Division 2 HL: Conor Lehane and Luke O'Farrell shine as Midleton cruise to victory over Éire Óg
Midleton's Conor Lehane is tackled by Eire Óg's Matt Brady during the RedFM HL division 2 clash at Midleton. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Midleton continued their march towards Division 1 in style, taking their record to five wins from five and four points ahead of nearest challengers Killeagh after overwhelming Éire Óg in Midleton on Sunday.
Without Séadnaidh Smyth, Paul Connaughton, Dave Cremin and Cormac Beausang for this Red FM Hurling League Division 2 clash, the Magpies were bolstered by the presence of Cork seniors Brion Saunderson and Conor Lehane.
There was simply no stopping Midleton when the floodgates opened. The fourth quarter yielded 2-10 for the Magpies, and just 0-3 for Éire Óg.
To their credit, Éire Óg were in this tie right up until the 38th minute. They had done a lot of things right and their discipline was fantastic – only conceding one scorable free in that 38-minute spell.
But quality told as Lehane and Luke O’Farrell showed no signs of slowing down, combining for 3-8 from play. O’Farrell was everywhere, popping up in his own half back line as much as up front. While Lehane took some time to get motoring – he was relentless in the second half.
One particular passage of play highlighted the gulf in class.
Éire Óg’s Jerome Kelleher put Lehane off balance with an incredible dummy, but sent his pass straight to Midleton centre-back Eoin Moloney. He picked out Lehane. The outcome was inevitable. Straight between the posts.
Lehane followed that up with another white flag. They were now 20 points clear.
Fluid in their positioning, Midleton used the wings in style and positioned themselves well for Éire Óg’s restarts. The visitors could do little to escape their grasp.
After a trio of points from Eoin O’Shea Sr had the score 1-13 to 0-12 in favour of the hosts at 38 minutes, the Magpies began to soar. Five points in a row preceded an outstanding goal from Lehane.
O’Farrell set up Mikey Finn for a simple point, but his shot came off the upright. Lehane was quickest to react, controlling the ball with ease, before blasting into the roof of the net. He added another thunderous point for good measure.
Now, 2-21 to 0-13 ahead, they continued to fire from all angles.
Cormac Walsh, who assisted 1-3, set up O’Farrell for his second. He slotted below Eoin O’Shea Jr. Sheer class. That same combination had raised a white flag less than 60 seconds later. Contest well and truly over.
Early on the hosts had taken a similar commanding lead, but one Éire Óg were able to claw back from.
The Magpies’ first goal arrived before five points on the trot from the 12th to the 17th minute. That took them 1-9 to 0-3 in front.
O’Farrell’s major was brilliantly worked – Seán O’Meara handpassing to Quirke, who repeated the trick straight to O’Farrell, and he rifled home unmarked. The goal was costly for the Ovens outfit and it came in the 10th minute, after they had struck two sloppy wides.
Matt Brady and Eoin O’Shea Sr (free) pointed, and while Alex Quirke got one back for the east Cork side, O’Shea added another two frees to leave it 1-10 to 0-7 after 26 minutes. The gap would rise to seven at the break. Éire Óg hung on for the first few minutes of the second period.
O’Shea Sr did what he could to keep Midleton grounded, Oisin O’Shea and Johnny Galvin worked hard. But hanging on became too great an ask, and Midleton made it look oh so simple.
C Lehane 1-10 (0-5 f), L O’Farrell 2-3, P White 0-3, A Quirke, M Finn, A Mulcahy, S O’Meara, R O’Regan 0-2 each, E Moloney, C Walsh 0-1 each.
E O’Shea Sr 0-8 (4 f, 2 65), D Healy 0-3, J Galvin 0-2 (1 f), M Brady, D McCarthy, D Kirwan 0-1 each.
B Saunderson; T O’Leary Hayes, L Dineen, C Smyth; S O’Sullivan, E Moloney, R O’Regan; M Finn, S O’Meara; C Walsh, P White, A Mulcahy; A Quirke, L O’Farrell, C Lehane.
E O’Shea Jr; D Kelly, M Kelleher, D Dineen; M Brady, C McGoldrick, D Coakley; D McCarthy, J Galvin; D Kirwan, E O’Shea Sr, O O’Shea; J Kelleher, B Thompson, D Healy.
C Malone for Dineen (50).
Aidan Hyland (Kilworth)
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