Midleton hurlers relished underdogs tag in taking down champs Blackrock

THE pizzas may have had to wait until after the second semi-final, but they probably tasted as sweet as the victory itself for the jubilant Midleton players.

Selector Terence McCarthy described captain Conor Lehane as being like “a magician” at times during their well-deserved triumph against Blackrock.

Scoring 4-22 with 14 wides tells you how lethal Lehane and co were in attack, but it’s all based on hard graft.

“People expect that you work hard and that’s a given with us, though it’s not always as easy to do it,” McCarthy said.

“Ben O’Connor [coach] takes that as a given and, in fairness, they all stood up to it and worked extremely hard.

It wasn’t all about the marquee players either, though Conor was like a magician at times out there.

“The flicks and touches weren’t just about winning possession because they were turned into scores as well. It’s hard to sink in that we scored four goals.”

Midleton’s tour de force third quarter effectively decided the contest.

“It was incredible to get the goals in that period, though we seemed to have a threat in the full-forward line constantly.

“So, we kept telling the lads if you get the ball into the full-forward line and, once it stuck, Conor Lehane and Luke O’Farrell were on fire.

“I don’t think any full-back line could have handled them today.”

It also irked with the East Cork club that they were considered the outsiders of the remaining four teams in the championship, which was a major motivating factor in their triumph.

We were considered the fourth-best team coming into the semi-finals, similar to Kilmallock in Limerick, but we believed that if we performed we would get the result. And we did it.

“We spoke about it during the week and, while it’s easy to say it in hindsight, we knew that performance was in us, though we hadn’t produced it all year.”

McCarthy admitted to a major sense of relief with Pa White’s third goal just after Niall Cashman scored for the Rockies.

“We have history with Blackrock. In 2018, we were also 10 points up and they came back to get a couple of goals and could have won the game.

“We knew that could happen, as it did in a league game during the summer when we were 4-6 to 1-10 up in the first half, but they came back to get four goals as well.

“Blackrock are county champions and were sporting as ever in the end. That brings us massive confidence.”

PRESSING

While the forwards were romping to victory with a succession of scores, the defence were doing their bit too, none more so than centre-back Tommy O’Connell.

“Tommy led the line brilliantly and scored a brilliant point from centre-back in the first half, which set the tone.

“We were able to play the game on our terms because Blackrock were on the back foot.

“We had a pressing centre-back like Tommy and we’re delighted to have him,” McCarthy concluded.

Sean O’Leary-Hayes was another to make a major contribution to the victory, driving forward to score a long-range point, while outside him Cormac Walsh also played his part.