John Horgan on hurling: Seandún and Imokilly serve up serious entertainment

Ballinlough GAA grounds has always been one of this column's favourite venues down through the years.

It's the home of the Seandún division and for many clubs the place holds some great memories.

It's a venue that creates a great atmosphere on big match days, the bank on the Ballinlough roadside providing a great view of the proceedings, the great banter behind the city end goal adding to the occasion too.

In years past, this writer enjoyed being in between both dugouts reporting on games and witnessing some great struggles between the junior teams of the Barrs, Glen Rockies, Dillons, Mayfield, Na Piarsaigh, Douglas, St Vincent's, Whitechurch and so on.

Back in the day, the city division had their own senior championship, the big city clubs and Sars too battling it out in front of large attendances at a time when the playing season was much different. At the time it was a hugely successful competition and again some fine encounters were the order of the day with the big senior city clubs confronting each other.

Over the years, some of the finest officers looked after things in the division, ensuring that the show was always kept on the road.

You had Donal O'Connor the divisional secretary, a tireless worker for many years, Derry Collins, Finbarr O'Brien, Derry Maher and Mick Morrissey, Mick Barry, Sean McCarthy, among many more.

Many improvements have been made to the venue, much finance has been spent and in the sunshine last Sunday in the semi-final of the Divisions/ Colleges section of the Premier SHC between Seandun and Muskerry the place looked magnificent.

The torch of those running affairs has now been passed on to current chair, Mick Buckley, secretary Eddie Murphy, treasurer Thomas Martin, Derek Connolly, Colm Barry, Tracy Sheehan, Rory Noonan, Bernard Corcoran, and groundsman Colm Daly. There are others too doing fine work and it's an operation that all city clubs should be very proud of.

The 100th anniversary of the division was celebrated last year and it is marked by a commemorative stone on the way into the playing area.

There have been many upgrades in recent times throughout the venue, the pitch itself, new showers, goalposts, netting, a press area and a superb new electronic scoreboard located on the halfway line clearly visible to all.

It's very obvious that the great work started by their predecessors is now being carried on by the current officialdom. It's very much a case of many hands make light work at a venue of great splendour.

The purpose of last Sunday's visit to the grand, old ground was for the Seandun, Muskerry encounter and it was a thoroughly enjoyable contest that took eighty minutes before a resolution was found, Seandún edging it by the bare minimum.

The Divisional/Colleges section of the senior championship has been under the spotlight in recent years and for various reasons it is not always best supported, divisions unable to field at all, late withdrawals and some of the fare on offer quite poor.

In past times, Seandun have struggled to participate themselves but the effort was made this year to field and it has been rewarded with a place in the final against Imokilly at the end of the month.

It's the first time that has been the case.

They had to dig deep last Sunday to get the verdict over the Mid Cork outfit, looking the more likely winners for long stretches of the game. With the final puck of normal time, Muskerry posted the equaliser from the outstanding Matthew Bradley from the Aghabullogue club, whose final tally amounted to 17 points.

However, it was not enough when the extra 20 minutes had expired and the day belonged to the city team, deserving winners by the narrowest of margins.

The city team had some players making outstanding contributions, 14 players were on the scoresheet at game's end and both on and off the field the decision making yielded a fine dividend.

Dylan Barrett rifled over five points, Tom O'Neill clung the game's only goal from a penalty while sub Blake Murphy impacted generously with a quartet of points following his introduction.

The St Vincent's player continues to show a great example to the younger generation. Another sub Niall McCarthy delivered some fine points too with Sean Daly grabbing a few as well.

In defence, Sean and Tom Harrington were a steadying influence in a display that was overall well-balanced.

Muskerry contributed very well to the proceedings but there was an over-reliance on Bradley to secure scores and their final delivery in search of scores was off target far too often.

Now, a final and a place in the quarter-final of the championship proper awaits Seandún and while the Imokilly will be the far more fancied team in that game, there is no reason why the city team cannot give a good account of themselves.

This column made the trip to Midleton last Wednesday night for the other semi-final between the East Cork team and UCC and in stark contrast to the game at Ballinlough, this was a totally lopsided affair with everything sorted long before the last whistle.

There are quite a number of changes to the current crop of Imokilly players and whilst they were not tested on this occasion, they may well provide difficult opponents going forward.

The Dungourney duo, Cillian O'Callaghan and Jack Leahy, were a right handful in the full-forward line, Leahy banging two of the goals and continuing to illustrate that he is one of the best young players in the county and certain to be under the spotlight of the Cork management.

O'Callaghan had two goals of his own to show for his night's work with Mike Kelly from Castlemartyr firing over some great points in the second half.

The Cloyne duo of Colm Cahill and Adam Sherlock impressed too in a very emphatic display from the most successful of all the divisions down the years.

Some of the older brigade, Ciaran O'Brien and Will Leahy, are still going strong and with the likes of Seamie Harnedy and Timmy Wilk among others on the subs bench, the overall effort continues to be strong.

Back to Seandún and their victory, it will be boost for the city clubs in general and a reward for the efforts of the board and management in constructing the squad.

In fact, it could be said that the victory was a boost for the divisions/ colleges section and it showed that there is still room for those teams in the championship.

GRIPPING

Finally, the heartiest of congratulations to the Cork camogie team on their terrific All-Ireland success under the management team led by Ger Manley.

Not for the first time, it was a gripping battle between themselves and Galway and in a frenetic ending, it was very much a case of holding your nerve as Galway threw everything at them.

No doubt, it was a great day to have been in Croke Park and another important milestone for the game itself with the attendance.