Cork PMHC: Midleton inspired by Conor Morley are too good for Inniscarra winning by 18 points

Midleton 4-16 

Inniscarra 0-10

Midleton kicked off their Rebel Og Cosite Fe18 Premier 1 Hurling Championship campaign with a comfortable 4-16 to 0-10 victory over Inniscarra at Ballyanly on Wednesday night.

The Magpies were led by Conor Morley, who scored 2-3 on the night, with Cian Stack and Daniel Garde also raising green flags.

It was the perfect start to championship for Midleton, a club looking to go one better than their defeat to the Glen Rovers in last year’s semi-finals.

They wasted no time in Ballyanly as Peter Barrett and Eoghan Fraser split the posts inside 60 seconds, and this was followed by Josh Hogan getting his name on the score-sheet.

Darragh Egan got their fourth and Barrett converted a free, extending their advantage to 0-5 to no score.

Morely then got his first goal and Inniscarra responded with Darragh O’Brien putting a free over the bar.

Midleton led 1-6 to 0-1 and any hope the home side had of mustering a comeback ended in the 9th minute when Morely caught the ball and hit the back of the net from the edge of the square.

The move was identical to the forward’s first goal of the night, and it created an 11 point gap between the two teams.

Midleton kept going and they continued to generate scores with Barrett tapping a free over the bar and Stack goaled after raising a white flag.

O’Brien got two more points for Inniscarra during the time left to play in the first half and Niall Buckley nailed a free from distance, making it 3-11 to 0-4 to Midleton at the break.

The game restarted with Morely trying to complete his hat-trick and the forward was tripped as he went to hit the ball. A penalty was given by the referee, and Matthew McSweeney’s shot was stopped by Ben Gleeson.

Cathal Lyons then put the ball over the bar and it seemed like Inniscarra had momentum for the first time.

Midleton shrugged this off with Morely raising a white flag from open play. The Magpies also won a free after the puck-out and Barrett used the placed ball to get his fourth score, his third from a free.

Seconds later, Hogan gave Morely an opportunity to get his third goal of the game and the forward’s shot was blocked on the line.

Garde came on in the 48th minute and he marked his arrival by hitting 1-1 in a matter of seconds.

Midleton surged 4-15 to 0-7 in front, and they pushed on the puck-outs during the last few minutes of play.

The Magpies were determined to get the final few scores, but they failed to find the target with attempts from distance.

Scorers for Midleton: C Morley 2-3; C Stack 1-2, P Barrett 0-5 (3f), D Garde 1-1, J Hogan 0-2, D Egan 0-2, E Fraser 0-1.

Inniscarra: D O’Brien 0-7 (5f); N Buckley 0-1 (1f), C Lyons 0-1, D Enright 0-1.

Inniscarra: B Gleeson; C O'Sullivan, C Herlihy, D Linehan, S Murphy, D Enright, A Heelan, C Dineen, N Buckley, D O Brien, J O Mahony, J Shine, R O’Keeffe, D Holland, C Lyons.

Subs: C Costello for S Murphy (HT); S O’Sullivan for Holland (48), D Murray for Lyons (48), D O’Shea for O’Keeffe (56).

Midleton: S Carroll; A O Connor. E Ahern, O Dennigan, M McSweeney, C Cronin, T Dunlea, E Fraser, D Egan, S McSharry, L Brodkrob, J Hogan, C Stack, C Morley, P Barrett.

Subs: F Kelly for Dennigan (HT); J McSweeny for Egan (43), D Garde for Hogan (48), N Coughlan for Stack (48).

Referee: Maher Maher (St. Finbarr’s