Midleton hurlers see off St Finbarr's in extra time epic to land U21 county
Midleton celebrate their win over St Finbarr's in the U21 A final at Páirc Uí Rinn. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Peter Barrett’s 82nd-minute goal secured Midleton the Cork U21 A Hurling Championship in an extra-time nail-biter against St Finbarr's.
However, they will effectively have to defend their title in the Imokilly final against Bride Rovers on Sunday.
Leading the 14-man Barrs by one entering the final two minutes, Rory Hartnett extended their lead before Barrett capitalised on the rebound from Cian Stack’s shot to bat home the clincher. Alex Quirke became the first Midleton man to lift the Dick Barrett Cup since 2013.
Ben Cunningham appeared to have secured victory in normal time with five consecutive points, including four from frees and an exceptional solo score from play.
But stoppage-time points from wing-backs Hartnett and Evan McCarthy snatched a draw for Midleton; 0-16 apiece at full-time. With Barrs’ wing-back Thomas Egan sent off for a second yellow card moments before that equaliser, they had to play extra time with 14 men.
The only two scores in the first period belonged to Midleton, with a Mikey Finn free followed by a David Cremin point for an 0-18 to 0-16 lead.
John Wigginton-Barrett and Stack traded points before Cunningham’s 12th point brought it back to one. The wide count was a major factor throughout, ending with 22 for Midleton and 16 for the Barrs.
This unusual decider was essentially a final for one team and a semi-final for the other.
For the Barrs, the county title was guaranteed with a win. If Midleton prevailed, they would effectively have to defend their title in Sunday’s East Cork final against Bride Rovers.
The situation arose due to postponements in the Imokilly division which saw the Magpies nominated as their county championship representatives.
Neither side showed their finest shooting from the start. The Barrs began with the opening pair from William Buckley and Eoghan Hallahan but missed another five attempts.
Midleton equalised through a huge Mikey Finn free and a Hartnett intercept. However, they sprayed eight more shots wide of the posts in that spell.
Cunningham and Finn traded a pair of frees before the Barrs looked to have made a major move. They tagged on the next four points on the spin from Buckley, Conor O’Donoghue, and Cunningham (two).
By this stage, Midleton were up to 11 wides but they tidied up their shooting with their last four efforts of the half.
All-action corner-back Dunlea assisted the first pair for Eoghan Fraser and Finn, who juggled away from a pack of defenders to register. He added another from halfway before adding a free.
Level a third time heading back for the relative warmth of the dressing room; 0-8 apiece.
Cunningham opened the second half with a pair of frees, including a standout effort from his own 45-metre line, while Finn clipped one in reply.
They traded terrific points with Doolan, having followed David Cremin out to the half-forward line, landing a monster effort before Dara Scanlon raised a flag with his first touch.
The Magpies extended their momentum for a five-point streak, via Alex Quirke, Peter Barrett (two), and Fraser.
They could’ve had two goals in that time too. Alex Quirke, switched to full-forward, twice fed Barrett but he couldn’t reach the first pass and blasted the second wide.
They led 0-14 to 0-11 as the Barrs went 15 minutes without a score before Cunningham’s quintet, including his second 100-metre free.
That wasn’t even his greatest highlight. For one, Cunningham caught a long delivery, battled away from three defenders, flicked the sliotar over the head of a fourth, collected it on the other side, and fired over despite falling as he took the shot.
But there were still two added minutes and once McCarthy levelled, Midleton would have the extra man for extra time.
M Finn 0-8 (0-6 f), P Barrett 1-2, R Hartnett 0-3, E Fraser, D Cremin 0-2 each, E McCarthy, D Scanlon, C Stack 0-1 each.
B Cunningham 0-12 (0-10 f), W Buckley 0-2, C Doolan, E Hallahan, C O’Donoghue, J Wigginton-Barrett 0-1 each.
B Saunderson; C Cronin, A Fay, T Dunlea; E McCarthy, C Smyth, R Hartnett; E Fraser, E McGrath; D McCarthy, A Quirke, M Finn; P Barrett, T O’Leary-Hayes, D Cremin.
D Scanlon for D McCarthy (39), C Beausang for O’Leary-Hayes (46), C Stack for Barrett (53), A Moloney for Dunlea (56, inj), C Morley for Beausang (76), Barrett for Scanlon (79, temporary), S McSharry for McGrath.
E Kelleher; S Kennedy, C Doolan, J Kennefick; T Egan, A Barry, A Buckley; W Buckley, R Barrett; E Hallahan, B Cunningham, R O’Sullivan; C O’Donoghue, J Wigginton-Barrett, D Murray.
C Buckley for O’Sullivan (49), J Brady for Murray (57), E Hurley for Hallahan (ET), D Burke for Kennefick (72), O’Sullivan for A Buckley (75, inj).
P O’Mahony (Kilbrittain).
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