Midleton hold off Bride Rovers comeback to grab Premier SHC top seeding
Midleton are back in the Premier SHC semis after securing top seeding by beating Bride Rovers. Picture: Larry Cummins
Midleton go direct. The top seedings is theirs. They are within one hour of a third county final appearance in four years.
On an afternoon of unexpected results across the board, Midleton were the sole group leader in Cork hurling’s top-flight to do as expected.
They were the sole group leader to extract maximum points from their final group outing. They were the sole outfit to finish the group phase with a three-from-three record.
The top seeding and quarter-final bypassing were thus fully merited.
Mind you, Caherlag was very nearly the scene of another unexpected Premier Senior result. Bride went so close to an upset here.
Alex Quirke’s goal on the half hour began an unanswered Midleton burst of 1-4 either side of half time. When the flag-raising eventually settled on 38 minutes, their advantage had jumped out to eight. 2-9 to 0-7.
And even when David Barry’s whipped goal gave early trace of the Bride comeback that would eventually materialise, Mikey Finn and Conor Lehane provided two of the game’s next three scores following Barry’s strike to keep Midleton six in front - 2-11 to 1-8 - entering the final quarter.
So central to this Midleton scoreboard leap was the inside trio of Paul Connaughton, Conor Lehane, and Cormac Beausang. The pace and fearlessness of Connaughton complemented and blended so well with the maturity and intelligence of the more experienced Lehane and Beausang.
But with the wind at the back of Bride Rovers and the knowledge that they still had a pulse in this contest, the newly promoted kids of Rathcormac chipped piece by piece into the Magpie advantage.
Brian Roche, who had failed to impose himself inside, and for that credit must go to Ciarmhac Smyth, was moved out the field in what proved a key switch.
The Cork senior assisted a Cormac Barry point and then weaved his body every which way to assist Ronan O’Connell’s 48th-minute goal. 2-12 to 2-10 now read the scoreline.
Conor O’Riordan and Louie Roche hauled them level. They did not stop there. On 54 minutes, Cormac Barry’s sixth successful dead-ball strike - he deputised for the injured Adam Walsh - nudged Bride Rovers ahead for the first time since the 14th minute.
The regret for Bride Rovers is that they would not add to their tally across the remaining 10 minutes. And oh had they chances to do so. Two frees from distance fell short, while David Barry was wide on another turn.
Half-back Cormac Walsh was the unlikely individual who got the black and white needle moving again on 56 minutes, his a fine, fine score from out the sideline direction.
The irresistible Connaughton swelled his personal tally to 1-2 in the first minute of injury time and after absorbing a series of Bride Rovers attacks, Midleton found space and unmarked bodies on the right wing to work a scoring opportunity where Beausang was fouled and Lehane tapped over the clincher.
Midleton having enjoyed the breeze in the opening half, their approach was obvious and brilliant. The half-forward line pulled well out, creating prairies of space for the aforementioned trio of Connaughton, Lehane, and Beausang.
Onto the wind did Saunderson put his puckouts, so many restarts landing favourably in front of a full-forward teammate. Direct in their play, direct to the semis.
It was from this playbook their opening goal arrived, Connaughton burning his marker before burying on the quarter hour.
A further quarter on, young corner-back Tom Dunlea’s charging run through the centre ended with an offload to Alex Quirke and another clinical finish.
They won’t be too pleased at the subsequent nine-point swing and seeing their eight-point advantage evaporate. They will be mighty pleased with the resilience and maturity shown to return in front at the finish and fast-track themselves to the second last weekend of the championship.
P Connaughton 1-2, C Lehane 0-5 (0-1 f, 0-1 65), A Quirke 1-1, M Finn, D Cremin 0-2 each, C Walsh, C Beausang, E McGrath 0-1 each.
C Barry 0-7 (0-4 f, 0-2 65), R O'Connell 1-2, D Barry 1-0, B Roche, P O'Flynn (f), C O'Riordan, L Roche 0-1 each.
B Saunderson; T Dunlea, T O'Leary Hayes, C Smyth; C Walsh, T O'Connell, S O'Sullivan; M Finn, K McDermott; P White, A Quirke, D Cremin; C Beausang, C Lehane, P Connaughton.
E McGrath for McDermott (37, inj); E Moloney for Smyth (41, inj); C Morley for White (45).
C Hogan; J Ahern, E Roche, D Cashman; K Kearney, C O'Sullivan, C Hazelwood; R O'Connell, D Barry; C Ryan, C Barry, P Flynn; B Roche, C Tobin, L Roche.
C O'Riordan for O'Sullivan (20, inj); R Prendergast for Ahern (33, inj).
C Lyons (Nemo Rangers).
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