Colm Casey's late, late goal sees Inniscarra beat Castlemartyr in a classic county hurling final

Inniscarra 3-12 Castlemartyr 1-17 

EXPERIENCED forward Colm Casey was the Inniscarra hero, his 65th-minute goal securing the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier IHC title at Páirc Uí Chaoimh today. 

In a replay that can only be described as truly memorable, it came down to the last puck of the ball. Great credit to Castlemartyr too, who just came up short.

Castlemartyr joint-captain and midfielder Brian Lawton didn’t start due to a leg injury, instead, Michael Cosgrave was brought into the starting 15, however Lawton was brought on at the interval.

There was one change to the Inniscarra lineup with Padraig Holland, introduced in the drawn match, replacing Dan O’Connell in attack. What an inspired alteration this proved to be, Holland finished with 1-3 and the Man of the Match gong.

The game had an explosive start with three great goals in the opening quarter.

It was Inniscarra who were quickly into their stride and had two points on the board from Eoin McCarthy and Colm Casey before Castlemartyr struck for their opening score, a brilliant individual goal from Barry Lawton in the seventh minute.

With both pulling players back into defensive positions, Inniscarra got a goal of their own two minutes later through David O’Keeffe, but it was the sublime pass from Sean O’Donoghue that made it possible.

The Muskerry men remained on top, Padraig Holland finding the net in the 14th minute. The green flag came as a result of a long clearance from Andrew McCarthy, while good work followed from the tenacious Owen McCarthy, 2-2 to 1-1 after quarter of an hour.

Inniscarra went for goal number three but Colm Casey forced a save from Daragh Joyce, and points from Sean O’Donoghue and Eoin McCarthy extended their lead, 2-4 to 1-1.

Mike and Andrew Kelly hit one each for Castlemartyr to narrow the gap, but Inniscarra remained in the ascendancy to outscore their opponents two points to one to lead at the short whistle, 2-6 to 1-5.

Castlemartyr roared back to draw level 10 minutes into the second half. Whilst it was Padraig Holland restarted the scoreboard, the east Cork men slotted five unanswered to achieve parity, 1-10 to 2-7.

Under high pressure, both goalkeepers were immense, as the scoreboard remained deadlocked in the 50th minute, 2-10 to 1-13.

Nobody could have envisaged the finale in store!

Owen McCarthy and Kieran Rice edged Inniscarra back in front but wing-back James Lawton upset their rhythm with a fine point to leave just one in it with five minutes remaining, 2-12 to 1-14.

When Joe Stack was fouled as he burst through on goal, referee Colm Lyons had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Up stepped Barry Lawton and his well-struck shot was saved magnificently by a diving John O’Keeffe, the sliotar going over the bar.

Nonetheless, Castlemartyr were on a roll and supplied the next two points to move ahead by two, the most dangerous of leads.

With at least three minutes of stoppage announced, Inniscarra had to go for goal.

Unbelievably, and with the last throw of the dice, they reclaimed the advantage through Casey.

The rest is history.

* Before the match the two teams lined up alongside the referee to support the ‘Respect the Referee Day’.

Scorers for Inniscarra: P Holland 1-3, O McCarthy 0-5 (0-4 f), C Casey 1-1, D O’Keeffe 1-0, S O’Donoghue, F O’Leary, K Rice 0-1 each.

Castlemartyr: M Kelly 0-8 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), Barry Lawton 1-2 (0-1 pen), Joe Stack 0-2, C Joyce, J Lawton, C Sice, J McGann, A Kelly 0-1 each.

INNISCARRA: J O’Keeffe; D Keane, B O’Mahony, J O’Sullivan; A McCarthy, L Ryan, S Sheehan; J Enright, J Harrington; C Casey, S O’Donoghue, F O’Leary; D O’Keeffe, P Holland, O McCarthy (c).

Subs: J O’Callaghan for J O’Sullivan (39), K Rice for D O’Keeffe (42).

CASTLEMARTYR: D Joyce; C Martin, D Moran (J-Capt), B Ó Tuama; J Lawton, C Joyce, Jamie Stack; M Cosgrave, C Sice; J McGann, M Kelly, Barry Lawton; A Kelly, Joe Stack, E Martin.

Subs: Brian Lawton for E Martin (half-time), B McGann for m Cosgrave (half-time), D Leahy for J McGann (40), P Fleming for A Kelly (52).

Referee: Colm Lyons (Nemo Rangers).