John Horgan: Sars v Midleton will deliver a great final to give Cork hurling fans a lift

Value for money, without a doubt last Sunday's two Premier Senior Hurling semi-finals provided that.

The fact that in both games involving Midleton and the Rockies in the opener and Sars and the Barrs in the second game were decided by the bare minimum of just one point illustrated how evenly matched all four teams were.

Entering the dying embers of the Sars and the Barrs encounter it was very much on the cards that extra-time would be required again as it was in the opening game but the team from Riverstown edged it by that wafer-thin margin.

To be fair, both games provided some compelling viewing, both games could have ended up differently but credit to Midleton and Sars for edging it in nerve-jangling finales.

Of course, what it all meant was that we have another all-East Cork decider on our hands next Sunday week and that the old trophy will spend the next 12 months in the barony after Imokilly's victory last season and Sars the year before that.

Throw in the fact that in the Senior A final, two more East Cork clubs will be the contestants, near neighbours Castlelyons and Bride Rovers and the only conclusion to reach at this point in senior hurling on Leeside is that the world belongs to East Cork.

In the Premier SHC it could, quite easily, have been city rule but that's not here nor there now.

Did both winners last Sunday deserve it? The answer to that poser is yes because in both instances, they dug the deepest when everything was on the line.

It's of little consolation right now to the Rockies and the Barrs that they were near equal participants in both games but it was all about getting over the line by the thinnest of margins.

Both games might easily have been decided by penalty shootouts but thank the lord it didn't come to that.

Penalty shootouts in the game of hurling are something that this column will never accept no matter what the circumstances and it will always be the wrong way to decide a game of such great magnitude.

In the four games played at the Cork headquarters over the weekend, the very powerful wind blowing into the Blackrock end of the ground was a factor and it could not have been easy for the players on all four teams.

The Rockies, in the opening game, had constructed a lead of six points by the 40th minute and wind or no wind appeared to be in a very advantageous position.

But, as they had done against the Glen in the quarter-final, Midleton started to produce the fireworks which eventually had their noses in front at the end of an hour and 20 minutes of hurling that contained most things that one would seek from the proceedings.

As is the norm, Conor Lehane led the way in the scoring stakes for Midleton, a final tally of a 13 points illustrating again that he remains one of the best club hurlers in the county.

LEADING LIGHT

However, on this day, one player stood taller. That was Pa White, who rifled over seven points from play, some of them exquisitely executed.

I don't think too many would disagree but this was one of his finest returns in a Midleton jersey on a day when splitting the posts was not easy.

Alan Connolly had a haul of 1-14 attached to his name at the end for the Rockies and still ending up on the losing side must have been hard to take, it was a huge effort from him.

Mention too must be made of two sublime saves from keeper Gavin Connolly who exhibited again what a fine number one he is.

In the final analysis, it was a case of both sides digging to the depths of their endeavours and it was another illustration of how thin the line is between the joy of winning and the agony of losing.

The Barrs had a six-point advantage over Sars at the break but again, similar to the opener, Sars had that extra bit of fuel in the tank coming down the home stretch.

They replicated here what they had done against a gritty Charleville team in the quarter-final and maybe that experience was a factor again.

Jack O'Connor delivered when a player of his great ability was needed most and his quartet of points were all significant scores. Cian Darcy, with a point less, made a contribution of significance too.

Colm McCarthy's 11-point return was crucial on a day when every score was of huge importance.

CONSISTENT

There's a lot of experience on this Sars team and huge credit must go to the management team led by Johnny Crowley for getting them back into another final.

Their consistency over the past number of seasons must be recognised and it's very much a case of being there or thereabouts all the time.

A brace of points divided the sides two years ago when Sars secured the bragging rights in the final and there was just a point between them when they squared up to each other again 12 months ago in the semi-final, when the Riverstown team triumphed again.

So what tells us more than anything else is that there is very little between the two teams that will be lining up against each other next Sunday week.

At this stage, they know each other as much as can be known and nobody will expect anything other than another one of those tightest of encounters.

Having to go right to the wire as both had to two in both semi-finals will have taken a lot out of them, all the more so in the conditions that prevailed.

However, at the same time the energy that those type of victories brings will be a considerable plus and in both camps, there will be a strong belief that their time has come again.

Where the two losing teams last Sunday are concerned, we won't see them in championship action for the best part of 10 months.

People have differing viewpoints on that, the split season and its pluses and negatives and all of that but it's probably fair to state that the two best sides in the Cork senior hurling championship will be contesting the final.

Where Midleton are concerned, they have now eliminated two of the city's big three and they are a side very much on an upward trajectory since the group stage game against Newcestown when they were fortunate to secure a share of the spoils.

Now, of course, comes the acid test against the best club side over the past two years and there is an added fascination about that final when it's two teams from the same division.

It would have been the same story if it had been the Rockies and the Barrs.

Last Sunday's two semi-finals were thoroughly enjoyable, now we have the potential for a final that will provide Cork hurling in general with the type of boost it needs after the huge disappointment of that July Sunday in Croke Park.