Cork Hurling: Fourth straight year of Division 1 survival for Carrigtwohill, and this was their best yet

For four straight seasons, Carrigtwohill have come out on top in RedFM Division 1 Hurling League relegation battles. And with each passing year, they manage to preserve their status more and more convincingly.

In 2023, they avoided the drop at Erin’s Own’s expense with a better scoring difference. This year, they had their Division 1 status protected with a game to spare, and ended up finishing five points clear of Killeagh and Fr O’Neill’s.

And that was all while using 26 players – one fewer than last year – which leaves them tied with Charleville for the fewest used this season.

The east Cork club have always showed up well and taken scalps from the Premier Senior giants in the early months. They did it last year to defeat Kanturk and Charleville, while they held Fr O’Neill’s and Glen Rovers to draws.

This season they brought more of the same drawing with Blackrock, the Glen and St Finbarr’s after beating O’Neill’s. And that was a very strong St Finbarr’s side.

And of course, integral to their results along the way, has been the quality of Seán Walsh. He’ll end the season as the division’s top-scorer for the second year running irrespective of what happens in the league final, and he may even hang on to the from-play crown, too.

Walsh has scored a total of 5-78 this year, and so his premature departure last week against the Barrs will be of grave concern to Carrig.

Of his 5-79 haul, 4-41 came from play. That’s an average of 6.28 points per game, almost a point better than the next highest return of Jack O’Connor with 5.48. No forward has come close to him in Division 1 this year.

Outside of Walsh’s performances, their squad continues to grow stronger.

Carrig boast a very decent age profile, and the team that fell to eventual Senior A winners Bride Rovers in last year’s semi-final are now a year older and wiser. Seán’s younger brother Patrick Walsh has been better again after a very promising debut year last season, and finished the league as Carrig’s second highest scorer with 1-22 from play.

Matthew Barrett spent a good chunk of the league away with the Cork U20s but still managed to pick up 186 minutes. He was excellent when he did feature, as was the case in last year’s championship, and managed 1-19 in the league this year.

Justin Oke has developed into one of Carrigtwohill’s most influential players, a constant presence in midfield. Oke, Jay Horgan and goalkeeper Shane Devlin played all available minutes, while Brendan Twomey and Cian O’Riordan all featured notably throughout the campaign.

Carrigtwohill are in a very strong place heading into championship. They should – and will more than likely – be pushing for the championship title this year.

Carrigtwohill’s league scorers:

Seán Walsh 5-78 (1-36 frees, 0-1 65), 

Patrick Walsh 1-22, 

Matthew Barrett 1-19 (1-8 frees, 0-2 65s), 

Justin Oke 0-13, 

Daniel Nolan 1-7, 

James Mulcahy Cian O’Riordan 0-9 each, 

Daniel Murnane, Liam O’Sullivan 2-2 each, 

Cillian Barry 1-4, 

Tomás Hogan 0-7, 

Seán Rohan 1-2, 

Jay Horgan, 

Pádraic Hogan, Seán Brennan 0-4 each, 

Brendan Twomey 0-3, 

Mark O’Connor 0-1.

Players used and minutes accrued:

Jay Horgan, Justin Oke, Shane Devlin (557 each), Brendan Twomey (517), Cian O’Riordan (516), Seán Walsh (506), Patrick Walsh (495), Aaron Walsh-Barry (494), Seán Brennan (487), Liam O’Sullivan (457), Seán de Burca (433), Daniel Nolan (429), Daniel Murnane (373), James Mulcahy (363), Pat O’Sullivan (314), Tomás Hogan (238), Pádraic Hogan (191), Matthew Barrett (186), David Joseph (165), Neil Coughlan (143), Cillian Barry (140), Mark O’Connor (125), Seán Rohan (59), Jamie McCarthy (31), Daniel McCarthy (4), Adam Rooney (3).