P1 U16 Hurling: Ballincollig, Ballinora and Ballyhea/Milford all get off to winning starts
Ballincollig's Shay O'Brien was superb against Midleton, scoring 1-6 from play. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
In a repeat of their Premier 1 final at U15 level last year, it was Ballincollig who kick-started their P1 U16 Hurling Championship with an emphatic win over Midleton in Group 2, following a dominant second-half performance at Ballincollig on Tuesday.
The opening period was close, Conor McSharry keeping Midleton in range from placed balls, but Ballincollig were sharper and their half-time lead of 0-12 to 0-8 reflected it.
However, on the restart, the Village grabbed control of proceedings, and the goals from Shay O’Brien and Cuan Connaughton fired them to a comfortable advantage. Defensively they were superb too, with Ruairí Creedon, Charlie Hannigan and James Archibald impressive.
Evan Stack put in a good shift at midfield, while Shay O’Brien and Faolán O’Leary were a constant threat up front. Will Twomey and Liam O’Brien showed up well, too.
For the Magpies, Tadhg O’Dowd and McSharry were in good form, while Sean Barry did well in defence.
F O’Leary 0-10 (0-2 f), S O’Brien 1-7 (0-1 f), C Connaughton 1-1, W Twomey, R O’Gorman 0-2 each, E Stack 0-1.
C McSharry 0-5 f, T O’Dowd 0-4, T Cronin, L O’Sullivan, M Richards 0-1 each.
R O’Sullivan; J Archibald, Jack O’Sullivan, R Creedon; O Harrington, C Hannigan, C Murphy; E Stack, Jonathan O’Sullivan; F O’Leary, L O’Brien, R O’Gorman; W Twomey, S O’Brien, C Connaughton.
L Healy for O’Gorman (HT), O Power for Jonathan O’Sullivan (50), A Hennessy for Connaughton, K McSweeney for Archibald, C Gleeson for Harrington (all 55).
W Stokes; S Barry, M O’Connor, D Glavey; L O’Sullivan, E Donovan, C Power; L Cronin, K Lester; J McSweeney, C McSharry, T Cronin; F Byrne, T O’Dowd, M Richards.
H Lutz for Byrne (38), H Barry for Cronin (45), C O’Connell for S Barry (50), B Collins for Richards (55).
Ballyhea/Milford and Kiltha Óg served up a fantastic Group 1 battle on Monday evening in Milford. It was the north Cork outfit who edged it in the end by two points, and could thank the heroics of goalkeeper Padraig Crowley who denied Conor Ronayne a goal from a free at the death.
it had been tight all throughout, Kiltha leading early before Ballyhea/Milford came back to take a two-point interval lead. They would eventually stretch their lead to four, before Ronayne brilliantly nailed a 21-metre free to get Kiltha right back in it.
They put the pressure on their opponents late on, but couldn’t find the goal they needed to take victory. Luke Hogenes, Eddie Broderick and Harry O’Connor were excellent in defence for Ballyhea/Milford, the latter running the show at centre-back.
Finn Curtin and Muiris O’Riordan did well up front, while Kiltha Óg keeper Donagh Hayes impressed. John Forrest was also excellent for the east Cork side off the bench, scoring a superb point from out wide and working exceptionally hard in the second half.
Adam Falahee and Ronayne also did well, while Liam O’Riordan and Finn Curtin had a brilliant duel across the hour.
H O’Connor 0-12 (0-9 f), F Curtin, M O’Riordan 0-3 each, J Larkin 0-1.
C Ronayne 1-9 (1-7 f), J Hayes, W Collins, R Kelleher, S Barry, J Forrest 0-1 each.
P Crowley; D Newman, L Hogenes, R Manning; P O’Brien, H O’Connor, E Broderick; F Ronan, B Ronan; O Geary, M O’Riordan, J Ronan; J Larkin, F Curtin, P Curtin.
M Collins for Newman (55).
D Hayes; S Padden, L O’Riordan, A Falahee; T O’Brien, B Walsh, D Óg McCarthy; R Costigan, D Murphy; S Barry, C Ronayne, L O’Riordan; J Hayes, W Collins, R Kelleher.
J Forrest for D Murphy (40), P McGovern for S Barry (48).
In the other Group 1 game, it was Ballinora that came away with a six-point win over Éire Óg at Ballinora on Monday. Éire Óg started the brighter of the two as both sides were missing key players, but Denis O’Mahony took control of the game for Ballinora in style.
He raised several white flags from play in the first half to give Ballinora the lead at the break, but the Ovens side came fighting back in the second period.
Jack Casey in particular was immense – he would go on to put in an impressive shift for their minors too on Wednesday night – but he was the catalyst here for everything that Éire Óg did well.
He nailed a penalty late on to get the Muskerry club back within three points, but a late burst from Billy Mehigan saw the Ballinora forward grab the insurance goal they needed, sealing a deserved victory after a brilliant physical battle.
The remaining Group 2 fixture between Blarney and Glen Rovers is set for Friday, July 17.
B Mehigan 1-8 (0-5 f), D O’Mahony 0-8 (0-3 f), J Lynch, P Kelly, P O’Mahony 0-2 each.
J Casey 1-13 (0-9 f, 1-0 pen), D Roche 0-2, C Shehan 0-1.
C O’Mahony; P Burke, R O’Sullivan, C Noonan; P Kelly, F Murphy, K O’Mahony; D O’Mahony, P O’Mahony; B Murphy, B Mehigan, J Lynch; C Murphy, J O’Riordan, S O’Sullivan.
O Kilmartin for S O’Sullivan (50). Unused: L McCoy, E Kingston.
R O’Reilly; R O’Connell, J Clifford, C Dineen; T Mullins, O O’Mahony, C Fitzgerald; R Searles, J Boland; D Crean, J Casey, R McCarthy; D Roche, C Sheehan, C Hayfield.
T Manley (Inniscarra)
App?
