Timmy Wilk to the fore as 14-man Cobh beat Bride Rovers to land first Junior A title in 40 years
Cobh celebrate after defeating Bride Rovers in the final of the East Cork Oil Junior A Hurling Championship in Midleton. Picture: David Creedon
Cobh are the East Cork Oil Junior A Hurling champions for the first time in 40 years following a six-goal thriller against Bride Rovers at Midleton on Sunday afternoon.
A Man of the Match display by former Cork underage star Timmy Wilk helped their cause as he finished with 1-11. They were behind at the interval by a point against Bride's second team but powered ahead early in the second half to lead 2-12 to 2-8.
Rovers didn't yield though. First, Daniel Dooley was ever so quick to react to the breaking ball after Shaun Knox's free was saved, firing in the rebound.
Wilk was cool as a cucumber with the reply but with 15 minutes left, Cobh's Mark O'Rourke was issued with a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.
The momentum now with the underdogs. They would draw on level twice in the next five minutes but wouldn't score again as 14-man Cobh then took over.
Wilk hit 1-1 in quick succession, the goal coming from a short puck-out gone astray. The scores kept on coming as four white flags followed putting the tie beyond Rovers' reach.
Cobh made a fast start when Adam Lynch fired to the net inside the opening minute after being played through by Nathan O'Connell. Both sides then traded three points each, with Cillian Barry leveling up proceedings when he raised green on 11 minutes. Knox also got his name on the score sheet and he'd end the afternoon with 1-5.
Barry put his side in front two minutes later with a well-taken point. Stevie Dennis' reply had the sides level for the second time before both sides hit three points each.
With four minutes of the half left, Dooley won the long ball, rounded his man and was fouled inside the large square. Knox made no mistake in dispatching the penalty, following up with a point to push his side in front: 2-8 to 1-7.
Cobh didn't panic as they hit back with a number of white flags to leave one between them at the interval, 2-8 to 1-10. They started the second half just as they did the first, as Dennis fired to the back of the net.
From then on, Cobh held their nerve. While Bride Rovers did fight back to draw level twice, with Wilk on top form Cobh were able to cope with the red card to deservedly pull away and lift the cup for the first time since 1985.
T Wilk 1-11 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), S Dennis 1-3, A Lynch 1-1, D Kearney 0-3, J McCarthy 0-1.
S Knox 1-5 (1-0 pen, 0-4 f), Cillian Barry 1-2, D Dooley 1-1, Cormac Barry 0-2, C O'Riordan 0-1.
S Molloy; C McSweeney, C McLoughlin, J McCarthy; S O'Connell, E Cullimore, J Barrett; G Keating, D Kearney; T Wilk, M O'Rourke, A Doran; S Dennis, N O'Connell, A Lynch.
A Stanton for Doran (27), S O'Keeffe for O'Connell (37), A Finnegan for Dennis (56), C Farrell for G Keating (63).
R O'Riordan; E O'Connor, O Roche, T O'Sullivan; K Cotter, L Collins, A Hynes, Cormac Barry, R Prendergast; Cillian Barry, C O'Sullivan, D Dooley; C O'Riordan, S Knox, E Cashman.
S Ahern for O'Connor (27 inj), C O'Connor for O'Sullivan (37), J Pratt for Roche (47 temp), M Collins for Cashman (49), J Mannix for O'Riordan (56).
Cathal McAillister (Aghada).
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