Erin's Own and Kilshannig must do it all again after Junior A hurling final ends in a draw

Erin’s Own 0-16 

Kilshannig 0-16 

Erin’s Own and Kilshannig will have to meet again in the Co-Op Superstores Cork County Junior A hurling championship final after playing out a fair result, a draw, at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon. 

Erin’s Own’s first team are currently in the top tier and have won the SHC on three occasions, the Imokilly team were hunting for their first county junior A hurling championship title, while Kilshannig were making their very first appearance in the decider.

Kilshannig’s pursuit of an elusive hurling and football double for the first time in the history of the club is still alive after the North-Cork side won the IAFC last month.

Kilshannig made the better start with two points inside six minutes through a Kieran Twomey free and a Darragh O’Sullivan effort. 

The Caherlag side were struggling to get any rhythm going early on, but they did settle with two quick points from a Mark Collins placed ball and a lovely Andrew O’Sullivan point. 

The sides traded points, in a low scoring opening 20 minutes, 0-3 each.

In a keenly contested decider, the teams once again traded white flags, before a long-range Ger O’Mahony effort nudged Erin’s Own ahead for the first time. 

Jack Twomey split the posts for the Glantane based team to level the game, until Collins sent over a free for Erin’s Own after 28 minutes, but in a first-half where both teams couldn’t push more than two points clear, the lively Paddy Walsh levelled proceedings. 

The sides exchanged white flags before the break, as the teams were deadlocked at 0-7 each at the break.

The pattern of the first-half continued into the second-half, with teams swapping points in the first two minutes of the new half. 

There was nothing to separate the teams with 20 minutes remaining, the sides level at 0-10 apiece. 

Walsh raised a white flag for the Avondhu men, before his teammate Killian O’Hanlon was desperately unlucky not to convert what looked like a certain goal from close-range, a mixture of goalkeeper and defenders stopping his goal bound shot.

With just 15 minutes left, teams were level once more, as Collins pointed from a free for his team. 

It was all set up for a fascinating and with five minutes remaining, nothing was between the two evenly matched teams at 0-13 each. 

Kilshannig led 0-15 to 0-14 after 59 minutes, but Erin’s Own hit two points without reply, as Tom Foley and Ian O’Mahony nudged Erin’s Own in front. 

Kilshannig levelled the game in the second-minute of injury-time, as Walsh coolly pointed, as the game goes to a replay.

Scorers for Erin’s Own: M Collins 0-9 (0-8f), S Murphy 0-2, G O’Mahony 0-1, C O’Callaghan 0-1, A O’Sullivan 0-1, T Foley 0-1, I O’Mahony 0-1.

Scorers for Kilshannig: J Twomey 0-6 (0-4f), K O’Hanlon 0-3, P Walsh 0-3, E Bourke 0-1, K Twomey 0-1f, E O’Hanlon 0-1, Darragh O’Sullivan 0-1.

Erin’s Own: T Dillon; C O’Sullivan, P Fitzgerald, R O’Regan; S Power, I O’Mahony, C McDonnell; S Murphy, S Broderick; J Sheehan, M Collins, G O’Mahony; C O’Callaghan, J McMahon (c), A O’Sullivan.

Subs: L O’Shea for J McMahon (18), T Foley for L O’Shea (47), S Horgan for C O’Callaghan (59).

Kilshannig: D Kearney; C O’Shea, B Guerin, J Cronin; E Bourke, B Curtin (c), K Twomey; C Murphy, P Walsh; J Twomey, E O’Sullivan, K O’Hanlon; D Twomey, E O’Hanlon, Darragh O’Sullivan.

Subs: Diarmuid O’Sullivan for D Twomey (44), D Murphy for K Twomey (49).

Referee: Derek Carroll (Kanturk).