Premier 1 MHC: Midleton overpower Douglas as teams share nine goals
Midleton's Finn Cahill clears from Douglas' Liam O'Callaghan during the Rebel Óg minor Premier 1 HC semi final at The Mardyke. Picture; Eddie O'Hare
Goals win games, the saying goes. Five here for Douglas, three for Mark O’Brien, but it was Midleton’s ability to get the white flags that mattered here in their Premier 1 Minor Hurling Championship semi-final at the Mardyke on Thursday.
When Mark O’Brien scooped up the spill from Midleton goalkeeper Conor Finn and rifled it to the net in the 57th minute, it was his third goal in a personal haul of 3-7, and Douglas’s fifth on the night.
You’d think it might have tipped the balance, or at least dragged Douglas into the lead. Instead, it only trimmed the deficit to seven.
That was the story here. O’Brien lit up the game, but Midleton lit up the scoreboard. Peter Barrett made sure O’Brien wasn’t the only hat-trick man on the field, and around him there was depth, variety, and spread. Seven different scorers for Midleton compared to just two for Douglas. Eight wides from 28 point attempts told you everything about the precision of the Magpies’ forwards.
Shane O’Mahony was aerial glue again, catching everything that drifted his way. Josh Hogan never stopped running. And U16 Liam Walsh came on and helped himself to three points from play.
Douglas couldn’t match that. They defended honestly, and they never stopped looking for O’Brien. But outside of him and James Naughton, the scoring threat wasn’t there.
The tone was set from the throw-in. Cians Stack and Lawton combined, Lawton picking out Shane O’Mahony, who lashed home after just 25 seconds.
By the 13th minute, they had 2-2 to nothing. Hogan clipped one, Barrett another, and then Barrett plucked a Matthew McSweeney delivery and batted it past Noah Duane.
Only then did Douglas stir. O’Brien raised their first white flag after a quarter of an hour, and soon after William Banks and Conor Hallahan stitched the play that allowed Naughton to find a finish. It was 2-4 to 1-1, and Douglas had life.
But Midleton never left the door open for long. At 2-5 to 1-3, Liam O’Callaghan was about to burst through when Lochlann Stewart nailed the tackle of the night. Seconds later, Midleton were away, Cahill finding O’Mahony, O’Mahony climbing again, and dragged down for a penalty. Barrett went low and hard for his second goal.
Two minutes later Liam Kelleher sent O’Brien charging through for another Douglas goal strike, but Midleton still carried seven points in hand at half-time, 3-7 to 2-3.
That cushion stretched to 4-11 to 2-6 by the 46th minute, the goal from Barrett again after a glaring run through the heart of the Douglas defence, before smashing home.
But Douglas hit for three more goals in the next ten minutes. Naughton pounced on a miscue for his second, O’Brien strolled through for another, and then latched on Conor Finn’s spill to convert. But every time they scored green, Midleton threw back a spray of white.
Even O’Brien’s late third couldn’t alter the arc. The gap stayed wide, the Magpies stayed in command, and Barrett’s brilliance booked a final with Sarsfields.
P Barrett 3-10 (1-0 pen, 0-5 f, 0-1 65), S O’Mahony 1-1, L Walsh 0-3, J Hogan, C Stack 0-2 each, N Coughlan, C Lawton 0-1 each.
M O’Brien 3-7 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), J Naughton 2-0.
C Finn; B Dunlea, L Stewart, E Ahern; M Murphy, M McSweeney, F Cahill; S Crowley, C Lawton; J Hogan, J Foley, N Coughlan; C Stack, S O’Mahony, P Barrett.
C Kelly for Murphy (12-15 temp), L Walsh for Foley (42), C McCarthy for Crowley (50), C Kelly for Murhy (54 inj), J O’Sullivan for O’Mahony (58).
N Duane; T Curtin, J Mouret, D O’Donoghue; A Kelly, L Kelleher, J Gordon; J O’Brien, W Banks; C Fitzgerald, M O’Brien, L O’Callaghan; O Doherty, C Hallahan, J Naughton.
T Murray for Doherty, D Barry for O’Callaghan (both HT), S O’Keeffe for Banks (35), C O’Donoghue for Gordon (45).
P O’Mahony (Kilbrittain)
App?
