Junior A Hurling: Passage fancied after red card to key Whitechurch ...
Whitechurch 1-11 Blackrock 0-10
Last year’s beaten finalists Whitechurch returned to to the AOS Security Seandún Junior A Hurling decider after a tough battle having been reduced to 14 early in the second half.
They defeated Blackcock in their semi-final, before a sizeable attendance at Ballinlough, thanks to Aidan Kelleher's goal after two minutes which set the tone.
Whitechurch will meet Passage, who won their only title to date in 2021, on Saturday next, but will most likely be without former Cork U20 captain Micheál Mullins who saw red early in the the second half.
Whitechurch were in control of this hard-fought game from the start as their early goal was to prove decisive, while their net-minder Con Mulcahy denied Blackrock two late goal-scoring opportunities.
Whitechurch had to play most of the second half with 14 players as Mullins received a straight red card a minute after the resumption. This will probably rule him out of the final.
Aidan Kelleher opened the scoring with a goal from the edge of the Blackrock square within two minutes of the throw-in.
Blackrock opened their account when Luke Fogarty pointed a 65 and this was followed by a point from play by James Allen.
Whitechurch had Blackrock pinned back as Sean O’Reilly and Jamie Hegarty each tagged on unanswered points. Cillian Egan also chipped in with Whitechurch's first score from a placed ball, to give his side a lead of 1-3 to 0-2.
Hegarty outscored David Garvan by two points to one, before Blackrock held the initiative approaching the break. Allen and Garvan each scored points from play. Blackrock goalkeeper Paul O’Brien also converted their first free. This left Whitechurch leading by 1-5 to 0-6 at the break.
In a low-scoring second half, Whitechurch had Blackrock on the back foot as Ross Buckley got a point from play within seconds of the restart. Egan also got on the scoresheet as he pointed two frees.
Midway through the second half, persistent fouling was proving to be costly for Whitechurch as Blackrock converted three unanswered frees. Eoin de Burca also got a point from play, before the tide turned back in Whitechurch’s favour.
Whitechurch put the game beyond Blackrock’s reach with unanswered points from Buckley and Ruairí Dennehy. Egan also slotted over his fourth free.
Scorers for Whitechurch: C Egan 0-4 f; J Hegarty 0-3; A Kelleher 1-0; R Buckley 0-2; S O’Reilly, R Dennehy 0-1 each.
Blackrock: L Fogarty 0-3 (0-2 f, 0-1 65); P O’Brien 0-2 f; J Allen D Garvan 0-2 each; E de Burca 0-1.
WHITECHURCH: C Mulcahy; C Kelleher, B O’Sullivan, J Dennehy; J Kelly, M Callnan, R Buckley; S O’Reilly, K Ryan; M Mullins, R O’Connell, A Kelleher; J Hegarty, S Keane, C Egan.
Subs: D Burke for Kelleher (46), R Dennehy for Keane (51).
BLACKROCK: P O’Brien; D Tyner, D O’Brien, T Harrington; A Murphy, E Smith, D Browne; D McCarthy, E Sheehan; L Fogarty, E de Burca, P Leneghan; J O’Farrell, J Allen, D Garvan.
Subs: J O’Sullivan for Browne, J Ryan for Tyner (both 37), F O’Keeffe for O’Farrell (39), V Ryan for Leneghan (46), P Lynch for Garvan (53).
Referee: David Daly (Brian Dillon’s).
Passage 0-15 Na Piarsaigh 1-10
Passage, who won their only title to date in 2021, qualified for the AOS Security Seandún Junior A Hurling decider, where they will meet Whitechurch on Saturday at Ballinlough.
Na Piarsaigh made a promising start as they had 1-1 on the board before Passage registered a single score. The Fair Hill side were denied a second goal-scoring opportunity by Passage net-minder Aidan Long before the interval, while Na Piarsaigh goalkeeper Alan Hogan pulled off two late spectacular saves from Passage.
Eoghan Kidney opened the scoring with a point from play after four minutes. Na Piarsaigh continued to have Passage pinned back and Sean Downey drilled home a goal from the edge of the square in the sixth minute, to give his side a four-point lead.
Passage began to turn the screw as Shane Howard and Sean Harrington each tagged on points from play. Cian McCarthy also pointed two frees, to tie the scores at 0-4 to 1-1.
Graham Carroll put Passage in the driving seat for the first time in the contest, midway through the opening half with a point from play. This was followed by Cian McCarthy’s third free, but this was cancelled out as the Fair Hill side pointed two frees.
Cian McCarthy converted his fourth free and this was followed by a point from play by Tomás Farrell, which gave Passage a half-time lead of 0-8 to 1-3.
Eoin Moynihan pointed the first free of the second half for Na Piarsaigh within a minute of the resumption, but Passage responded with points from play by James Kind and Niall McCarthy.
Moynihan converted two frees, while Ryan Carroll replied with a point from play for Passage. This was followed by Cian McCarthy’s fifth pointed free.
Cillian O’Leary and Kieran Waters each got points from play for Na Piarsaigh, midway through the second half.
Cian McCarthy outscored Sheehan by three points to two in the final quarter, with one of Sheehan’s points coming from play.
Scorers: Passage: Cian McCarthy 0-8 f; S Howard, S Harrington, G Carroll, T O’Neill, R Carroll, J Kind, N McCarthy 0-1 each.
Na Piarsaigh: E Moynihan 0-4 f; M Sheehan 0-3 (0-2 f); S Downey 1-0; E Kidney, K Waters, C O’Leary 0-1 each.
PASSAGE: A Long; D McCarthy, T Harington, K Cuthbert; Catha McCarthy, R Harrington, R Carroll; G Carroll, S Harrington; J Kind, Cian McCarthy, T O’Neill; L Hanlon, N McCarthy, S Howard.
Subs: C Coughlan for Hanlon (48), L Harrington for O’Neill (57).
NA PIARSAIGH: A Hogan; S Bowen, C Bowen, A Burke; P Lehane, S O’Mahony, K Sheehan; J Scanlon, E Moynihan; R Lynch, E Kidney, K Waters; S Galgey, S Downey, M Sheehan.
Sub: C O’Leary for Lynch (h-t).
Referee: Trevor Lyons (Douglas).
