Premier SHC: Imokilly will hope to be on the right side of fine margins on Sunday

The history of the Imokilly hurlers competing in the top grade of the Cork hurling championship is an interesting one.

The East Cork Division completed back-to-back titles in 1997 and '98 and they would have to wait 19 years before they added a third crown when they beat Blackrock in the 2017 final. Imokilly would go on and achieve three-in-a-row when they won the championship again in 2018 and ’19 with wins over Midleton and Glen Rovers respectively in the decider. 

It was a serious outfit that Imokilly had with the 2019 final win over Glen Rovers where they told everyone that they weren’t going anywhere. They recorded a 2-17 to 1-16 triumph over their city opposition, with Declan Dalton hitting 1-7, (1-4 f, 0-1 65), and Séamus Harnedy and Bill Cooper excelling.

At the back, Colm Barry was a rock at full-back, with the likes of Shane Hegarty and John Cronin also playing some great hurling in that season. The team was led by Fergal ‘Rasper’ Condon, who finished up on a high in 2019 after three successive county titles as he linked up with Pat Ryan’s Cork U20 hurling set-up for the 2020 campaign. The pair have since moved up together to the Cork senior hurlers since 2022.

Imokilly’s four-in-a-row bid would dramatically come apart at the seams when they failed to get out of their divisions/colleges section. UCC defeated them by three points in the final of that particular section.

Since then, you could say the division has been on an upward trajectory, which is underlined why they have been knocking on the door in recent seasons and are at this present time, favourites to lift the Seán Óg Murphy cup.

Imokilly face Blackrock on Sunday in the semi-final of the Co-Op SuperStores Premier SHC in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh at 2pm. It would be fair to say that the team in red and white won’t want another morale loss or a case of fine margins.

Since their shock exit in 2020, Imokilly have been desperately unlucky. They lost by a point to Glen Rovers in the quarter-final in 2021, before former Cork minor and U20 hurling boss Denis Ring took over as manager in 2022, a position he still holds.

In his first season at the helm, Imokilly reached the knockout stages but fell once again at the quarter-final hurdle when this weekend’s opposition in the shape of the Rockies defeated them on penalties, 3-0, after it finished 2-23 to 1-26 after extra time. Don’t be surprised if the game on Sunday goes the distance as well.

At the third time of asking, Imokilly did get over the quarter-final stage albeit they were handed a more favourable draw than previously when they hammered Douglas, 1-29 to 1-16 last year. The eventual winners in Sarsfields’ would be next up for Ring’s charges. Imokilly led 0-18 to 0-14 three minutes into added time, before an Aaron Myers point and a Luke Elliott goal at the death forced extra time. It was a game unquestionably that Imokilly should have seen out. They would lose 1-23 to 0-25 when extra time was all said and done.

It is pretty much the same team this year as last season with the addition of Watergrasshill's Adam Murphy really after buttressing Imokilly’s forward unit. Murphy previously played for Bandon before switching to the Hill.

The division has a really strong team with a powerful spine. Eoin Davis is one of the top goalkeepers around, Cork star Ciarán Joyce is one of the best centre-backs in the country with Diarmuid Healy a gifted hurler at centre-forward. You could talk about every individual player, but as Muskerry boss Diarmuid Kirwan said after his side’s 6-31 to 0-17 defeat to Imokilly in the divisions/colleges final last month: “Let’s be honest, we played an inter-county team there tonight. If any team can take them on this year….putting up scores like that is phenomenal.” 

Before that win, Imokilly beat Avondhu on a scoreline of 5-24 to 0-12 and most recently had a comfortable 0-27 to 2-14 victory over Fr O’Neill’s in the quarter-final eleven days ago. 

The next challenge is Blackrock on Sunday. A repeat of the 2022 classic between the sides and we will be in for a treat, but Imokilly will be hoping to be on the right side of fine margins this time around.