PIHC: Ronan Curran seeks more Ballincollig improvement despite big win over Carrigaline

Ballincollig are back at the stage that they have fallen at in the last two years as they aim to finally get over that hurdle.

The Muskerry side defeated Carrigaline in the Co-Op SuperStores PIHC quarter-finals on a scoreline of 1-21 to 1-9 at Riverstick on Sunday afternoon.

As performances go in a huge game, the Village delivered in what was a slick display. They will now face Dungourney in the last four in just under two weeks’ time.

After losing to Kilworth and Carrigaline at that stage in 2023 and ’24, the Collig will be determined to go one better.

Reflecting on the 12-point victory over Carrigaline, new Cork senior hurling selector Ronan Curran was satisfied with how it panned out.

“Yeah, great win, the lads played very well,” he said to The Echo post-match.

“Carrigaline beat Ballincollig last year in the semi-finals. Look, we're just building. We’re trying to get some fellas back, and the fellas who are here are putting in an unbelievable effort.

“It's getting a bit better every day. We didn’t take this lightly and the lads were well up for it. Look, they’re enjoying their hurling and battling hard.

“There’s always room for improvement. We’ll go back, we’ll look at things we can still improve on, things we did well, and try and try to get better every day.” 

Given the strong wind, it was always going to be a game of two halves or so we thought. Ballincollig actually played better against the wind. They had the advantage for the opening 30 minutes and led by seven points at half-time.

The Village restricted Carrigaline to just 1-3 in the second 30 minutes, that’s sublime given the gale of a wind that was there. It was a real panel effort.

“I suppose every game takes a life of its own, but we knew Carrigaline were one of the top teams at this grade,” the St Finbarr’s clubman says.

“We watched them plenty of times and did a lot of research on them.

“But our lads are enjoying their hurling and once we get 100 per cent effort out of them, I can’t argue with anything. We were excellent in the second half against the wind. I suppose it suits maybe some of our forwards, you know, fast runners and stuff like that. I must admit, Garett Flynn is doing the strength and conditioning for us this year.

“He has been brilliant all year, you know, and we’re really getting the best out of the lads now, but we have to build towards the next challenge now, which will be tougher again.” 

While it was a majestic performance from every player wearing the green and white jersey, Brian Keating’s 1-11 can’t be brushed under the carpet. The forward was on fire and Curran has praised his contribution.

“We all know what Brian Keating can do,” Curran states.

“He's a top-class hurler. I’ve heard a lot about him over the years, but his leadership with this group has been brilliant. His discipline, the way he’s driving the team forward has been top-class and we’re delighted to have him.” 

Ballincollig last played Dungourney in championship back in August 2023 in the first game of their group stage. The Imokilly side won by a point that day in Cobh.

“We’ll have to do our research on Dungourney now. Obviously, they have some great forwards in Jack Leahy and they've a few big lads up there too that I would know well from being involved in the Cork U20 set-up and stuff like that.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge in a couple of weeks’ time.”