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Newtownshandrum served up a highly impressive performance in disposing of UCC in the third round of the Cork county SHC. This was a one sided affair throughout and one felt that the young guns from North Cork had quite a reserve left indeed.
UCC opened brightly with Johnny Enright proving to be more than a handful for the Newtown defence. However, Newtown settled well and with Pat Mulcahy beginning to exert his commanding figure at centre back, they were able to push ahead on the scoreboard thanks to some excellent free-taking by Ben O' Connor. Newtown had some gilt edged opportunities for goal, most notably two attempts in quick succession by Jerry O' Connor. The midfield pairing of Ian Kelliher and Declan Murphy begin to exert their influence and the pace and skill of the forwards had the College men in all sorts of trouble. With the wind to their backs in the first half, UCC failed to capitalise and could find no way through the impregnable half back line of Philip Noonan, Pat Mulcahy and Alan O' Brien. Although the scoreline didn't reflect the dominance of the North Cork men, Newtown were quite content going in at half time with a 2 point lead.
Immediately after the break, one could sense the floodgates were about to open. Newtown upped their pace significantly and a blitz of point scoring followed shortly. Bertie Troy scored a cracking goal with a ground shot that left UCC goalkeeper, John O' Brien with no chance. Jerry O' Connor continued to work tirelessly all over the field and helped to give Newtown a 10 point lead before the College had their first score of the second half with a point form Johnny Enright.
Newtown were rampant at this stage with Declan Murphy lording it at midfield. The score of the game was undoubtedly Newtown's second goal where after an excellent build up, Jerry O' Connor ran on to a John Paul King pass to burry the ball into the College net with a superb strike. Newtown were out of sight from here on in and it was a joy to watch the silken skills of the twins as they repeatedly worked the ball up the field, leaving the College men in their wake. UCC got a late consolation goal from a penalty but it did little to help last years beaten finalist's.
Newtown will be now be focussing on their quarter final derby against local divisional rivals Avondhu. This is set to be a mouth watering clash, certainly not one to be missed.
Scorers Newtownshandrum: J. O'Connor (1 3), B. Troy (1 0), B. O'Connor (0
8, 0 5 frees), P. Mulcahy (0 3, 0 1 free, 0 1 65), D. Murphy (0 2), J.P.
King, D. Mulcahy (0 1 each).
All roads lead to Fermoy on Sunday evening as Newtown bid to make the quarter-finals of the county Senior Hurling Championship for the second year in a row. However, 'The College', last years beaten finalists, coming into this games as somewhat of an unknown quantity, will pose a major threat to the ambitions of the North Cork men.
Newtown will go into this game as favourites, but with Robert Troy, Michael Morrissey and long term injury casualty Michael Reidy all ruled out of this game, Newtown will have to call on all their reserves to get the better of 'The College', who are expected to be at full strength for this encounter.
The College can call on players of the calibre of John Kingston, Eoin Bennett, Stiofan Fitzpatrick and John O'Brien to name but a few. UCC beat a number of fancied teams last year on their way to the County Final and with the match fixed for Sunday evening, there should be no clashes with other Counties fixture, allowing for a full turn up for the students.
Newtown on the other hand have the benefit of a first round game, where they easily disposed of a weak Ballincollig outfit. That should stand to them and with their Inter County panellists Ben and Gerry O'Connor and Pat Mulcahy in such good form at present allied with seasoned campaigners John McCarthy, John Griffin and Dan O'Riordan coming back to full fitness a mouth-watering clash is in prospect.
To win this championship, teams need a panel of up to 20 players, who when called upon, give a good account of themselves, who won't weaken the team significantly. On Monday we will know if this is the case with Newtown.
Ballincollig’s honeymoon in the Senior ranks came to an abrupt end last night in breezy Mallow, when Newtown, ably led by inter-county Panellists Pat Mulcahy, Ben and Gerry O’Connor overcame a nervous Opening to eventually overrun a dejected Ballincollig outfit and book their place in the 3rd round of the Senior Championship.
There was little between the sides in the opening quarter, with Ben O’Connor making an immediate impact on the 40 and Pat Mulcahy beginning to dominate at centre back. It was noticeable at this stage that Ballincollig were playing a lot of ball to the left wing, where half forward Rory O’Doherty was making a big impact, scoring his teams first 2 points from play. At this point the Newtown mentors switch wing backs in an effort to curb the treat, which worked to a degree, but O’Doherty was to go on to have a fine game for the losers.
Up at the other end the Newtown forwards were becoming increasingly more threatening and this was typified by some fine scores from Donal Muclahy (capt) and John Paul King. The latter struck for an excellent goal midway through the half. After some excellent approach play by himself and also Bertie Troy, John Paul finished to the net to the delight of his adoring fans. Other to catch the eye during the first half were John Griffin and Brendan Mulcahy, keeping a lively ballincollig inside line very quiet.
Both teams finished the first half with 14 men. This however could have been avoided had the referee (Richard Murphy) been quicker on the whistle moments earlier, with Paddy Egan being the unlucky victim in this case.
Newtown finished the half six points to the good 1-11 to 0-8, but whatever was said at half time to the Ballincollig boys seemed to take immediate effect as they hit over three unanswered points, leaving just a puck of the ball between the sides.
It was at this point though that Newtown seemed to step for a few gears, with Pat Mulcahy lording it at centre back, Declan Murphy catching some great ball around the middle of the field and up front Mike Morrissey was beginning to exert more of an influence on this game. It was the former mentioned Morrissey who struck for the all important second goal for the village. Gaining position on the 40, Mike did what he does best, taking on defenders, before slotting calmly to the net , giving the keeper no chance.
This was the beginning of the end for Ballincollig and although they got a brief glimmer of hope through Alan Beale’s goal ten minutes from time, Newtown finished like a fresh team, ending in a fine opportunist goal from Bertie Troy.
Those to impress most throughout the hour were the Three Mulcahy’s, the Two O’Connor’s, John Paul King and coolness personified Paul Morrissey in goals. Robert Troy picked up what looked like a nasty looking knee injury in the first half. Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery for the next round.
The waiting is over, it's championship time again....
Newtownshandrum begin their quest for County championship honours with
a tricky first round game against Ballincollig in Mallow @ 7.30 next Sunday
21st May.
Ballincollig, last years Intermediate Champions seems to have taken well to
their new found senior status with some impressive league displays, most
noteworthy their narrow defeat against last years County Champions Blackrock.
But, as we all know, league is league and championship is a different ball game
Completely.
Newtown have fond memories of their last visit to Mallow, when on a hot summers
evening they beat a highly fancied Delaneys outfit, on their way to the Intermediate
County Championship. That was back in 1996 and this team has come along way since.
Two County U-21 titles in successive years (going this year for 3 in a row) and now
there is an air of expectation that this team could bring ultimate Senior County honours
to a club steeped in tradition.
The Newtown team will be along similar lines to last year. We can expect the ever
reliable Paul Morrissey between the sticks, with in front of him Griffin, Mulcahy and McCarthy.
County Panalist Pat Mulcahy will start Centre Back, flanked by Phil Noonan and the evergreen
Robert Troy. Robert seems to playing his best hurling for a number of years.
Declan Murphy and Ian Kelliher should start midfield with Jerry O'Connor, Mike Morrissey
and the great Donal Mulcahy on the 40. Up front your likely to see J.P King ( who starred for the
Cork vocational team last Sunday in Limerick), Ben O'Connor and Bertie Troy.
Ballincollig are not without their stars and with the likes of Murphy, O'Dwyer, O'Connell and
the Beale brothers in their ranks, will certainly put it up to the north cork men. However, I expect
Newtown to have too much firepower for the Muskerry men to see them progress into the 3rd round
of this competition.
DEFENDING champions Newtownshandrum will start firm favourites to retain their
Cork under 21 hurling championship title when they play Erins Own in this year's final at
Fermoy on Sunday.
The North club, who won the championship last year after a replay with Na Piarsaigh, will
have 13 of that team available to them and it's hard to see the East Cork side causing an
upset.
Erins Own already have two counties in safekeeping - under 16 and minor and the under
21 grade would complete a tremendous year for the club, but they face a mammoth task
which must be faced without county minor Kevin O'Shea who has a torn hamstring.
The fact that they surprised a fancied Na Piarsaigh side in the semi final last weekend, is a
big boost to Erins Own, but even if O'Shea was available to them, they are up against
perhaps one of the best under 21 teams to play in the grade in years. Newtown coach
Bernie O'Connor has nurtured this particular crop of players along since their under 12
days and has enjoyed a lot of success with them, particularly at divisional level.
Last year's under 21 victory was a huge boost to Newtown's senior team who reached the
quarter finals of the county championship before going under to Imokilly by two points.
The bulk of the under 21 team figured on that senior team and the experienced gained has
been invaluable to them in their march to this year's final.
The team is built around the O'Connor twins Ben and Gerry, the Morrissey brothers Mike
and Paul, Philip Noonan, Brian Bowles, Pat Egan and John Paul King and it's hard to see
the reigning champions slipping up.
However conditions are going to play a crucial role in this final. The pace of the sliothar
won't be as fast as Newtown would like it, and if Erins Own can capitalise they could cause
an upset.
They certainly have the players to do so. In Mark O'Connor they have a potential match
winner but he tends to drift out of a game.
O'Connor at his best for the full hour, a repeat of the goalkeeping heroics of last week by 16
year old Kieran Murphy and the same scoring exploits by Martin Buckley would go along
way towards an Erins Own victory, but it hard to see the champions being dethroned.
The one disquieting aspect about this final is playing it so late in the season. The under 21
grade has the potential to rival the senior championship, but must be played at an earlier
time of the year to get the best out of it.
NEWTOWNSHANDRUM collected the last Cork U21 hurling title of
the century yesterday with a decisive win over brave challengers
Erins Own, and with a team which surely will bring even greater
glory to the compact North Cork village.
As reigning champions, and with ten of last year's starting fifteen
on view two overage, three lost to injury), Newtown started as warm
favourites, and despite the fact that they held the slimmest of leads
at half-time, 0-6 to 0-5, they firmly justified that favouritism in the
opening half.
Little between them then on paper, at the half, but in truth, the
signs were ominous, for the challengers. Only an outstanding
performance at full-back by young Shane Cunningham on Gerry
O'Connor kept the myriad Newtown attacks at bay, and with the
magical skills of brother Ben on full display at midfield, ably
abetted by Alan O'Brien, it looked only a matter of time before
Newtown, with that wind behind them, would establish their
superiority in the second half.
So it proved. Newtown made the major breakthrough late in the
game, a sharp shot across the keeper by young John O'Connor
after brother Ben's mishit shot, wrapping things up for the
champions, in the 58th minute.
Centre-back Peter Kelly, upfield in desperation, got a point back for
Erins Own, replied to by Morrissey, and Sean Dunne got a
consolation goal right at the death.
Scorers - Newtownshandrum: B.O'Connor 0-8 0-5 frees);
J.O'Connor 1-0; JP King 0-2; M.Morrissey, A.O'Brien, P.Noonan
65), 0-1 each.
Erins Own: M.Buckley 0-4 0-3 frees); S.Dunne 1-0; M.O'Connor
0-1 free); E.O'Flynn and P.Kelly, 0-1 each.
NEWTOWNSHANDRUM: P.Morrissey; A.O'Brien jnr), B.Mulcahy,
D.Coughlan; B.Bowles, P.Noonan, P.Egan; B.O'Connor,
A.O'Brien; R.Browne, M.Morrissey capt) JP King; F.Reidy,
G.O'Connor, J.O'Connor.
ERINS OWN: K.Murphy; M.Finn, S.Cunningham, D.Buckley;
S.Walsh, P.Kelly capt), R.Ahern; G.Lane, M.O'Connor; S.Dunne,
E.O'Flynn, K.Mullins; G.Cunningham, M.Buckley, M.Griffin. Subs:
M.Coughlan for Griffin, inj. 59.
Due to, among others, Ben O'Connor's involvement with Cork in the Munster and All Ireland
series, Newtown have been waiting over a month for their third outing in this year's
championship.
They have not, however, let that time go to waste.
Rather than rest on their laurels they have made many incursions into Clare and Limerick in
search of meaningful challenge matches and have played at least three times a week in
order to keep the players keyed into the game.
"We took a week off after the Muskerry game but then we got right back into preparing the
team for this weekend. Afterall, when you look at the names Imokilly have there is no way
that we could go into this game 'cold'," said Newtown coach Bernie O'Connor.
"A lot of people have been saying that Imokilly have lost such and such a person but they
are still formidable opposition.
They lost Castlelyons last year but gained the Junior champions and they are still the team
to beat.
"We know that if they hit top form they will be very difficult to beat but we have prepared
very well for this game and on our day we don't fear any team. This has been a very good
year for us so far and hopefully it is not over yet.
"We set out at the start of the year to get over the first round as that was the big one.
"We couldn't properly regard ourselves as a senior side until that first round hurdle was
behind us and now we are getting a bit greedy.
"To be honest our second round opposition Muskerry was a better test for us because they
played better than Kilbrittain had but the bottom line is that we have two wins to our credit
which has surpassed the club's previous best in the competition," added O'Connor.
Newtown will obviously be relying heavily on Bernie's own sons, Ben and Ger, the former
especially following his heroics for Cork in last Sunday's All Ireland semi final win over
Offaly.
They will also look to the members of last year's successful County U21 side but they will
have their work cut out for them against a side that boast, among others, current Cork
captain Mark Landers.
DEFENDING champions Imokilly remain on course for a record third TSB Cork county
senior hurling championship title following a two point victory over Newtownshandrum
in a quarter final tie at Kilworth on Saturday night last.
Forget the scoreline. Imokilly won this contest far more convincingly that the scoreline
would suggest and on the evidence of this display, will made a bold bid for what would be
an historic three titles in a row for a divisional side.
Billed as the game of the championship so far, this was a huge disappointment to the
capacity crowd that packed into the superbly prepared venue on a splendid night for hurling.
Imokilly won the toss and elected to play against the strong wind in the first half. Containing
the Newtown attack in a vice like grip, the champions were just the minimum in arrears at
the break, 0 6 to 0 5, and there was an air of inevitability about the outcome in the second
half.
The winners owed much to the superb marking job Brian O'Driscoll did on Newtown
dangerman Ben O'Connor. Everywhere O'Connor went, O'Driscoll was on his shoulder
and the fact that the Cork senior player failed to score from play over the hour speaks
volumes for the Fr. O'Neills man.
The other O'Connor, Gerry, found the ground extremely difficult also, although he did make
a number of incisive runs, one in particular which yielded his side's goal in the 54th minute.
Apart from Brian O'Driscoll, Imokilly were also well served by Derek Barrett, Ronan Dwane
who had a marvellous first half at midfield until he tired, Mick Downing, Jimmy Smiddy and
Sean O'Farrell.
The only disquieting note for Imokilly was a knee injury to Mark Landers which resulted in
him leaving the field with eight minutes to go. Landers later expressed concern about the
injury saying he twisted his knee when his foot got caught in a hole in the ground 15
minutes into the match.
Newtown will be very disappointed at not playing to their potential. They weren't a match on
the team that knocked out Muskerry in the previous round, and their almost total reliance on
the O'Connor twins is something they will have to overcome if they are to make progress at
this level.
Everything is usually channelled through these two highly talented youngsters but Newtown
must have a second option if the O'Connors are contained, and contained they were on this
occasion.
To add to Newtown's problems, they lost the services of centre back Pat Mulcahy with a leg
injury which left them very vulnerable at the back, although his replacement, Phil Noonan,
who played with a number of stitches inserted in a hand wound, had his moments.
There was little to choose between the sides in the opening half and they were level on
three occasions, before Ben O'Connor pointed two frees to give his side a one point half
time lead.
The sides were still tied at 0 8 apiece six minutes into the second half and when Jerry
O'Connor pointed after a great run to give Newtown the lead, there was a slight hint that the
club side could cause an upset.
However Imokilly reacted superbly to the danger and in the space of 11 minutes scored 1 4
without replay, the goal a splendid effort by Jerome O'Driscoll, to lead 1 13 to 0 9 with
seven minutes remaining.
Imokilly should have been well out of sight at this point such was their dominance, but they
failed to put Newtown away, and the remaining minutes were played almost entirely in the
Imokilly half as the North Cork side threw caution to the wind and came forward at every
opportunity.
It was Newtown's best spell and how they must have regretted not making their challenge
earlier. A splendid goal by Mike Morrissey from all of 35 yards out, raised the tempo of the
game considerably and they added three further points in those hectic last few minutes, but
too late to save the game.
Scorers:
IMOKILLY: B. Rochford (Killeagh); B. Murphy (Bride Rvs), N. Fitzgerald (do.), B. O'Driscoll
(Fr. O'Neills); D. Barrett (Cobh), M. Landers (Killeagh), V. Murray (Youghal); R. Dwane
(Aghada), M. Downing (Youghal); J. Smiddy (Castlemartyr), M. Daly (Cobh), B. Coleman
(Youghal); J. O'Driscoll (Bride Rvs.), S. O'Farrell (Carrigtwohill), N. McCarthy (do.). |
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