Ballinhassig U21 hurlers finish strongly to see off Ballymartle

Ballinhassig 3-21 Ballymartle 1-19 

Ballinhassig’s three-goal haul ultimately decided a lively encounter as they saw off Ballymartle in the Ross Oil SE U21 A Hurling Championship at Riverstick.

Ballymartle will now play Valley Rovers next Saturday at 12pm in Brinny and need a result to stay in the competition.

With only a point separating the sides at the break, the game was decided during a five-minute spell in the second half. Three consecutive points from Adam O’Sullivan, Eoin O’Shea and Sean Lombard between the 47th and 51st minutes were followed 60 seconds later by Patrick O’Regan’s goal, giving the Blues the advantage.

Despite the final margin, there was little between the sides early on, as they were level at 0-3 apiece after 10 minutes.

Ronan Sheehan and Eoghan O’Shea produced some of the best scores of the early part of the contest. By the 12th minute, Ballymartle held a narrow advantage after Ryan Deasy landed an outstanding point, but O’Shea responded with an individual effort to the net.

As the sides traded scores, the pendulum swung back towards Ballymartle on 14 minutes, when Sheehan put his side ahead at 0-7 to 1-3.

Ballinhassig outscored their opponents over the next seven minutes to lead by 2-7 to 0-9, with Sean Lombard setting up Aaron Cussen for a goal.

Sheehan then found the net, following a pass from Lewis Keohane Kiely, to energise the home side. Ballymartle outscored Ballinhassig in the closing stages of the half, leaving the scoreboard at 2-10 to 1-12 at the interval.

After the restart, Ballinhassig reduced their free count, while O’Shea and O’Sullivan continued to punish the opposition. Cork underage hurler Leo Hennessy led Ballymartle’s efforts to get back into the contest, but O’Regan’s goal proved crucial with nine minutes remaining.

Cathal Dineen was unlucky not to find the net late on, but Ballinhassig pushed on to secure victory.

Scorers for Ballinhassig: E O’Shea 1-10 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), A O’Sullivan 0-7 (0-6 f), A Cussen, P O’Regan 1-0 each, D Deasy 0-2, S Lombard, J Lombard 0-1 each.

Ballymartle: R Sheehan 1-8 (0-8 f), R Deasy (0-2 f), Leo Hennessy 0-4 each, L Keohane Kiely, E Deasy, T Cummins 0-1 each.

BALLINHASSIG: C O'Donovan; F Lombard, J Griffin, L Kirby; D Cotter, P O'Regan, D Deasy; J Lombard, A Cussen; E O'Shea, S Lombard, E Madden; A O'Sullivan, L Farley, F O'Shea.

Subs: K Harrington for E Madden (HT), B Connolly for L Farley (45), D Mellerick for F O’Shea (50), D Healy for D Cotter (53), S Griffin for P O’Regan (56 inj).

BALLYMARTLE: O Harte; K Sheehan, E Deasy, F O'Keeffe; C Deasy, R Deasy, S Looney; A Hare, O Sheehy; L Keohane, L Hennessy, D O'Leary; T Cummins, R Sheehan, C Dinneen.

Sub: C Lyons for T Cummins.

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers).