Lisgoold see off 13-man Ballygiblin and advance to Intermediate A HC final
A tussle for possession in Lisgoold and Ballygiblin's Intermediate A Hurling Championship semi-final in Ballynoe on Saturday. Picture Chani Anderson
In dramatic fashion – Lisgoold overcame 13-man Ballygiblin after a thrilling battle in the Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship semi-final.
After struggling for almost the entire third quarter against their 13-man opponents, the east Cork side reeled off 10 unanswered scores in Ballynoe, sending them to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a third county final in five seasons.
Ballygiblin, who had been on top throughout and led by four at the break, were dealt a huge blow when Cork footballer Cathail O’Mahony was dealt a straight red in the 33rd minute.
A minute later, as Diarmuid Healy pointed to cut the deficit to two, Ballygiblin captain Joseph O’Sullivan was shown a second yellow for an off ball challenge on the Imokilly forward.
In two minutes, they’d gone from 15 to 13.
Yet miraculously, Ballygiblin were still the better side.
Their east Cork opponents couldn’t get a grip on proceedings as former Cork U20 Darragh Flynn scored his fifth from play, two minutes after O’Sullivan’s sending off.
Mark Hegarty – who starred for Lisgoold cut the gap to two again, but two more from Flynn – a free, as well as another outstanding score had Ballygiblin 0-14 to 0-10 in front with 20 minutes to go.
Their admirable effort wouldn’t be enough though, with Lisgoold inevitably pulling away thanks to the shooting accuracy of Hegarty and John Cashman, on a day where as a team they finished with 17 wides.
It took almost 10 minutes, but when Lisgoold finally found way around the relentless Ballygiblin press, they scored 10 in a row to turn the game on its head.
Former Cork senior hurler Mark Keane and Kevin O’Gorman were impressive in the half-back line, but they were eventually overrun in the final quarter, especially as the team struggled against the swirling wind.
It was a tough one to take – especially given how brightly they had started.
O’Sullivan opened the scoring for Ballygiblin from a 65, before O’Gorman set up Flynn for his first.
John Cashman assisted Healy for a score back for the east Cork side, but Seán O’Sullivan pounced on a mistake from Lisgoold to make it 0-3 to 0-1 after eight minutes.
Lisgoold skipper Liam O’Shea pointed from a free before Flynn struck an outrageous over the shoulder point from just inside the 65, and it sailed between the posts.
But their opponents a score equal to it from O’Shea, this one a free from his own 65 against the breeze blowing left to right. He angled it perfectly, and it sailed over.
Lisgoold levelled it 0-4 each after 14 minutes when John Cronin cleverly flicked it to Cashman, who faked the shot to skip past Joseph O’Sullivan and with an open shot, he wasn’t going to miss.
Their parity didn’t last though, with O’Mahony assisting Flynn, before the latter scored his third point, 0-6 to 0-4.
Ballygiblin outscored their opponents for the remainder of the half five to three, ensuring a 0-11 to 0-7 lead at the break.
Their disastrous restart proved costly though, and they couldn’t hold on, despite staying in front for 14 minutes with 13 men.
L O’Shea (0-4 f), J Cashman 0-5 each, M Hegarty 0-4, D Healy 0-3, C Hickey, J O’Driscoll, L Walsh 0-1 each.
D Flynn 0-7 (0-1 f), J O’Sullivan 0-3 (0-2 f, 0-1 65), C O’Mahony 0-2, R Donegan, S O’Sullivan 0-1 each.
C Cronin; J Hegarty, C Cashman, C Scannell; K Cashman, C Healy, J Cronin; M Hegarty, D Healy; L Walsh, L O’Shea (c), C Hickey; I Walsh, J Cashman, J O’Driscoll.
T Savage for L Walsh, C Hallahan for I Walsh (both 60+3).
A O’Brien; K Roche, F Herlihy, J Mullins; K O’Gorman, M Keane, M Lewis; R Donegan, J O’Sullivan (c); K Duggan, D Flynn, D Sheehan; S Beston, S O’Sullivan, C O'Mahony.
C O’Sullivan for Donegan (HT), E Flynn for Duggan (46), E Geary for S O’Sullivan (54).
Ian McCarthy (Bandon)
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