Ballinora and Dripsey take direct route in Mid Cork

The knock-out stages of the Mid Cork Junior Hurling Championship is taking shape, as BRENDAN KENNEALLY explains

BALLINORA and Dripsey are straight through to the semi-finals of the MJK OILS Mid Cork Junior Hurling Championship, as we reach the business end of the competition.

Following the group stages, the two quarter-finals will see (A) Grenagh v Blarney, and (B) Kilmichael v Éire Óg. In the semi-finals it will be Ballinora v winners of A, and Dripsey v winners of B.

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Ballinora 5-19     

Kilmichael 1-13

Champions Ballinora continued on their winning way with a comprehensive victory over Kilmichael in their final Group 1 game in the MJK Oils Mid Cork Junior Hurling championship at Cloughduv on Friday evening.

Both teams had already qualified for the knockout stages but the Ballinora victory gives the champions a straight run through to the semi-final stage while Kilmichael will meet Éire Óg in the quarter-finals.

Four points in the opening five minutes settled Ballinora quickly into the game. Nine minutes had elapsed before Conor Cotter pointed a free to open the Kilmichael account. Immediately after, Kilmichael suffered a reverse when a high ball into their goalmouth from Shane Kingston got a touch from Kevin Murphy. Even though the ball was cleared by a defender it was judged to have crossed the goal-line.

Conor Cotter had a second point for the losers but Ballinora were on top and had three more points in succession, two from James Byrne and the other from Alan O’Shea. They led by 1-5 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Kilmichael staged a fine rally in the second quarter, Conor and Brendan Cotter sharing four points to cut the gap to four points. When Tommy Burns twice pushed Ballinora further in front, Conor Cotter frees twice reined them in to maintain the four-point gap. In the 26th minute Liam Lyons pointed a free, Conor Cotter did likewise from a 65 in reply. The half ended with a minor melee which resulted in a Ballinora free sent over by Lyons to leave the champions 1-11 to 0-9 in front at the interval.

On the resumption there was an early exchange of points and Kilmichael were holding their own but were dealt a blow in the 37th minute when a rapid move up the left wing ended with Alan O’Shea getting a clear shot at the Kilmichael goalkeeper Stephen O’Leary from close range; his perfect stroke put Ballinora into a 2-12 to 0-10 lead.

Conor Cotter pointed a free in reply and Ballinora added another three points from play before Kilmichael were awarded a penalty after a foul on Cotter in the 42nd minute. Chris O’Connell sent a low drive to the corner of the Ballinora net.

The winner’s reply was speedy and decisive, a goal each from Tommy Burns and Darragh Holmes as the Kilmichael defence was opened up. With Ballinora leading by 4-16 to 1-11 now the outcome was decided.

Scorers

Ballinora: A O’Shea 2-4; T Burns 1-3; D Holmes 1-1; K Murphy 1-0; S Kingston, J Byrne, L Lyons (2f) 0-3 each; D Corkery 0-2.

Kilmichael: C Cotter 0-9 (5f, 1 65); B Cotter 0-4; C O’Connell 1-0 (pen).

Ballinora: Barry Crowley; Ken Greally, James Keohane, Pat Fitton; Colin O’Flynn, Mike Lordan, Neil Lordan; James Byrne, Shane Kingston; Liam Lyons, Darragh Holmes, Tommy Burn; Alan O’Shea, Darragh Corkery, Kevin Murphy.

Subs: Conor Quirke (45), James Lordan (49).

Kilmichael: Stephen O’Leary; Gerard Murphy, Kevin Kelleher, Finbarr Dromey; Kieran Murphy, Cathal Foley, Eoghan Murphy; Conor Cotter, Ronan Murphy; Chris O’Connell, Alan McCarthy, Andrew Kelleher; Brendan Cotter, Danny Horgan, Tom Downey.

Sub: David Horgan (51).

Referee: Ted Hayes (Éire Óg).

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Ballincollig 1-19     

Inniscarra 1-16

Ballincollig and Inniscarra met in Blarney in their final Group 1 game. With both teams without a win and already out of contention for a place in the knockout stages there was only local pride at stake here.

There was little between the teams all through the first half. They were level at 0-7 each at the start of the second quarter and still level at half time, 1-10 apiece, both goals coming late in the half. Stephen O’Donoghue had the Ballincollig goal, Donie Dineen scored a cracker for ‘Scarra.

The teams were still level in the 50th minute at 1-14 apiece but Ballincollig, despite being down a man, pulled clear in the final minutes to get the win.

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Dripsey 4-25     

Cloughduv 1-10

Dripsey, relegated from the county intermediate grade at the end of last season, are in a determined mood to make an impression on their return to the Mid Cork junior championship. They followed on from their earlier Group 2 win over Blarney with the destruction of the Cloughduv second team at Coachford on Sunday evening.

Dripsey were favoured to win and they had their sights on the scoring difference which would determine immediate qualification for the semi-final stage. Once they established their superiority they never let up in pursuit of scores. Defeat for Cloughduv means that they now exit the competition but they have the consolation that their intermediate team has retained its status for next season.

Dripsey quickly set about their task, a well-taken goal from the impressive Gary Murphy in the second minute the perfect start for them. With Michael O’Riordan in scoring form they led by 1-8 to 0-2 in the tenth minute. Before the end of the first quarter Dripsey had added two more goals to their tally, Michael O’Riordan the scorer of both, and it was 3-10 to 0-3 after 17 minutes. Dripsey led 3-13 to 0-6 at the break.

It was clear that the importance of maintaining the pressure had been the message given to the Dripsey players as they never relaxed in the second half and piled on the scores, another goal from Michael O’Riordan helping the winners to a 4-18 to 0-9 lead at the three-quarter stage.

Cloughduv were almost totally reliant on Brian Ahern for scores and he provided the assist for Tomás Twomey to finish to the Dripsey net in the 55th minute.

Scorers 

Dripsey: M O’Riordan 3- 11 (6f); E Maher 0-4; G Murphy 1-0; K Kelleher, M O’Sullivan 0-3 each; D O’Riordan 0-2; Dean O’Sullivan, J Buckley 0-1 each.

Cloughduv: B Ahern 0-8 (6f); T Twomey 1-0; C O’Leary 0-2.

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Grenagh 0-14   

Donoughmore 1-11

Donoughmore could be considered the most unlucky team of the hurling championship. In the opening round they put in a terrific performance, leading Éire Óg by two points with the game gone into added time when the Ovens side got a 20-metre free that finished in the net to snatch a last-gasp victory.

On Sunday evening at Waterfall Donoughmore led by 1-7 to 0-5 at half time and by 1-9 to 0-9 with five minutes of regulation time remaining. Grenagh drew level point by point but in the 61st minute Donoughmore went back in front by a point. Again Grenagh drew level and then in the 64th minute struck over a point to go in front.  Three minutes later Donoughmore got an equaliser but time ran out and the game finished in a draw. The point gained puts Grenagh into the quarter-finals but was not enough to save Donoughmore’s championship season.