PIHC: Ballinhassig 'relieved' to come through semi-final test after near-misses

Ballinhassig manager John O’Sullivan has praised his players' game management in overcoming the stern challenge of Cloyne in the Co-Op SuperStores PIHC semi-final last Saturday night.

A large crowd gathered in Ovens as the Blues won on a scoreline of 3-15 to 2-14 to set up a final clash with Ballincollig.

The Carrigdhoun outfit were deserving victors by four points as they got the monkey off their back.

“We are obviously relieved first of all,” the Ballinhassig boss said to The Echo post-match.

“We have lost a lot of quarter-finals and semi-finals over the last decade and there were a couple of years where we were close to getting into the final and never managed to get over the line.

“It’s great now that we have finally reached the final this year. It’s something that a lot of people in the parish wanted. The build up to the final will be great and everyone will enjoy that and embrace it. We will then see how we get on against Ballincollig.” 

The Blues always kept Cloyne at arms-length, which was very impressive. They started well and finished well in a game where they never trailed. O’Sullivan was pleased with how his team managed the game.

“We probably got a fortuitous goal to be fair early on, it did settle us,” he says.

“We were clipping over points, but we were also conceding scores albeit they were from frees. The three goals came at vital times for us and allowed us to play the hurling that we wanted to play.

“We had to grind it out. A win against Cloyne is always going to be hard-earned. The lads kept going right to the end and came through. We managed the game well and I suppose never allowed Cloyne to reel us in. Everyone to a man in fairness put their shoulder to the wheel to win a great game.” 

Ballinhassig had a four-week layoff coming into the contest after going direct to the last four following the conclusion of the group stage. Cloyne had a tough quarter-final against Valley Rovers. Was O’Sullivan worried about the month's break?

“Having the four-week break after the group stage was something we never experienced up until now. If we did come out of the group, it was always a quarter-final game. After the win over Kilworth in the final group match, we organised a challenge game within 24 hours, so that was going to break up the four weeks.

“That was ideal. We just continued as normal. We didn’t want to reinvent anything. What we have been doing up to now has been working well for us. We have a routine going and we just continued that on.

“It did give us a chance to work on our opposition and work on the tactical side of things.” 

Ballinhassig will now lock horns with Ballincollig in the decider for a place in the Senior A ranks for the 2026 season. The teams met just over two months ago in the opening group game on an evening when the Blues won 4-13 to 0-19.

O’Sullivan isn’t reading much into the previous contest.

“There’s not a lot at stake first day out as you know that you have two more rounds in the group. The scoreline was funny in that game against Ballincollig. I wasn’t overly happy with our scoreline and performance to be honest. Scoring 13 points was a poor return.

“I do feel Ballincollig will be a different beast the next day especially down the Páirc where there will be a lot of open space.

“They have a young team and the space is something they might be able to exploit. We will have to be ready."

Regarding injuries, forwards Adam O’Sullivan, Evan Cullinane and Brian Lynch all missed the win over Cloyne and the Ballinhassig manager said that the trio will be ‘touch and go’ for the final.