Ballygarvan edge out St Catherine's in exciting Cork Premier Junior Hurling quarter-final

Ballygarvan 1-18 St Catherine's 1-17 

In a nail-biting encounter at Riverstown, Ballygarvan turned the screw to inflict a one-point defeat on St Catherine's and move into Co-Op Superstores PJHC last four.

A goal from Kevin Lyons with five minutes to go proved to be the turning point in Ballygarvan's victory. It came just after St Catherine's sub Daniel Mangan had fired to the back of the net on 52 minutes to open up a three-point lead. Just as they did in the first half, Ballygarvan reeled in their opponents.

Niall Dowd put them two in front with quick points on the bounce. Rory Galvin reduced the gap to one but Michael Cussen responded: 1-18 to 1-15. 

A Galvin free and a Richie O'Connell point left the minimum in it but Ballygarvan held on.

They had the perfect start with Ray O'Halloran and Piars O'Halloran opening up an early 0-2 to 0-0 lead. The impressive Oisin Fitzgerald got St Catherine's off the mark after two minutes but Dylan O'Connor replied.

Both sides then traded points with Catherine's levelling through James Neville and a Rory Galvin free. Mark Kennifick won a long ball and sent over a beauty from inside his own 65 for Ballygarvan but Sean O'Donoghue split the posts at the other end.

Catherine's then hit their purple patch, all courtesy of Galvin who clipped four points on the bounce to open up a four-point advantage.

Ballygarvan didn't panic as Cillian O'Regan's reply put a halt to Galvin's onslaught, 0-9 to 0-6 after 15 minutes.

The second quarter saw points at a premium with Ballygarvan outscoring their opponents 0-3 to 0-2 to leave them trailing 0-11 to 0-9.

The second half was very nip and tuck with both sides putting it all on the line and by the end of the third quarter, it was 0-14 to 0-12 to the East Cork side.

The sides drew level for the third time when Cussan and O'Connor both raised white flags.

The last 10 minutes were frantic after Catherine's goal through Mangan looked like it would be decisive. 

Ballygarvan didn't blink though. Former Cork underage hurler Lyons raised a green flag at the other end and Dowd and Cussen's points proved decisive.

Scorers for Ballygarvan: K Lyons 1-2, D O'Connor 0-4 (0-3 f), M Cussen (f), P O'Halloran 0-3 each, R O'Halloran, N Dowd 0-2 each, M Kennifick, C O'Regan 0-1 each.

St Catherine's: R Galvin 0-8 (0-5 f), O Fitzgerald 0-5, D Mangan 1-0, S O'Donoghue 0-2, J Neville, R O'Connell, 0-1 each.

BALLYGARVAN: D Mackey; P Ryan, T O'Sullivan, S O'Donovan; C McIntyre, P O'Halloran, R O'Halloran; M Kennefick, C O'Regan; D O'Connor, M O'Mahony, S Fenton; E O'Connor, K Lyons, N Dowd.

Sub: D Bouse for D O'Connor, M Cussen for Kennefick.

ST CATHERINE'S: E Davis; E O'Driscoll, E O'Riordan, K Neville; K O'Donoghue, C Hegarty, F O'Connell; R Galvin, J Hayes; J Neville, O'Fitzgerald, E Condon; B Mulcahy, K Barry, S O'Donoghue.

Subs: R O'Connell for K Barry, S Cotter for K Neville (temp), B O'Brien for K O'Donoghue, D Mangan for B Mulcahy.

Referee: David Daly (Brian Dillons).