IAHC: Erin's Own chase historic treble but Lisgoold have impressed

Last year, Erin’s Own followed a path that had been laid out for them over the previous two years; this time around, they are ploughing a new furrow.

Lisgoold won the delayed 2020 Co-op SuperStores Cork JAHC title in August 2021 and they followed it three months later with what was then known as the Lower IHC title.

That same autumn saw Ballygiblin claim the junior honours and they too straight through what had been renamed as the Premier JHC (a shift which allowed the north Cork outfit to represent the county in Munster and the All-Ireland two years running, losing the national final of 2022-23 before going a step further the following season).

Following Ballygiblin as the junior champions were Erin’s Own’s second team, beating Kilshannig after a replay – surely lightning couldn’t strike twice a third time? Well, it did as they beat St Catherine’s in the 2023 Premier JHC decider and their run has not yet ended.

In 2022, Lisgoold’s quest for a third straight championship win ended with a semi-final defeat to Cloughduv, after extra time, while last year Ballygiblin fell to Blackrock at the quarter-final stage.

Erin’s Own have kept going, though. Wins over Kildorrery and then the Rockies in the group stage meant that they had first place secured with a game to spare and, while defeat to Bandon in the final match was disappointing as it denied them an automatic semi-final spot, it was not fatal.

Mayfield were their quarter-final opponents at Ballymaw. While Daniel O’Gorman had an early goal for the northsiders, points from Cathal Lenihan were allied to a Tiernan O’Connell goal as Erin’s Own led by 1-10 to 1-6 at half-time.

The lead was reduced in the early stages after half-time but Alan Bowen’s points kept Erin’s Own ticking over and Lenihan’s goal gave the outcome an air of inevitability. Bowen finished with 12 points to his name as it finished 2-24 to 1-14.

That set up a semi-final against Midleton, last year’s beaten finalists, in Cobh and goals were the difference as the Caherlag side won again. Kieran Murphy’s early green flag settled them while Cathal Lenihan also netted in the opening period, the end of which they led by 2-7 to 0-4, with Bowen again finding his range with points.

While Midleton came back well after half-time, the third Erin’s Own goal, scored by Stephen Horgan, put the outcome beyond doubt, 3-11 to 0-14 the final score.

It leaves them on the verge of history but, while the aforementioned Lisgoold couldn’t make it three in a row in 2022, they have established themselves as one of the top sides in the IAHC.

Their group-stage performance this year saw them beat Mayfield, Cloughduv and Youghal by a combined tally of 42 points – the next-best scoring difference was Midleton, with +10. Top seeding meant a quarter-final bye for Mossie O’Connell’s side, with Ballygiblin emerging to meet them in the last four.

The longer lay-off has often tripped up teams who have taken the direct route but, while they didn’t have things all their own way in Ballynoe, they still came out on the right side of a 0-20 to 0-14 result.

A good first half from Ballygiblin had seen them establish an 0-11 to 0-7 lead but two red cards in quick succession early in the second half made their task harder.

While Darragh Flynn’s points kept Ballygiblin in front for a while, Lisgoold eventually made the most of their extra manpower and ten unanswered points – with Mark Hegarty, John Cashman and Liam O’Shea among the scores – saw them through to the final.