Cork SAHC: Goals do the damage as Carrigtwohill prevail against Fermoy
Carrigtwohill's Sean Walsh shoots past Fermoy's Greg Lardner, during their Senior A HC clash at Rathcormac. Picture: David Keane.
Carrigtwohill survived a nervy second half to get their Co-Op Superstores Senior A Hurling Championship campaign off to a flying start, as a ruthless second-quarter scoring burst laid the foundation for victory over Fermoy in Rathcormac on Saturday evening.
Two goals in a blistering five-minute spell before half time pushed Carrig eight clear, and while Fermoy dominated possession after the break, they never got the gap below five. Carrig’s defence held firm throughout, while championship debutant Patrick Walsh was a standout performer up front, landing 0-4 and constantly involved in play.
With the wind against them in the first half, Carrig took time to settle. After 18 minutes the sides were level for the third time, 1-3 to 0-6, after Jake Carr’s pointed free.
Walsh nudged Carrig back in front before Darragh Daly sent Carr through on goal, only for his shot to flash wide from a tight angle – a miss that would quickly be punished.
From the puckout, Carrig worked it beautifully. Shane Devlin to Brendan Twomey. Twomey long to Liam O’Sullivan. He played a quick one to Seán Walsh, then an offload to Cian O’Riordan, who made no mistake with a clinical finish.
Carrig continued to probe. Matthew Barrett had a goal-bound effort blocked bravely by Brian McGrath, but when Carrig recycled possession, James Mulcahy split the posts.
Less than a minute later, they had their third goal. Walsh found O’Riordan, who passed to Justin Oke. A slick handpass to the advancing Mulcahy, and the Carrig forward hammered it to the roof of the net.
Carrigtwohill had gone from one to eight points ahead in a flash.
Fermoy responded, with Daly and Carr combining to set up David O’Callaghan, but Devlin got down low to deny the goal chance.
On the resumption Fermoy were much better. Ten first half wides to Carrig’s three had left them eight behind at the interval, but by the 43rd minute Fermoy had closed that gap to five.
Darragh Daly, who was a constant presence throughout, chipped in with two from play in that spell.
Patrick Walsh struck his fourth point in the 49th minute, and though Carr replied from a 65, the sides continued to trade scores. By the 57th minute, Carrig still held a firm grip, 3-12 to 0-16.
A fine point from Mulcahy was quickly followed by an even better strike from Barrett, after Liam Gosnell burst forward to assist him.
Fermoy did grab a late point through sub Arlen Aherne, but the result was sealed in the closing stages when a long delivery from Twomey was misjudged by the Fermoy defence. Pat O’Sullivan pounced and drilled home Carrig’s fourth goal – a finish similar to Mulcahy’s first, capping off a superb win.
Earlier, that goal from Mulcahy had given Carrigtwohill a 1-3 to 0-3 advantage in the 12th minute, after he collected a weighted pass from Oke and rifled it across goal into the far corner. Fermoy hit the next three scores to level again.
But they never recovered from the two-goal blitz that followed.
J Mulcahy 2-2, C O’Riordan 1-1, P Walsh 0-4, S Walsh 0-3 (0-2 f), P O’Sullivan 1-0, M Barrett 0-2, S de Búrca, L Gosnell 0-1 each.
J Carr 0-7 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), D Daly 0-3, J Molloy 0-2, D Lardner (f), D O’Callaghan, K Morrison, A Aherne, G Lardner 0-1 each.
S Devlin; B Twomey, A Walsh Barry, P O’Sullivan; D Murnane, S de Búrca, J Horgan; M Barrett, J Oke; P Walsh, L O’Sullivan, C O’Riordan; S Brennan, S Walsh, J Mulcahy.
L Gosnell for Brennan (HT).
S Coughlan; L Aherne, J O’Brien, B McGrath; P de Róiste, G Lardner, K Morrison; M Brennan, B O’Sullivan; J Molloy, S Aherne, D Daly; J Carr, D Lardner, D O’Callaghan.
D O’Carroll for de Róiste (HT), B Daly for D Lardner (46), A Aherne for Brennan (51), T Clancy for O’Callaghan (58).
Canice Walsh (Nemo Rangers)
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