Brian Hayes bags brilliant hat-trick as St Finbarr's hammer Éire Óg of Ennis
Billy Hennessy of St Finbarr's contests a dropping ball. Picture: Larry Cummins
Brian Hayes hit a hat-trick as St Finbarr’s proved too strong for Éire Óg of Ennis in the AIB Munster Club SFC semi-final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday afternoon.
It was a relatively quick turnaround after winning the quarter-final against Clonmel Commercials eight days earlier.
It was a swashbuckling performance from the Togher outfit, considering the conditions and the quality of their opposition.
St Finbarr’s did the spade work in the first half even if they were slow out of the traps. They led by five points at the short whistle having played against a strong wind.
Brian Roche’s charges were impressive after the break as they cruised to a 15-point victory.
Hayes was the best player on the pitch with 3-3, all from play.
The Barrs will now take on Dingle in the final.
Éire Óg had a strong wind advantage for the opening half, but it was St Finbarr’s who got the first score when William Buckley set up Rickey Barrett as the latter fisted the ball over the bar.
The Clare outfit were the better team early on, with or without the wind. They levelled through Darren Moroney before a Mark McInerney orange flag gave Éire Óg a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after nine minutes.
Ethan Twomey did cut the gap before a pair of McInerney frees gave his side a three-point buffer. Twomey was St Finbarr’s biggest threat in the opening quarter, his goal-bound effort was smartly saved by Éire Óg goalkeeper Cian Howard.
The ball did go out for a 45, which Steven Sherlock duly converted. The city men sparked into life when they goaled even if it was fortuitous after 18 minutes.
Hayes was going for a point, but it dropped short deceiving the netminder Howard and the ball ended up in the back of the net, 1-3 to 0-5.
It was followed by quick-fire points from Buckley and John Wigginton-Barrett as St Finbarr’s were getting a grip on the conditions.
The Barrs were now dominating around the middle with Ian Maguire and Luke Hannigan to name just a couple doing brilliantly.
The Togher outfit controlled the closing stages of the half. They kicked five of the next six points with Hayes and Sherlock each with a pair of efforts and a Rickey Barrett white flag, 1-10 to 0-5 after 29 minutes.
Éire Óg did get the last two scores, a McInerney point and an orange flag, 1-10 to 0-8 at half-time.
St Finbarr’s had wind advantage for the second half and they could have pretty much put the game to bed five minutes into the second 30 minutes, but Twomey couldn’t keep his shot down when a goal looked a certainty. It did go over the bar.
McInerney was Éire Óg’s main attacking threat, he slotted over another point in what was a low-scoring third-quarter.
The teams traded efforts before John Wiggington-Barrett and a Hayes green flag put St Finbarr’s into a commanding lead, 2-13 to 0-10 after 46 minutes.
It was a great finish from the Cork senior hurler, low into the corner of the net.
The goal did suck the life out of the game as a contest. The Barrs were now on top in every sector of the field.
John Wigginton-Barrett and sub Cillian Myers-Myers pointed to give their side an eleven-point lead with nine minutes to go.
The teams swapped white flags as Roche’s charges led 2-16 to 0-11. Enda Dennehy got on the scoring act before McInerney kicked his third two-pointer, this time from a free.
Hayes got his hat-trick after he scored a brilliant goal after 57 minutes. A peach of a pass from sub Eoin McGreevy.
Gavin Murray did point for Éire Óg before St Finbarr’s finished well with a Sherlock orange flag and another point from John Wigginton-Barrett.
The Barrs power on.
B Hayes 3-3, S Sherlock 0-6 (0-2 45, 1 2pt, 0-1 f), J Wigginton-Barrett 0-4, E Twomey, R Barrett 0-2 each, C Myers-Murray, E Dennehy, W Buckley 0-1 each.
M McInerney 0-10 (2 2pt,1 2pt f, 0-2 f), G Murray 0-2, D Moroney, M Doherty 0-1 each.
D Newman; B Hennessy, S Ryan, A O’Connor; C Dennehy, C Doolan, E Dennehy; I Maguire, B Hayes; E Twomey, J Wigginton-Barrett, W Buckley; L Hannigan, R Barrett, S Sherlock (c).
E McGreevy for W Buckley, C Myers-Murray for R Barrett (both 50), T Egan for L Hannigan, B O’Connell for C Dennehy (both 52), J Burns for B Hennessy (56).
C Howard; M Doherty, A Fitzgerald (c), D Ryan; C Russell, G D’Auria, D Mornoney; D McNamara, D O’Brien; J Collins, G Murray, R Lanigan; L Pyne, I Ugwueru, M McInerney.
J Joyce for D O’Brien (43), A McGrath for J Collins (48), N McMahon for D Moroney (53).
Seán Lonergan (Tipperary).
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