Conor Lehane the hero as Midleton edge Blackrock in epic extra-time semi-final
Midleton players celebrate their win over Blackrock. Picture: Dan Linehan
There was no need for penalties, no appetite either. After 82 minutes of hurling that stretched lungs and belief, it came down to a single free – one that Blackrock felt shouldn’t have been given. But from the 65-metre line, Conor Lehane didn’t blink.
He fired over and sent Midleton back to a Premier Senior Hurling Championship final for the third time in five seasons, leaving Blackrock to fall by the minimum at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday.
The roar that followed was one of exhaustion as much as elation. Every player on both sides had emptied the tank. The Magpies hadn’t the energy to run to one another, but they did anyway. For the final 10 minutes of normal time and all through extra-time, there was never more than a goal between them.
Blackrock had been the better team early, then the braver team late. They led by six with 20 minutes to play, clawed back deficits three times to force extra-time, and even erased a three-point gap in the second period of extra-time. The Rockies brought the fight, and everything they had.
But Midleton found the finish, and will face Sarsfields in the decider, as they did in 2023.
Lehane’s winner came moments after placed balls from Connolly brothers Alan and Gavin had levelled it for a sixth and final time. The Rockies had dragged themselves to the brink of penalties, only to see the door slammed in their faces.
For all that late drama, this game had turned much earlier. The Rockies led by five at the break, that lead stretched to six by the 41st minute, 1-14 to 0-11. Nobody saw what was coming.
Midleton erupted. They would score more in the next 19 minutes than they’d managed over the previous 41. Pa White led the rebellion, hitting six from play in a half that seemed to run on pure defiance. Tommy O’Connell’s interception and Mikey Finn’s outrageous pick-up and point dragged the gap to one, and when the Magpies finally nosed ahead in the 57th minute, it was the first time they’d led all evening.
The Rockies, rattled but not broken, refused to yield. Three more equalisers – the last a Connolly 65 in the 66th minute – hauled them into extra-time.
There, Midleton again looked home and dry. Lehane and White fired them three clear, 0-27 to 1-21, Dave Cremin’s long-range monster underlining their momentum. But there was another twist to come.
A Connolly free, a Robbie Cotter steal and score, and once more it was back to the wire. Level again in the first minute of additional time – until Lehane’s final say.
By the end, players dropped where they stood. Eoin Moloney, immense all night, went down injured in the celebrations. White had been superb, his running and decision-making flawless. Cormac Walsh’s first-half spark kept them alive when little else did.
Lehane was ice-cool, as always, but it was Midleton’s handpassing and running game that set them apart after 82 brutal minutes of hurling.
Both Connollys had been superb for the Rockies. Gavin’s performance, while wearing no. 16 in honour of the late Trevor Barry who passed away on Wednesday, was certainly worthy of no. 1.
The sheer number of saves to keep Blackrock in front during normal time were remarkable, and though they failed to hang on, he was immense.
Questions about how Blackrock would deal with the four week layoff had already been answered after 10 minutes. The Rockies were 0-4 to no score ahead before Midleton had even registered a shot.
When the Magpies finally got off the mark – two points in quick succession from Conor Lehane (free) and Cormac Walsh – Gavin Connolly went long from the very next puckout. His delivery found Alan, and the finish was ruthless: buried from close range, far too easily, for the game’s only goal. After just seven minutes, Blackrock were 1-4 to 0-2 in front.
And by the time Midleton had struck their second shot from play, a wide in the 20th minute, Blackrock were six ahead, 1-7 to 0-4.
The elements did have a role to play, but the Rockies had kept Midleton pinned back for the vast majority of the half. Cotter and Michael O’Halloran were lively. Connolly was screaming for a goal every time he got on the ball.
So when Midleton roared back in the second half, s they did against the Glen to take the lead from nowhere, it had stunned everyone. But that was only the beginning of the drama.
C Lehane 0-13 (0-8 f, 0-1 65), P White 0-7, C Walsh, D Cremin 0-2 each, C Beausang, L O’Farrell, M Finn, K McDermott, T O’Leary Hayes 0-1 each.
A Connolly 1-14 (0-11 f, 0-1 65), R Cotter, M O’Halloran 0-3 each, Ciarán Cormack, P Linehan, G Connolly (65), F Coleman, D O’Farrell.
B Saunderson; C Smyth, E Moloney, T O’Leary Hayes; L Dineen (jc), T O’Connell, R O’Regan; S O’Meara, M Finn; D Cremin, C Lehane (jc), K McDermott; C Walsh, C Beausang, P White.
L O’Farrell for Cremin, E McGrath for O’Meara (both HT), S Smyth for Dineen, A Quirke for O’Farrell (inj) (both 47), Cremin for McDermott (64 inj), S O’Sullivan for S Smyth (76).
G Connolly; J Ryan, J Cashman (c), Cathal Cormack; S Murphy, A O’Callaghan, D Meaney; N Cashman, D O’Farrell; A Connolly, K O’Keeffe, R Sweeney; R Cotter, M O’Halloran, F Coleman.
O McAdoo for Murphy (47), P Linehan for O’Keeffe (50), Ciarán Cormack for Coleman, J Ryan for O’Callaghan (both 55), I O’Keeffe for Sweeney (60+4), S Healy for Ryan (69), Coleman for O’Halloran (HT, ET), D Cormack for O’Farrell (80).
C O’Regan (Ballyhea)
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