SAHC: Glen Rovers power into last four following big win over Ballyhea
Glen Rovers' David Dooling moves away from Dean Copps and Gavin Morrissey of Ballyhea. Picture: Jim Coughlan
Glen Rovers have secured a direct route to the semi-finals of the Co-Op SuperStores SAHC following an impressive victory over Ballyhea at Kanturk on Saturday evening.
There was a lot on the line in this Group 3 Round 3 clash with both teams eyeing a knockout spot, but by the end of it, the Blackpool-based side made it three wins from three and in the process took a last four place. They will meet either Castlelyons or Na Piarsaigh in the semi-final.
The Glen are favourites to make an immediate return to the top table, and on the evidence so far, they will be hard to beat this season. This latest victory was also done so without the services of Patrick Horgan, who hasn't played since the All-Ireland final.
Ballyhea were down some key players due to injury, most notably Pa O’Callaghan and Jamie Copps and while they did battle gamely, they came up well short. They certainly didn't lack in effort, but an over-reliance on Joseph Hickey did hinder them.
It was a very competitive start as the sides traded early points but once Glen Rovers got their first goal after five minutes, they never looked back. It was a brilliant finish by Stephen Lynam after Eoin O’Leary did great work to set him up.
Ballyhea’s response was a long range John Morrissey free, but it was the city side who were in control at this juncture, hitting four of the next five points to lead 1-5 to 0-3 after 15 minutes. In fairness, Ballyhea had their chances to get points on the board, but registered five wides during the opening quarter.
Hickey tacked on a point for the North Cork side before Simon Kennefick struck for a second Glen goal after 18 minutes as his effort flew into the top corner of the net, 2-5 to 0-4.
The famed Blackpool outfit were keeping their opposition at arms-length as they now led 2-9 to 0-5 with five minutes to the break. Ballyhea put together four unanswered white flags with two efforts coming from Eugene O’Leary and points from John Morrissey and Hickey (free).
Lynam and Mark Dooley steadied the ship again for Glen Rovers with fine individual white flags before a Hickey free for Ballyhea was the last score of the half, 2-11 to 0-10 at the break.
It was a scrappy opening to the new half as tensions threatened to boil over. The first score didn’t arrive until six minutes in when the lively Lynam pointed.
Eoin Downey and Dean Brosnan tacked on points for the Glen before the sides traded white flags, 2-15 to 0-11. Ballyhea were at all times competitive as they hit two of the next four points but still trailed 2-17 to 0-13 with 15 minutes remaining.
The game petered out in the final quarter. The Glen had a 2-20 to 0-14 advantage with five minutes left before they scored a third goal after 57 minutes when Kennefick finished low into the corner of the net. The accurate Hickey did convert a free for the team in black and white, but Tomás Mulcahy’s charges hit the last three points to run out convincing winners. David Dooling and a pair of Kennefick efforts with the scores.
S Kennefick 2-4, S Lynam 1-6 (0-3 f), D Brosnan 0-5, E O’Leary 0-3, E Downey, R Downey, D Dooling, M Dooley, L Horgan 0-1 each.
J Hickey 0-9 (0-8 f), E O’Leary, J Morrissey (f), M O’Sullivan 0-2 each.
C Hickey; A Lynch, S McDonnell, L Coughlan; B Moylan, R Downey, E Varian; D Dooling, R Dunne; D Brosnan, E Downey, M Dooley; S Lynam, S Kennefick, E O’Leary.
L Horgan for S McDonnell (29, inj), G Mulcahy for S Lynam (56).
M Browne; W Carroll, A Barrett, C Cox; M Morrissey, T Hanley, F O’Sullivan; J Morrissey, L Crowley; D Copps, M O’Sullivan, K Morrissey; E O’Leary, J Hickey, G Morrissey.
N Crowley for T Hanley (10, inj), D Curtin for K Morrissey (17, inj), M Mortell for N Crowley (h-t), K Copps for F O’Sullivan (57), S Walsh for D Copps (61).
Mark Maher (St Finbarr’s).
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