Stephen Condon on song as Harbour Rovers battle back to reach Junior A hurling final

Harbour Rovers 1-19 Carraig na bhFear 1-15 

HARBOUR Rovers are Co-Op Superstores JAHC final bound after overcoming the strong challenge of Carraig na bhFear following a cracking contest at Páirc Uí Rinn.

A stunning second-half performance from Harbour Rovers saw them come from six points down to reach the decider.

A well-taken Emmett Sheehan point from play for Harbour Rovers opened the scoring but the East Cork champions gradually settled and got off the mark courtesy of scores by James Forde, followed by points from Oisin Crowley and Paul Sheehan.

The early momentum was all pointing in the direction of Carraig, as Timmy Geaney got in on the act with a fine point. Things got even better after quarter of an hour as they hit the back of the net. Billy Connolly reacted quickest to a breaking ball, before racing through and finishing clinically.

Harbour Rovers got a much-needed point on 18 minutes thanks to a composed free by Stephen Condon, but Carraig replied again through Forde.

Then heading into the final 10 minutes of the opening half, Harbour Rovers grabbed a vital goal. David Pyne did well to create space before blasting home with a rocket for a strike.

Rovers reduced the deficit to four by the 25th minute, courtesy of Tom McGrath and another Condon point.

Carraig ended the half on a positive note though, with further scores by Forde and Crowley leaving the the advantage at 1-11 to 1-5.

Another point by Stephen Condon got Harbour Rovers off to the ideal second-half start, with Darragh O’Brien and Tom Condon subsequently pointing to leave just three between the teams.

However, composed Forde then got another Carrig na bhFear score on 35 minutes.

The gap was reduced to two points by the 41st minute, with Stephen Condon maintaining his impressive performance as the North Cork side built up momentum.

A tight and tense second half provided numerous twists and turns and with four minutes of normal time remaining, Harbour Rovers edged ahead through a Darragh O’Brien point.

That was a lead they would ultimately hold onto and they finished powerfully to secure a place in the county final.

Scorers for Harbour Rovers: S Condon 0-10 (0-5 f), D Pyne 1-0, D O’Brien 0-3, J O’Sullivan 0-2, T Condon, T McGrath, E Sheehan, P Hannon 0-1 each.

Carraig na bhFear: J Forde 0-9 (0-7 f), B Connolly 1-0, T Geaney, P Sheehan 0-2 each, J Forde, O Crowley 0-1 each.

HARBOUR ROVERS: D O’Sullivan; B O’Keeffe, E O’Donoghue, J Coughlan; J Fogarty, S Finn, J Walsh; J Fitzgibbon, T Condon; P Hannon, T McGrath, D Pyne; D O’Brien, S Condon, E Sheehan.

Subs: J O’Sullivan for Hannon, B Gallagher for McGrath (both h-t), C Whelton for Sheehan (50), P Blackburn for O’Keeffe (58).

CARRAIG NA BHFEAR: A Buckley; T O’Donoghue, F Murphy, T Hegarty; B Murphy, C Cooney, T Geaney; J Forde, R Sheehan; A Dorgan, P Sheehan, B Connolly; D Sweeney, O Crowley, J Forde.

Subs: S O’Donoghue for Crowley, C Hayes for R Sheehan (35), M Ahern for Murphy (48).

Referee: Niall Fahy (Brian Dillon's).