The Corkman
Thursday, 29th July 2002

Three of the four teams involved in next Sunday's permanent tsb county senior hurling championship semi-finals at Pairc Ui Chaoimh have scaled the summit within the last six years.

The odd one out are Sarsfields, who won the last of their two titles to date back in 1957, and who would be the least fancied of the remaining contenders to go all the way this year.

Since losing the 1997 final to Imokilly, Sars have struggled to make a worthwhile impact, enjoying their best run in the interim last season when they bounced back from a firstround defeat by Erins Own to string a couple of wins together at the expense of CIT and Ballyhea.

That earned them a quarater-final spot where they were well beaten by an Imokilly side that were later to fall to Blackrock in the decider.

All of which suggests that they are going to have their work cut out on Sunday to get the better of the Rockies, who, installed as fairly warm favourites to retain their crown at the start of the campaign, have fully justified their rating up to now.

Brushing aside the feeble challenge from Douglas in their opening outing, Blackrock came through a stiff test from St. Finbarr's with flying colours after that before clocking up another big win in their quarter-final clash with Muskerry two weeks ago.

That they have been the most consistent team in the county since 1998, when they finished second best to Imokilly in the final, is beyond dispute.

And, had they not been caught off-guard by Midleton in the third round in 2000, they could well be chasing the four-in-a-row this year.

They made an impressive march to the top three years ago, fashioning a comprehensive win over UCC in the final to lift the title for the first time since 1985.

And they claimed a 31st championship crown in equally convincing style last year which allowed the tradition-filled city club to move six ahead of their nearest rivals on the Roll of Honour, Glen Rovers and St. Finbarr's.

Arguably, they have been going better than ever this year, with their star-studded defence, backboned by Cork players Wayne Sherlock, John Browne, Fergal Ryan and Alan Cummins, looking practically air-tight in each of their previous three outings.

But it is the sparkling form of such as Paul Tierney and especially Adrian Coughlan at midfield, and Barry Hennebry in attack, where Alan Brown and Brian O'Keeffe have been forced to bear the brunt of the burden in the past, that has caused many to conclude that the team has a much better-balanced appearance now.

There is little doubt that Blackrock will provide acid test for a tender-aged Sars side that will have to produce a display surpassing anything they have served up so far if they hope to upset the odds.

Yet, Sars have been the surprise-packets in this year's championship, and their progress to date will surely have worked wonders for their confidence.

They showed promise in their first-round clash with Newtownshandrum when, as they frittered away an abundance of chances from frees, the absence through injury of ace marksman, John Murphy, proved an insurmountable handicap.

They bounced back from that defeat, however, to claim such noteworthy scalps as Imokilly and Na Piarsaigh, and they looked a fairly formidable outfit when romping home in the East-Cork derby quarter-final clash with last season's intermediate kingpins Killeagh.

One feels that they will be taking a step up in class when they face up to the Rockies, however, and it remains to be seen how they will fare out.

The Glanmire men are sure to be fully fired-up for the challenge ahead by team coach Teddy McCarthy, Sars will be hoping for big displays from players like David Kenneally, Cian Kennedy, Paul Roche, Joe Barry, Ray Ryan, John Murphy, last year's outstanding Cork minor forward Kieran Murphy, and, of course, their current senior intercounty man Pat Ryan.

And, with everything to gain and little enough to lose, it would be foolish to completely dismiss their prospects of confounding all predections, just as they did in their previous meeting with Blackrock at the semi-final stage in '97.

Just a single point separated the teams when up and coming Newtownshandrum took the spoils at the expense of their home division Avondhu in a quarter-final encounter two years ago.

And the probability is that there won't be a whole lot in either when the teams renew rivalry in the second game on Sunday's highly-attractive doublebill at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Newtown, under the stewardship of Bernie O'Connor, went on to record an historic county senior hurling triumph in 2000, beating Erins Own in the final with a team that was backboned by the bulk of the players who had shared in the club's under 21 victories in '98 and '99.

Coming just four years' after lifting the intermediate crown, it was indeed a marvellous achievement, and, in view of the youthful nature of the side, Newtown were entitled to look to the future with optimism.

In the circumstances, their heavy defeat by Imokilly in last year's semi-final was a bitter disappointment.

The desire to atone for that lapse and restore their dented pride was always going to be a huge spur for Newtown this year, and with former Limerick coach Tom Ryan now at the helm, they have charted a course to the last four again by virtue of merited wins over Sars, Midleton and Erins Own in turn.

And if Newtown needed any extra motivation going into their third consecutive semi-final, it has certainly been provided by the fact that Avondhu will be in the opposite corner.

Less than a handful of the present panel played on the Avondhu team - which included Newtown's Pat Mulcahy and John McCarthy as well as the divisional side's current coach Conor Hannon of Shanballymore - that beat Imokilly in the '96 county final.

But it's indicative of the richness of the talent in North Cork that Avondhu have invariably remained a force to be reckoned with in the meantime.

In '99 and last year, for instance, they lost no honour when bowing out to Blackrock, and their narrow defeat by Newtown in between, means that they have pushed the eventual champions all the way in the last three campaigns.

They made very light work of accounting for both Castlelyons and Ballyhea this year, and, as is usually the case with divisional sides the longer they remain in the championship, it seems a fair bet that morale and team spirit is growing all the time, and that the best might be still to come from Avondhu.

Laden with players that have donned the Cork jersey in one grade or another, they certainly look equipped to provide Newtown with the sternest test on Sunday.

Numbered among Avondhu's leading lights are Mallow's Fergal McCormack and Pa Dineen, Charleville's Alan O'Connor, Tomas Fitzgibbon and Mervyn Gammell, Kilworth's Will Twomey and Damien McNamara and Ballygiblin's Diarmuid Lynch, and the squad has been strengthened by the return of Jonathan O'Callaghan of Castletownroche, and Austin Walsh of Kildorrery, both of whom were unavailable for the Ballyhea game.

Obviously, the individual dual between inter-county men Fergal McCormack and Newtown's inspriational centre-back Pat Mulcahy promises to be one of the game's main highlights, and it could have a vital bearing on the outcome.

Other key men for Newtown are Brendan Mulcahy, Phil Noonan, John Paul King, Mike Morrissey - whose clash with Avondhu pivot Alan O'Connor is another mouth-watering prospect - and goalkeeper Paul Morrissey, not to mention the free-scoring O'Connor twins, Ben and Jerry.

It should be a fascinating match, but in my view Avondhu look the more balanced side on paper, and if they can match Newtown in terms of passion and commitment, it might be enough to see them through.