Premier SHC: Six in a row as Imokilly see off Seandún

Imokilly 3-22

Seandún 1-18

The final outcome was as expected but Imokilly had to work to secure victory over Seandún in Sunday night’s Co-op SuperStores Divisions/Colleges Hurling Championship final at Páirc Uí Rinn.

For the sixth year in a row, the east Cork side take the Premier SHC quarter-final spot on offer, though it wasn’t until a flurry of scores midway through the second period, capped by a lucky goal from captain Jack Leahy, that they could be sure of retaining the Denis O’Riordan Cup.

While goals from Cillian O’Callaghan and Seán O’Donoghue in the first period had sent Imokilly in with a 2-12 to 0-11 half-time advantage, Seandún staged a revival on the restart.

Nicky Kelly, on as a first-half sub, had a nice point before wing-back Dáire Daly landed a big effort from distance and a pair of Ruairí Quirke frees had them within a goal by the 37th minute.

After a pair of Imokilly wides, good Seandún pressure forced a turnover free, which Quirke converted for his ninth points of the night and the lead was down to just two. Unfortunately for the challengers, though, it was as close as they would come.

Leahy nailed a tricky free for their first score of a second half that was 12 minutes old but that was followed by another from his own 45 and then one from halfway before Will Leahy was on the mark on 46 minutes to give breathing space again, 2-16 to 0-16.

A ninth point of the night from the Imokilly skipper restored the half-time margin and then, on 51, he was going for his tenth but, in trying to stop the ball going over the bar, unfortunate Seandún goalkeeper Aidan Long brought it down behind the line.

When Leahy followed that with another free, the team jointly-managed by Ronan Dwane and Seánie O’Farrell were 3-18 to 0-17 to the good with six minutes on the clock. While Seandún did pull a late goal back when Seán Daly poked home the rebound after an Eoin Davis save from Blake Murphy, what was an overall-encouraging campaign for Seandún had come to an end.

After the first eight points were shared, Imokilly – playing the green and gold of Cobh to avoid a colour-clash – moved into a lead that would not be lost as Conor Cahill played Cillian O’Callaghan in for a goal, followed by points from Jack Leahy and Timmy Wilk.

However, Seandún stayed with them, aided by Quirke’s frees and strong play from Eoin O’Sullivan in midfield and it was 1-9 to 0-10 on 24 minutes.

O’Callaghan’s third point for Imokilly was followed by their second goal though as a nice move ended with Leahy’s pass for Seán O’Donoghue to finish well and they had moved seven ahead by the break.

That lead was eroded but never lost and they will look forward to a quarter-final tie against the sixth seed at the end of the Premier SHC group stage.

Scorers for Imokilly: J Leahy 1-10 (0-7f), C O’Callaghan 1-2, S O’Donoghue 1-1, W Leahy, M Kelly 0-2 each, T Wilk, M O’Dwyer, A Lynch, N Cahill, O Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

Seandún: R Quirke 0-9 (0-8f, 0-1 65), S Daly 1-2, B Murphy 0-3 (0-1f, 0-1 65), D Daly, E O’Sullivan, D Barrett, N Kelly 0-1 each.

IMOKILLY: E Davis (St Catherine’s); T Wilk (Cobh), E O’Riordan (St Catherine’s), C Martin (Castlemartyr); A Sherlock (Cloyne), C O’Brien (St Ita’s), O Fitzgerald (St Catherine’s); J Murray (Youghal), J Casey (Youghal); C Cahill (Cloyne), M Kelly (Castlemartyr), W Leahy (Aghada); S O’Donoghue (St Catherine’s), C O’Callaghan (Dungourney), J Leahy (Dungourney).

Subs: M O’Dwyer (Russell Rovers) for Cahill (51), D O’Brien (St Ita’s) for Leahy (55), P Cummins (Russell Rovers) for Martin (57), A Lynch (Cobh) for O’Donoghue (60).

SEANDÚN: A Long (Passage); L Malone (Mayfield), T Harrington (Passage), R Quinlan (White’s Cross); D McCarthy (Passage), S Harrington (Passage), D Daly (Bishopstown); E O’Sullivan (Mayfield), S O’Reilly (Whitechurch); R Quirke (Delanys), J Hegarty (Whitechurch), T O’Neill (Passage); S Daly (St Vincent’s), B Murphy (St Vincent’s), D Barrett (Passage).

Subs: N Kelly (Mayfield) for Hegarty (27, injured), M Coffey (Mayfield) for T Harrington (half-time), L Harrington (Passage) for Quirke (53), A Murphy (Whitechurch) for D Daly (60).

Referee: K O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers).