Watergrasshill strike goals late on to see off Mallow and reach PIHC final

Watergrasshill 4-16 Mallow 1-14 

Watergrasshill will contest the Co-op Superstores PIHC final after booking their place in the showpiece game on Saturday afternoon thanks to a hard-fought win over Mallow in Castletownroche.

The Hill and Mallow could hardly be separated for long periods however the Imokilly side powered on in the last quarter against a Mallow side that just ran out of gas.

With almost half of the Watergrasshill side that took to the field collecting senior medals with their division, there was no doubting who the favourites were coming into the tie. However, Mallow have improved game-on-game in 2024 and came looking to secure their place in the final – a chance to return to Senior A firmly on their minds.

Adam Murphy, Sean Desmond, Daire O’Leary and Brendan Lehane would all impress on the day for the victors as would Aaron Spriggs in the middle and Padraig O’Leary who would claim a brace of goals on the day.

For Mallow, Sean and Denis Hayes would cause no end of bother for the victors as was the case with Mark Tobin, Billy Murphy and Ronan Sheehan. However, the latter would see his day come to an end before the break after an off-the-ball tangle of legs that referee Wayne King would need advice on – the decision straight red.

Watergrasshill got off to a lightning start, bagging 1-2 in the opening five minutes with Mallow not getting on the board until the eighth minute.

Mallow keeper Podge Buckley made a defiant stop when Padraig O’Leary went for goal in the fifth minute but was beaten on the rebound, O’Leary made no mistake the second time of asking. Buckley would go on the make a host of fine saves as the pressure mounted.

Frees from Murphy and keeper Aiden Foley extended the gap before Mallow’s Sean Hayes settled the Avondhu side’s nerves with a free.

Hayes was influential throughout the tie landing six points in the opening half to ensure this one was tied going into the second period.

Superb points from Spriggs, Liam Foley and Michael O’Driscoll kept Watergrasshill in front but with Hayes’ accuracy along the brilliance of Tobin (two points) and Billy Murphy (one) had Mallow and Watergrasshill headed for the interval level, 1-7 to 0-10.

There was little let-up after the break – a couple of further points from Watergrasshill had them three in front before they would go on a goal spree from the 49th to the 55th minute – Padraig O’Leary would get his second before goals from Ciaran O’Leary and Brendan Lehane would settle this one with time to spare.

Credit to Mallow, they fought on and a goal late on from Stephen O’Callaghan would bring some gloss on a day when hurling truly was the winner.

Scorers for Watergrasshill: A Murphy 0-7 (0-4 f, 0-1 65), P O’Leary 2-0, B Lehane, C O’Leary 1-1 each, A Foley (f), D O’Leary, D McCarthy, M O’Driscoll, A Spriggs, L Foley, S Desmond 0-1 each.

Mallow: S Hayes 0-8 (0-7 f, 0-1 65), S O’Callaghan 1-0, M Tobin 0-3, K Sheehan (65), Dan Sheehan, B Murphy 0-1 each.

WATERGRASSHILL: A Foley; S Field, D McCarthy, D Roche; M O’Driscoll, D O’Leary, K O’Neill; I O’Callaghan, A Spriggs; L Foley, S O’Regan, P O’Leary; B Lehane, S Desmond, A Murphy. 

Subs: C O’Leary for I O’Callaghan (ht), P Cronin for A Spriggs (42), C Healy for D McCarthy (47), J McCarthy for M O’Driscoll and P O’Regan for K O’Neill (both 57).

MALLOW: P Buckley; G Lenihan, P Lyons, R Sheehan; B Murphy, Daniel Sheehan, P Healy; S Leneghan, M Tobin; S Copps, K Sheehan, S Hayes; Dan Sheehan, D Hayes, M Kelleher. 

Subs: B Kingston for M Kelleher (40), F O’Neill for B Murphy (49), S O’Callaghan for S Leneghan and R Kelleher for M Tobin (both 59).

Referee: W King (Banteer).