Ballincollig U21 hurlers hold off Inniscarra to secure Mid Cork double
Ballincollig players and supporters after beating Inniscarra in the Muskerrry Farho Heating Premier U21 hurling final at Ballincollig. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
HOLDERS Ballincollig retained the Farho Muskerry Premier U21 Hurling Championship after a deserved win over a determined Inniscarra side at Ballincollig on Saturday evening.
It completed the double for the Village, after a narrow victory over Éire Óg in the football decider a week earlier.
Playing with the advantage of a strong wind in the opening half Ballincollig built up a lead that saw them control the game and even when Inniscarra began to cut the lead, Collig always had the ability to raise their game when it mattered.
The opening eight minutes saw Ballincollig race into a 0-6 to 0-2 point lead, with three points from Brian Keating (two frees), and one each by captain Mark Oldham, Tadhg O’Connell and Brian O’Sullivan.
Joe Enright pointed two frees for Inniscarra who were finding it difficult to make inroads on the Ballincollig defence, where David O’Sullivan, Ciaran Buckley and Brian O’Sullivan were dominant.
Referee Jim McEvoy used the advantage rule wisely to keep the game flowing.
Ballincollig built up a seven-point lead entering the final stages of the first half before Daniel Murphy billowed the Ballincollig net after a great run through the defence by Sean Lenihan. O’Connell and Dalton dominated in the centre of the park for Ballincollig, as two points and two frees by Keating gave Ballincollig a 0-14 to 1-5 interval lead.
Enright and Keating exchanged frees in the opening exchanges of the second half before Enright struck with Inniscarra’s first point from play after 35 minutes. Ballincollig struck back immediately when Sean Dore goaled, after Inniscarra failed to clear following a great break from O’Connell.
Keating followed up with a quick point to stretch out Ballincollig’s lead to nine points.
By the end of the third quarter, Inniscarra had the lead down to six, thanks to points from Sean Lenihan, Darragh O’Brien and placed balls by Enright, as Inniscarra began to shoot from distance, where Enright, O’Brien and Adam Doyle were posing problems.
Over the next five minutes, points by Keating (2) and Ciaran Buckley steadied the ship for the hosts. Inniscarra never gave up and put on pressure on the Ballincollig defence and were rewarded with a second goal as Doyle netted to reduce the margin to four with two minutes of normal time remaining.
Back came the holders with a point from substitute Eoin Dwyer to halt the Inniscarra onslaught. The final exchanges saw Keating and Enright exchange frees as Collig ran out five-point winners.
B Keating 0-15 (0-10 f), S Dore 1-0, M Oldham, T O’Connell, C Buckley 0-2 each, B O’Sullivan, A Cronin, E Dwyer 0-1 each.
J Enright 0-11 (0-8 f, 0-2 65), D Murphy 1-1, A Doyle 1-0, M Murphy, S Lenihan, D O’Brien, C Lynch 0-1 each.
D Hurley; L Harris, B Dore, S O’Donoghue; B O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan, C Buckley; T O’Connell, C Dalton; B Keating, M Oldham, S O’Neill; D Horgan, S Dore, A Cronin.
D O'Leary for Cronin, E Dwyer for Horgan (both h-t), T Morgan for Buckley (50).
E Cunningham; T Lyons, M Lenihan, C Dineen; C O’Leary, S Quinlivan, S McLoughlin; J Enright, D O’Brien; D Murphy, S Leisk, M Murphy; C Lynch, S Lenihan, C Desmond.
A Doyle for McLoughlin (20), D Dineen for M Murphy (49), T O’Reilly for Desmond (43), C Deegan for Leisk (49).
Jim McEvoy (Blarney).
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