secretary, so I presume I must have met him back along then as there would have been a lot of interaction with the office – we used to have to bring in cheques and that kind of thing and he was there because he was always there.

“I don’t remember a specific introduction but he was always there, whether it was SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh or Páirc Uí Rinn – which he never referred to as anything other than ‘Christy Ring Park’ – there was a sense of ubiquity, he was part of the building, part of the furniture.

“It was the same when you went to matches elsewhere, he’d always be around the dressing room getting things ready and so on. He was just part of matchday and part of every event at the stadium.

At Páirc Uí Rinn, the first-aid room just inside the door on the right was where to find Tommy if you needed something – for a club game where you might be the first press person arriving, he would take great care to point out which key among the massive throng on the keyring was needed to open the press box.

KEY ROLE

It was fitting that he was such a part of that venue as well as SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, given the small but important role he played when the county board purchased it from the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

A blind bidding process was done through solicitors and so, as Frank Murphy revealed in 2014, when the time came to announce what had happened, Tommy was sent to the AOH.

“We had a meeting of the executive here on the Tuesday night and they were briefed on the decision,” he said.

“There was a board meeting at 8.30pm so before we informed them the property had been bought, we sent our groundsman, Tommy Lynch, with a letter to the secretary of the AOH to inform them that we were the new owners of Flower Lodge. And that was the first intimation they had who the new owners were.”

In 2005, during Seán Kelly’s tenure, Tommy was honoured with a GAA President’s Award and the citation that appeared in the media at the time almost did him a disservice: “Tommy Lynch has been involved in Cork GAA for close on quarter of a century, looking after the playing gear for the various county teams, as well as filling the role of chief groundsman at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Páirc Uí Rinn.”

Like so many true servants of Irish sport, the majority of the work was unseen, but the kind that is truly appreciated by those aware of it.

“He instilled a sense of confidence in you,” Kennedy says, “because you knew that he knew everything.

He knew where everything was and he knew who everyone was – he knew what needed to be done.

“You never had to worry about any of the little things that needed to be done because Tommy would just have it all under control.

“I’d just like to send my condolences to his family and friends as he is a huge loss to them.”

Cork edge out Westmeath

CORK 3-22 WESTMEATH 0-25 

Courtesy of www.gaa.ie

Cork preserved their place in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League with a six-point win over Westmeath at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, but they had to dig deep to see off the Lake County.

Brian Hurley’s 63rd minute goal proved to be the decisive score as Westmeath had responded well to strikes from Mark Collins and Luke Connolly before that. However, Hurley – who scored 1-4 after coming on for the injured Cathail O’Mahony just before half-time – made it 3-18 to 0-22 when he got on the end of a superb pass from wing-back Kevin O’Donovan and Cork were not going to be denied from there.

Ultimately, Cork’s ability to take their goal chances was a key difference between the sides. Westmeath were very impressive in the opening half, the end of which they led by 0-14 to 0-12, but the lead could have been even better as sub Sam McCartan was unlucky to see a 34th minute goal attempt – created by a lovely reverse pass from their talisman John Heslin – come back off the inside of the post, with David Lynch unable to divert the loose ball to the net.

The visitors’ best goal opportunity of the second period also fell to the impressive McCartan on 62, as fellow sub Fola Ayorinde found him in space but his shot whistled just over the bar when a green flag would have made it 1-22 to 2-18 in Westmeath’s favour.

However, while the loss means Division 3 football for Westmeath and four defeats from four league outings, they can take a lot of positives as they face into a championship clash with Laois.

Having fallen behind three times early on, with Cathail O’Mahony the Cork scorer each time, Westmeath hit the front as Ronan O’Toole, Ray Connellan, Ger Egan and Heslin all pointed in a four-point burst and Heslin’s fourth of the day left them 0-10 to 0-6 in front at the first-half water-break.

Cork did show an improvement when action resumed, Luke Connolly frees allied to points from Paul Walsh and Seán White as they drew level, but Heslin and Connellan replied for Westmeath. After Connolly went close to a goal for Cork, McCartan went closer for Westmeath but they would still have been encouraged to lead by two at the break.

Walsh and Hurley got Cork off to a positive start in the second half, Heslin with a Westmeath point in response following a mark, but on 40 Cork looked to have made an emphatic move. When Connolly found Hurley with a good pass from deep, he offloaded to fellow sub Mark Collins and he finished smartly to the net for 1-14 to 0-15.

Again, Westmeath had a stiff riposte, with O’Toole, Ger Egan and Lorcan Dolan all on target, but Cork suckered them with a second goal as captain Ian Maguire was the architect for Connolly’s fisted finish.

By the time of the second-half water-break, Cork were 2-17 to 0-19 ahead but Heslin’s ninth and 10th of the day left just two in it with 11 minutes of normal time left. Ultimately, Hurley’s goal made Cork safe and they finished well to finally put the issue beyond doubt.

Scorers for Cork: Luke Connolly (0-4 frees), Brian Hurley (0-1 free) 1-4 each, Mark Collins 1-1 (0-1 free), Cathail O’Mahony, Daniel Dineen (0-1 mark) 0-3 each, Paul Walsh 0-2, John O’Rourke, Ruairí Deane, Seán White, Brian Hartnett, Colm O’Callaghan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Westmeath: John Heslin 0-12 (0-8 frees, 0-1 mark), Ronan O’Toole, Ray Connellan, Ger Egan, Lorcan Dolan 0-3 each, Sam McCartan 0-1.

CORK: Michéal Martin; Kevin O’Donovan, Seán Meehan, Kevin Flahive; Seán White, Mattie Taylor, Cian Kiely; Ian Maguire, Paul Walsh; John O’Rourke, Ruairí Deane, Kevin O’Driscoll; Daniel Dineen, Luke Connolly, Cathail O’Mahony.

Subs: Mark Collins for O’Rourke (31, injured), Brian Hurley for O’Mahony (35, injured), Tadhg Corkery for Kiely, Brian Hartnett for Deane (both 53), Eoghan McSweeney for White, Damien Gore for Connolly (both 61), Colm O’Callaghan for O’Donovan (70).

WESTMEATH: Jason Daly; Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, Boidu Sayeh; James Dolan, Ronan Wallace, Jamie Gonoud; Denis Corroon, Sam Duncan; Ray Connellan, David Lynch, Ger Egan; Ronan O’Toole, John Heslin, Lorcan Dolan.

Subs: Sam McCartan for Smith (25, injured), Darren Giles for Connellan (41, injured), Fola Ayorinde for Duncan, Noel Mulligan for Gonoud (both 51), Nigel Harte for Lynch (62), Sam Maxwell for Dolan (67).

REFEREE: Cormac Reilly (Meath).

Picture courtesy of John O’ Brien

Match Programme for Cork vs Westmeath in FL and Cork vs Galway in HL

This weekend Cork will play Westmeath in Football and Galway in Hurling. Below is this weekend’s match programme

 

Download match programme