Ballinora 1-16
Ballincollig 1-13
BRENDAN KENNEALLY REPORTS
BALLINORA are MJK Oils Mid Cork junior hurling champions for the fourth year in a row, and for the tenth time in all, after their victory over Ballincollig in a replay at Ovens on Sunday afternoon.
There was a fine opening with the teams level at 0-3 each after ten minutes, Seán Walsh, Shane O’Sullivan and David Bowen on target for Ballincollig, and man-of-the-match Danny Dineen (2) and Shane Kingston scoring for the champions.
The hurling was fast and furious, both teams clearly up for the contest. Ballinora took the lead for the third time in the 17th minute after Kingston set up the chance for Ben Mayer but Ballincollig were level again when David Bowen converted another free in the 23rd minute.
Two minutes later Ballincollig got through for a goal, David O’Leary sending a clever pass to Sean Walsh who fired home from close range. James Keohane quickly replied with a point for Ballinora but Bowen restored the one-goal advantage to The Village when he pointed his third free.
The teams were level again when James Keohane’s shot was blocked in the Ballincollig goalmouth, and the ball came out to Ben Mayer who took his chance well with a rasping shot to the corner of the net.
Shane Kingston, hurling well at midfield, fired over a point from a free in his own half to restore the lead to Ballinora and they were in front to the finish, a situation aided by continuing Ballincollig poor shooting. Kingston, from the halfway line, hit the last score of the half to leave his side 1-7 to 1-5 in front at the interval but by no means secure, though they were hurling confidently.
Ballinora started the second half with points from Ben Mayer and James Byrne to go four clear but Shane O’Sullivan dropped a ball on the roof of the net and David O’Leary struck another point for Ballincollig to restore the two-point gap, now 1-9 to 1-7. Points were exchanged, Danny Dineen and JP Murphy on target, with still two points between the sides with 20 minutes remaining.
Ballinora now made the decisive drive to pull away from their neighbours once again. Ben Mayer placed Kingston with a cross-field pass to open up a three-point gap on 41, Ballincollig lost a goal opportunity and the subsequent 65 was wide. Kingston collected a puck-out and shot over from the wing, 1-12 to 1-8 now with the champions forcing the pace.
The Ballinora defence was magnificent with Mike Lordan, team captain Pat Fitton, Neil Lordan and Michael Quirke all very prominent in front of razor-sharp Barry Crowley in goals and Ballincollig were finding scores difficult to come by despite repeated attacks. Alan O’Shea extended the Ballinora lead to five points on 49 but Ballincollig staged a very spirited rally in the closing ten minutes.
Theo Morgan took a pass from Bowen and sent over before James Byrne replied for Ballinora. Points from Seán Walsh and another from Theo Morgan cut the Ballinora lead back to three points by the 57th minute but Danny Dineen eased the pressure with a point for Ballinora.
Two frees for Ballincollig yielded two points for David Bowen and left only two points between the sides as the game went into time-added but Shane Kingston stepped up once again for Ballinora and sent over from play to halt the Ballincollig rally and ensure that the Mid Cork crown stays in Ballinora for another year. Heady times indeed for all involved.
Ballinora now face Carbery champions, Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas, in the county quarter-final this Sunday in Ovens (2pm).
Scorers
Ballinora: S Kingston 0-6 (3f); B Mayer 1-2; D Dineen 0-4; J Byrne 0-2; J Keohane, A O’Shea 0-1 each.
Ballincollig: S Walsh 1-2; D Bowen 0-5 (5f); S O’Sullivan, T Morgan 0-2 each; D O’Leary, JP Murphy 0-1 each.
Ballinora: Barry Crowley; Tim Forde, Mike Lordan, Pat Fitton; James Byrne, Neil Lordan, Michael Quirke; Tommy Burns, Shane Kingston; Danny Dineen, James Keohane, Darragh Corkery; Ben Mayer, Kevin Murphy, Alan O’Shea.
Subs: Billy Carbery for J Keohane (49), Conor Quirke for T Burns (61).
Ballincollig: Ronan Cambridge; Shane Murphy, Jordan Murray, Ronan Power: Shane O’Sullivan, Liam Jennings, Peter O’Neill; JP Murphy, David O’Leary; Seán Walsh, Brendan O’Brien, Eoin Dwyer; Shane Murphy, David Bowen, Evan Cooke.
Subs: Conor Kinsella for S Murphy (38), Theo Morgan for E Dwyer (39), Dillon Horgan for E Cooke (55), Diarmuid Ward for S O’Sullivan (56).
Referee: Diarmuid Kirwan (Éire Óg).
