KILSHANNIG 1-19 

BALLINORA 0-11

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

CONSIDERING they were just two points in arrears midway through the second-half, it could be argued the 11-point defeat they suffered at the hands of Kilshannig didn’t do justice to Ballinora’s efforts in the county Junior A Hurling Championship final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday.

What’s beyond dispute is that the Muskerry kingpins were completely outgunned in the last-quarter as Kilshannig, runners-up at this level in 2022, took complete control following the boost of a goal by Eanna O’Hanlon in the 44th minute.

Ballinora mentor and former Cork senior selector Jerry Ryan acknowledged Kilshannig were the better team on the day, adding that the North-Cork men were shaping up like winners even before the game’s only goal arrived.

‘We were still in the hunt, but Kilshannig are a seasoned team and were hurling better and

more forcefully at that stage.

‘They’re very strong physically, but they have plenty good hurlers as well, so we needed to

be at our best to have any chance of beating them. It didn’t happen for us, because we missed chances we were taking in other games, and we probably squandered a lot more scores today than we have done all year,’ he said.

That Ballinora clocked up 14 wides over the hour obviously militated against their prospects big-time. Trailing by 0-10 to 0-6 at the interval, they started the second-half most encouragingly, with Darragh Holmes and Jack Hegarty both pointing, but they were off-target with a couple of easy chances as well before Mark O’Brien just failed to get the distance with another effort.

As a result, they were unable to make the most of the dominance they enjoyed shortly after the resumption, and their momentum waned once Jack Twomey broke Kilshannig’s second-half duck in the 41st minute.

Ballinora never led at any stage, and it took a fine save by ‘keeper Barry Crowley and an excellent block by Mark O’Brien to prevent Kilshannig from bagging a brace of goals in the opening quarter.

As it was, Ballinora trailed by 0-5 to 0-2, but they improved steadily as the first-half progressed, not least because of the input from O’Brien and Shane Kingston in the half-back line, and Liam Lyons at midfield.

They almost made a major breakthrough in the 23rd minute when a probing run by Lyons

unhinged the Kilshannig rearguard, but the chance was lost as he delayed a pass to Ben

Mayer, who was standing in splendid isolation at the edge of the Kilshannig square.

A point from the impressive Jack Hegarty followed to leave Ballinora just one adrift, but Kilshannig responded with a three-point sequence, completed by a sublime score from wing-back Kieran Twomey, to lead by 0-10 to 0-6 at half-time.

Twomey stood out in defence for the Avondhu kingpins, who benefited from the decision to

move Eanna O’Hanlon from corner-forward to centre-forward during the second-half.

O’Hanlon’s well-taken goal pushed Kilshannig 1-12 to 0-9 ahead, and he was very much to the fore as they powered home in the last quarter when a superb save by Ballinora custodian Crowley from his namesake Ryan Crowley denied them another goal.

‘It’s very disappointing to lose a county final, even if it’s been an exceptional year for the

club overall,’ commented Ballinascarthy native Jerry Ryan.

‘Hopefully, the players will learn from the experience, and maybe bounce back next season,’ he said.

Scorers

Kilshannig: E O’Hanlon 1-3; P Walsh 0-4 (2f); K Twomey 0-4 (1 65); J Twomey 0-3; Diarmuid O’Sullivan 0-2; K O’Hanlon, C Ruby, M Smith 0-1 each.

Ballinora: B Mayer 0-6 (5f); D Holmes, J Hegarty 0-2 each; C Quirke 0-1.

Kilshannig: D Kearney; D Guiney, C O’Shea, C Murphy; K Twomey, B Curtin, E Burke; Darragh O’Sullivan, D Murphy; P Walsh, J Twomey, R Crowley; Diarmuid O’Sullivan, K O’Hanlon, E O’Hanlon. 

Subs: C Ruby for Crowley (50); S Lyons for Diarmuid O’Sullivan (57); M Smith for K O’Hanlon, M Twomey for D Murphy (both 59).

Ballinora: B Crowley; T Forde, N Lordan, J Byrne; M O’Brien, S Kingston, C O’Flynn; L Lyons, T Burns; D Crowley, D Holmes, B Mayer; A O’Shea, J Hegarty, D Dineen. 

Subs: J Keohane for O’Shea (ht); M Lordan for Lyons (48); S Lyons for Holmes (49); C Quirke for Corkery (52).

Referee: C McAlister (Aghada).