Cork PJHC: St Catherine's overcome St Finbarr's test to book quarter-final spot
St Catherine's Kian O'Donoghue clears his lines as St Finbarr's David Murray closes in, during their Premier JHC clash at Carrigtwohill. Picture: David Keane.
St Catherine’s came into this one in third, staring at elimination, but when victory was the only currency that counted, they delivered it against St Finbarr’s at Carrigtwohill on Friday evening in the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier Junior Hurling Championship to book a spot in the quarter-final, at the Barrs’ expense.
It was never comfortable. St Finbarr’s harried and hassled, never quite allowing the East Cork men to stretch out of sight. But once Catherine’s hit the front in the 28th minute, you sensed the last two Premier Junior beaten finalists had the steel to see it through.
They carried a 0-9 to 0-7 lead to the break. Three of the first four scores after the restart pushed it out to four, and from there, the gap never shrank beyond three, never grew beyond five.
When the Barrs did creep closest, it was a Kevin O’Flynn free followed by Conor McCarthy clipping over from a turnover. Each time Catherine’s swatted the challenge aside. Brian Mulcahy to Seán O’Donoghue for one, Evan O’Driscoll – immense at the back – launching the move that ended with Kevin Barry for another. At 0-16 to 0-11 with seven left, they had the cushion.
Every one of O’Flynn’s frees down the stretch was answered in kind from play. By the time David Murray closed the Barrs’ account in added time, the contest had already tilted east.
And yet, it was far from flawless.
St Catherine’s ended with 15 wides, their finishing betraying them as often as it carried them. St Finbarr’s were worse again – 13 wides and five efforts dropped short. An upset was there for the taking, but the Togher men never grabbed it.
It was a poor first half, by all accounts. The Barrs were lively early, 0-4 to 0-1 ahead by the 12th minute with Murray, McCarthy and Jamie Linehan involved.
But from the 23rd minute on, Catherine’s strung together five in a row. Rory Galvin – on as an early sub – landed one to get only their second point from play, Mulcahy struck twice, and Oisín Fitzgerald, superb in a variety of roles, nailed a beauty from distance. That run turned a two-point deficit into a three-point lead and set the frame for what followed.
Outside of McCarthy’s drive from midfield and Murray’s threat inside, the Barrs never got consistent traction. Catherine’s, despite the scatter of wides, looked the side with the quality when it mattered, and the answers to book a quarter-final spot.
R Galvin 0-6 (0-5 f), K Barry 0-4 (0-2 f), B Mulcahy 0-3, O Fitzgerald, S O’Donoghue 0-2 each, R O’Connell, W Leamy 0-1 each.
K O’Flynn 0-5 f, C O’Connor (f), D Murray 0-3 each, C McCarthy 0-2, J Linehan, R Barrett 0-1 each.
E Davis; E O’Driscoll, E O’Riordan, K Neville; B O’Brien, C Hegarty, K O’Donoghue; S Cotter, J Hayes; J Neville, O Fitzgerald, S O’Donoghue; B Mulcahy, K Barry, E Condon.
R Galvin for S O’Donoghue (5-7, temp), Galvin for Cotter (18 inj), F O’Connell for K O’Donoghue, R O’Connell for Condon (both 39), W Leamy for Neville (48).
J McCarthy; J Goggin, M Ahern, J Kennefick; S Kennedy, L Hannigan, A Buckley; C McCarthy, A Barry; S Callanan, C O’Connor, D Murray; J Linehan, C Keane, K O’Flynn.
R Barrett for O’Connor, T Egan for Ahern (both HT), C Steele for Linehan (39), B Ramsay for C Keane (44), J O’Brien for Callanan (51).
D Motherway (Ballygiblin)
App?
