St Catherine's battle back past Ballygarvan into Premier Junior Hurling final
4th October 2024: St. Catherine's Eoin Condon is tackled by Ballygarvan's Richard O'Leary during the Co -Op Superstores Premier JHC semi-final at Pairc Ui Rinn. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
A magnificent second-half comeback from St Catherine’s saw them overcome Ballygarvan in a titanic Co-Op Superstores PJHC semi-final at Páirc Uí Rinn.
In a game dominated by Ballygarvan in the first half, they failed to withstand the intensity shown by the Saints when the game hung in the balance.
Plenty of heroes for the winners but a 12-point contribution from Rory Galvin proved pivotal.
The slippery conditions made life difficult for both sides in the opening exchanges but the lively Ray O’Halloran showed class personified to nail the first point of the game for Ballygarvan in the second minute. A minute later O’Halloran was left through on goal, but his shot was parried to safety by Eoin Davis.
The South East side were well on top in the possession stakes but five poor wides in the opening five minutes kept their opponents within striking distance.
It was left to the Ballygarvan keeper Daniel Mackey to show his outfield players how to strike the sliotar when he split the posts from 70 yards in the eighth minute.
Three minutes later we witnessed the opening green flag when O’Halloran pounced after Catherine’s defence didn’t deal with a high ball into the square. As the half matured the standard improved and Cillian O’Regan's wonderful point increased their lead to four points after 20 minutes.
The Ballynoe outfit struggled from play and three of their opening four points came from placed balls. Ballygarvan full-forward Michael Cussen missed a goal chance in the 28th minute and the free-taking of Galvin kept Catherine’s in the game.
Leading 1-8 to 0-7 at the break, Ballygarvan should have had a larger lead and the game was still up for grabs despite their dominance.
On the restart, both teams exchanged points in the opening two minutes before Catherine’s took over and four unanswered white flags closed the gap after 40 minutes. Sub Kevin Barry made his presence felt with two points from play while Sean O'Donoghue also landed two scores, which were vital on a tough night for hurling.
Coming down the stretch, they had all the momentum and return to the county final against Nemo or Russell Rovers.
R Galvin 0-12 (0-9 f), K Barry, S O’Donoghue 0-2 each, O Fitzgerald, E Condon 0-1 each.
R O’Halloran 1-3, G White 0-4 f, M Cussen 0-2 f, M O’Mahony, F Mackey (f), E O’Connor, S Brady, C O’Regan 0-1 each.
E Davis; P Keane, F O’Connell, N Sheehan; C Hegarty, O Fitzgerald, K Neville; S Cotter, J Hayes; J Neville, R Galvin, S O’Donoghue; B Mulcahy, E Condon, W Leamy.
K O’Donoghue for W Leamy (h-t), K Barry for N Sheehan (h-t), R O’Connell for J Hayes (58).
D Mackey; P Ryan, R O’Leary, E Mackey; S Fenton, P O’Halloran, K Lyons; C O’Regan, M O’Mahony; R O’Halloran, D O’Connor, S Brady; E O’Connor, M Cussen, N Dowd.
S O’Donovan for E Mackey (inj 21), G White for M Cussen (46), D O’Sullivan for C O’Regan (48), K McIntyre for N Dowd (56).
Pat Lyons (Bishopstown).
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