Three reasons Midleton beat Glen Rovers in the county final

CONOR LEHANE

AS Luke O’Farrell said — Lehane loves a county final: in 2013, he landed 2-10 in the victory against Sarsfields and his 13 points yesterday were of the utmost value.

Naturally, it will lead to talk as to whether or not he should be involved with Cork and there will be further opportunities to show that as Midleton look to make an impact in the Munster Club SHC. It’s hard to make the argument that he wouldn’t at least be a good option to have.

ATTACKING COHESION

Allied to Lehane’s tour de force was the fact that all five of his fellow starting forwards got on the scoresheet, four of them more than once. Ross O’Regan made a huge contribution in the second quarter while Cormac Beausang made his presence felt after coming deeper late in the second half. 

While Patrick Horgan was his usual self for the Glen and got a goal when at full-forward and Simon Kennefick made a burst in the closing quarter, no other Glen player got more than a point.

HALF-BACK LINE

While the Glen’s half-back line had been instrumental against Imokilly and Sarsfield’s in reaching the final, it was their Midleton counterparts who made a massive contribution. 

Ciarmhac Smyth is still in school but displayed a maturity beyond his years while Cormac Walsh was tidy in his play, even if he probably should have got on the scoresheet. 

More seen at midfield up to this year, Tommy O’Connell brought a calmness to everything he did at number 6.