Ballinora see off Cobh to reach Junior A Hurling final

Ballinora 0-24 Cobh 1-16 

A magnificent 11 points from Ben Mayer helped Ballinora book their place in the Cork Co-Op Superstores Junior A Hurling final with a hard-earned win over Cobh in a thrilling encounter at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday.

This game had everything, and the winners had to battle to the wire before eventually gaining control of this intriguing encounter.

It only took Cobh’s Timmy Wilk 15 seconds to nail a placed ball that was followed by a superb Adam Lynch white flag from play that gave the underdogs the perfect start. 

Cobh had the advantage of playing with the stiff breeze but they were almost punished in the fifth minute. A high ball across the square was met by Alan O’Shea but his sublime strike was superbly parried over the bar by the Cobh keeper Scott Molloy.

As the half matured, Ballinora began showing their class and a Shane Kingston point in the 12th minute cut the deficit to the minimum. The harbour club were battling hard and their shooting was excellent which culminated in Eoin Cullimore striking a magnificent point midway through the half.

In a half with few goal opportunities, Ballinora forward Tommy Burns was through in the 26th minute but his shot hit the side netting.

Cork underage star Wilk struck a super point in added time to send his side in at the break leading 0-10 to 0-9.

On the restart, Wilk landed his fifth point but Ballinora now had the wind and never panicked. Danny Dineen responded with a clinical white flag a minute later and they settled into their stride.

Cobh grabbed a goal in the 40th minute when a terrific Diarmuid Kearney solo run saw the ball flicked to the back of the net by Adam Lynch. However, the strong breeze was a huge factor as the Muskerry side picked off a series of point with Mayer, Dineen and Alan O'Shea finishing with 0-10 from play between them. 

They were always in control in the closing stages with a county final against Kilshannig, and a chance to complete a double having already landed the IAFC, lying ahead.

Scorers for Ballinora: B Mayer 0-11 (0-8 f), D Dineen 0-4, A O’Shea 0-3, S Kingston (f), D Holmes 0-2 each, J Hegarty, D Corkery 0-1 each.

Cobh: T Wilk 0-9 (0-7 f), A Lynch 1-1, E Cullinane, M O’Rourke 0-2 each, N O’Connell, D Kearney 0-1 each.

BALLINORA: B Crowley; T Forde, N Lordan, J Byrne; M O’Brien, S Kingston, C O’Flynn; L Lyons, D Dineen; C Quirke, T Burns, J Hegarty; B Mayer, D Corkery, A O’Shea.

Subs: T Burns for L Lyons (41), S Lyons for C Quirke (45), M Lordan for C O’Flynn (50), K Murphy for J Hegarty (55), J Keohane for A O’Shea (56).

COBH: S Molloy; A Stanton, C McLoughlin, J Doody, J McCarthy, J Barrett, S O’Keeffe; G Keating, D Kearney; E Cullimore, T Wilk, M O’Rourke; S Denis, N O’Connell, A Lynch.

Subs: C Farrell for M O’Rourke (32), S O’Connell for G Keating (40), J Cotter for S Denis (47).

Referee: Aidan Hyland (Kilworth).