Ballyhea 0-18 Carrigtwohill 0-18
IT was honours even in Ballyanly on Saturday evening as Ballyhea and Carrigtwohill played out a thrilling draw in Group C of the Co-op Superstores SAHC, but there were very different emotions on the respective sidelines.

For Ballyhea the draw felt like a win as the point secured them second place behind Bride Rovers as well as a quarter-final spot against Courcey Rovers. 

As ever, the winners were thankful for the talents of Pa O’Callaghan, who hit 0-9 though, though he was ably assisted by Jack Morrissey and young Tiernan Hanley at wing-back.

Despite the best efforts of Sean Walsh, who hit 0-6, and Padraic Hogan who hit three late points from wing-back, the draw felt like a defeat for Carrigtwohill whose season is now over as they needed a win to progress, and they will rue the 12 wides the hit across the hour.

For Ballyhea the key to their progression was a seven-minute spell in the opening half that saw them hit five points in a row to take control of the game. The sides were level at 0-2 each after six minutes before two points from O’Callaghan and one each from John Morrissey, Tiernan Hanley and Eugene O’Leary gave them a cushion that they needed.

The sides then broke even across the rest of the half as O’Callaghan and Jack Morrissey had 0-2 each and Chris Hanley also scored while Liam Gosnell had three for Carrig and Sean Rohan and James Mulcahy also pointed to make it 0-12 to 0-7 at the break.

The East Cork men slowly closed the gap on the resumption. Three points from Walsh, another free from Gosnell and two frees from keeper Shane Devlin for Carrig were answered by three more O’Callaghan frees and O’Sullivan’s second for Ballyhea to make it 0-16 to 0-13 with eight to go as it looked like Carrig would need a goal.

Enter Hogan who had been playing brilliantly at wing-back. Two long-range efforts from him sandwiched Walsh’s fifth to level the game for the second time with four to play. 

The effervescent talents of O’Callaghan and Walsh then traded scores before Dion Curtin put Ballyhea one clear with time running out. Hogan then levelled matters with his third of the evening as anything seemed possible. But Carrig never got the chance to hit the front to give them the victory they needed.

Scorers for Ballyhea: P O’Callaghan 0-9 (0-6 f), Jack Morrissey, M O’Sullivan 0-2 each, Tiernan Hanley, John Morrissey, D Curtin, E O’Leary, C Hanley 0-1 each.

Carrigtwohill: S Walsh 0-6 (0-1 65), L Gosnell 0-4 f, P Hogan 0-3, S Devlin (f), S Rohan 0-2 each, J Mulcahy 0-1.

BALLYHEA:

M Browne; A Barrett, M Morrissey, L Hanley; C Cox, Tom Hanley, Tiernan Hanley; J Copps, M O’Sullivan; John Morrissey, P O’Callaghan (c), D Curtin; Jack Morrissey, E O’Leary, C Hanley. 

Subs: L Crowley for Jack Morrissey (46), D Copps for C Hanley (59).

CARRIGTWOHILL: S Devlin; S de Búrca, A Walsh Barry, P O’Sullivan; P Hogan, R Power, C O’Riordan; B Twomey, J McCarthy; L O’Sullivan, S Walsh, L Gosnell; J Mulcahy, S Rohan, T Hogan. 

Subs: A Rooney for O’Riordan (22), J Oke for Mulcahy (38), S Roche for T Hogan (43).

Referee: Alan O’Connor (Ballygarvan).