Cork hurling championship catches fire as clubs delivers top class action across the county

The Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship really caught fire at the weekend, with the qualification and relegation pictures taking shape after some big results for the likes of St Finbarr’s and Glen Rovers.

Arguably the two most interesting ties of the round were the meetings of St Finbarr’s and Bride Rovers at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday and Glen Rovers v Kanturk at Castletownroche on Sunday given the Barrs and the Glen had lost their opening round ties. 

Defeats to either would have seen them eliminated and possibly in the relegation picture.

Bride Rovers could have guaranteed themselves a quarter-final spot with a victory but losing key forward Adam Walsh to injury in the first half hamstrung their hopes, while key man Brian Roche looked compromised with heavy strapping on his leg too.

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Cillian Tobin scored a cracker of a goal late on for the Rovers but it was only a consolation score as the Barrs were out of sight by then thanks to two goals from Ben Cunningham, one from John Wigginton-Barrett and seven great points from play from livewire William Buckley.

The Barrs would have been delighted with the victory but the main talking points from their point of view were the injuries sustained by Jack Cahalane and Brian Hayes. Cahalane looked sharp early on but was forced off after eighteen minutes, while Hayes had to make way at half-time after he had impressed in a deeper role where he nailed three crisp points from play.

The game of the round was in Castletownroche with old friends Kanturk and Glen Rovers facing off once more. They famously played each other in 2023 in the relegation final when Kanturk sent the Glen down to Senior A for 12 months and the Duhallow men knew they could eliminate the city club from the championship with a win.

Three first-half goals from the Glen seemed to set them on course for victory, but the brilliant ball striking of Brian O’Sullivan kept Kanturk in it. Long range frees, points from play, sidelines over the bar and a rocket of a penalty.

It was an exhibition from the midfielder, yet it wasn’t enough, as the Glen full-forward line of Patrick Horgan, Simon Kennefick and Eoin O’Leary rattled over brilliant scores in the dying minutes to grab victory from the jaws of defeat, with Kennefick and O’Leary really impressing.

The Glen will fancy their chances of seeing off Fr O’Neill’s in the next round, which would see them qualify in the event that Blackrock maintain their 100% record against Kanturk.

If we see a better target man display in the club championships than Seán O’Donovan’s on Saturday it will be a great one, as the Newcestown full-forward caused the Midleton defence the world of problems throughout. 

In fact, the greatest compliment you could pay O’Donovan is to say that Midleton struggled more with him than they did against Brian Hayes.

He contributed 1-2 from play, with his goal coming from a lovely pull in the air from a long Cathal Wilson delivery in the 41st minute which looked like it was going to be the decisive score.

Heartbreak

Newcestown deservedly led by two with only a couple minutes to go until the game was flipped on its head when Mikey Finn’s speculative delivery was gathered brilliantly by Ross O’Regan and he blasted to the back of the net to give Midleton an unlikely lead.

Richard O’Sullivan did level matters with a free only for Newcestown hearts to be broken when David Cremin used his blistering pace to race clear and clip over the winner.

The result means Midleton look likely to top Group 3 now, while Newcestown know they are likely to be facing a relegation play-off if they are unable to defeat St Finbarr’s in Round 3, which would be incredibly harsh, as they certainly did not look like relegation material on Saturday.

Newcestown and Fr O’Neills are the only two teams on zero points going into Round 3 so obviously they are the two clubs under most pressure for a win that could save them. Facing St Finbarr’s and Glen Rovers sides who will both need the points for qualification to the quarter-finals will not make their tasks any easier.

Charleville maintained their 100% record with a low-scoring win over Douglas in Mallow. They reeled in their city opponents with the aid of the breeze in the second half but will be unhappy with the number of wides that were struck over the hour.

They will now face Newtownshandrum in a north Cork derby in Round 3 with half an eye on getting the automatic semi-final berth that goes to the top seeds, although Midleton and Blackrock will also be targeting that spot.