Ben Cunningham in top form for the Barrs as Shane Kingston impresses for Douglas 

St Finbarr’s 0-22 Douglas 0-19 

St Finbarr’s edged out southside rivals Douglas in a thrilling Red FM Division 1 Hurling League clash at Togher on Sunday.

In a game that was competitive from the throw-in, an exhibition of striking from Cork panellist Ben Cunningham proved the difference between evenly matched sides.

Cunningham led the scoring with a 16-point tally and his general play epitomised how hard it is to make the Cork Senior hurling squad.

The opening exchanges were cagey with both teams executing points at will from all angles with and when Ben Cunningham split the posts in the ninth minute the sides were on parity at three points each.

Shane Kingston who has had a great career at intercounty level but didn’t make the 26 players for the league final but his loyalty to his club saw him lining out and he showing flashes of class moves in the opening 30 minutes.

Kingston didn’t see enough quality ball over the hour but his four-point contribution was impressive. Douglas were playing solid hurling but their tendency to give away soft frees allowed the Barrs talisman Cunningham punish them with accuracy from placed balls.

Indeed, as the quarter matured the Barrs looked to be getting on top and incredibly Cunningham was their sole scorer in this half executing his 11th point in the 28th minute that gave his side a three-point lead.

Credit to Douglas they battled back. With Alan Cadogan enjoying a steady game in his new role at centre-field he led the comeback with a stunning point from play.

They battled like trojans in the closing minutes to the interval and three more white flags saw them go in at the break leading by the minimum 0-12 to 0-11.

On the restart the Barrs gave away a soft free and Cadogan duly split the posts before Billy Hennessy registered his first white flag on their next possession.

The wind advantage was certainly helping the Barrs and Jack Cahalane showed his pace to add another point with Hennessy now looking a different player in this period.

We then witnessed some sloppy Barrs shooting as they amassed three consecutive wides before Conor Kingston was given space on route to goal but his shot was hooked as he was about to pull the trigger.

Midway through the half the game was still in the balance before points from Cian Walsh and Cunningham seemed to knock the stuffing out of Douglas.

There is little doubt Douglas look tuned in early this campaign. Manager Ken St Leger looks to have brought a bit of steel to the squad with the returning Brian Turnbull, a great addition after a few years travelling.

In the closing minutes, the Barrs dominated possession and it was ironic that man of the match Cunningham would finish would two classy white flags that sealed the deal for the Togher side.

Douglas did put up a serious challenge but the Barrs they'll be handful again come summer.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: B Cunningham 0-16 (0-9 f), B Hennessy 0-3, J Cahalane 0-2, C Walsh 0-1.

Douglas: A Cadogan 0-7 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), S Kingston 0-4, M O’Brien, D Murphy 0-2 each. 

St FINBARR'S: S Hurley; S Daly, J Burns, A Barry; C Crowley, C Dalton, J Murray; C Walsh, B Hennessy; C Buckley, B Cunningham, B O’Connell; J Wiggington-Barrett, J Cullinane, J O’Kelly.

DOUGLAS: D Murphy; B O’Neill, D Harte, D Murphy; E O’Flynn, M Howell, C O’Donovan; A Cadogan, C Baldwin; A O’Connell, M O’Brien, C Kingston; B Turnbull, J Harte, S Kingston.

Subs: C Lucas for Turnbull (h-t), C O’Donovan for O’Brien (50).

Referee: Niall Fahy (Brian Dillons).