Inniscarra record crucial McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier JFC victory over Urhan

Inniscarra 1-11 (1-1-9) 

Urhan 1-8 (1-1-6) 

Inniscarra recorded a crucial McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier JFC victory over Urhan in Kealkill last Saturday.

Liam O’Connor (1-6) and Daniel Murphy (0-5) were the victors only scorers on an afternoon Inniscarra’s Cork senior hurler, Sean O’Donoghue, did not feature.

Level at the break, Ben Sullivan’s fisted effort handed Urhan a one-point lead with 12 minutes remaining.

Yet, failure to add to their total, on a day Urhan repeatedly coughed up possession, saw Inniscarra reel off four unanswered points to register their first championship win.

Urhan and Inniscarra entered last Saturday’s matchup off the back of disappointing results. The former were held to a draw by Glenville while Inniscarra lost to Cobh.

Against that backdrop and amid humid conditions, it was Inniscarra who dominated early on.

Two Daniel Murphy points pushed the Muskerry side ahead prior to Urhan’s Shay Dineen being denied a goal by a diving Ryan Crowley.

Urhan’s disjointed start was compounded by a three-up offence from which Liam O’Connor’s converted free made it 0-3 to 0-0.

Cian Crowley got his side on the scoreboard after 11 minutes but a dominant Inniscarra replied within a minute via a Daniel Murphy free.

The Beara club fell six behind once Shay Dineen released Liam O’Connor after 13 minutes. Slicing through his opposing defence, O’Connor walloped into the net to make it 1-4 to 0-1.

Urhan had little option but to muster a response and Cian Crowley provided it courtesy of a superb two-pointer.

O’Connor (free) and Jamie O’Neill exchanged scores before an Inniscarra three-up infringement saw O’Neill convert a close-range free.

Urhan regrouped and Alan Elphick setup Ben Sullivan for an injury-time goal to send the teams in level ,1-5 apiece.

Cillian O’Shea and Daniel Murphy (free) scored at either end prior to Ben Sullivan and Liam O’Conor efforts making it 1-7 each.

Next, Sullivan edged his team in front but that 48th minute point would be Urhan’s last score.

From there to the end, plus five minutes of injury-time, it was all Inniscarra.

A Liam O’Connor two-point free and another from open play preceded Daniel Murphy’s match-clinching score. Despite some late scares, Inniscarra ran out merited three-point winners.

Cobh and Glenville’s draw means it is all to play for heading into the concluding round of Group 2 fixtures.

Urhan require a positive result against leaders Cobh in their final group outing to avoid a relegation dogfight. Victory over Glenville would propel Inniscarra into the knockout stages.

Scorers for Inniscarra: L O’Connor 1-6 (0-3 f, 1 2pt f), D Murphy 0-5 (0-2 f).

Urhan: B Sullivan 1-2, C Crowley 0-3 (1 2pt), J O’Neill 0-2 (0-1 f), C O’Shea 0-1.

Inniscarra: D Kelleher; D Keane, L Ryan (captain), C Griffin; F Horgan, T Lyons, J O’Dwyer; D Coughlan, S Dorman; S Dineen, D Murphy, J Hayes; D O’Keefe, S McCarthy, L O’Connor.

Subs: D O’Connell for S Dineen (34, inj), C O’Leary for J Hayes (39), J O’Sullivan for C Griffin (49), J O’Callaghan for D Coughlan (56), D O’Connor for J O’Dwyer (59).

Urhan: R Crowley; D Elphick, Conor O’Sullivan, E O’Shea; J Sullivan, C O’Shea, M Shea (captain); A O’Sullivan, J O’Shea; O Lynch, A Elphick, C Crowley; J O’Neill, M McCarthy, B Sullivan.

Subs: G Dunne for R Crowley (27, blood), N O’Shea for J Sullivan (ht), J Healy for O Lynch (43), Ciarán O’Sullivan for M McCarthy (49), J Sullivan for Ciarán O’Sullivan (56, inj).

Referee: Michael O’Mahony (Kilbrittain).