Midleton 3-25
Newcestown 0-10

JACK McKAY REPORTS

FOR half an hour, Newcestown stuck with Midleton. The contest had bite, the Carbery side were causing problems, and Midleton were getting a touch of déjà vu.

It had echoes of last season’s U21A hurling championship semi-final against the same opposition – and again at Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s 4G – where Midleton were only able to pull clear with a three-goal burst in the final quarter. But their three-goal burst came sooner this time, and they dominated the entirety of the second half.

Newcestown, without the injured Niall Kelly, had hung with their opponents in a wind-assisted first half. Patrick Twomey worked hard up front and Humphrey Canty drew plenty of fouls, but three unanswered Midleton points at the end of the first half pushed them six in front, 0-12 to 0-6.

Carthaigh Cronin’s long delivery within 60 seconds of the resumption was plucked from the air by Peter Barrett, and he rattled home. And from that moment, it was as if a switch had been flicked.

Midleton ploughed on, hitting 1-6 without reply to stretch the overall run to 2-9 unanswered since Newcestown’s last score in the 24th minute.

Cian Stack clipped over a pair from play during that burst, while Mikey Finn – sharp as ever from frees – flicked a quick one short for Barrett to bury his second goal on 38 minutes.

Newcestown could feel aggrieved at certain calls, one Midleton score followed three catches unpunished, but by then the tide was long gone.

When Oisín O’Sullivan finally ended the drought from a free after 42 minutes, the scoreboard read 2-18 to 0-7. He’d add two more frees in quick succession as Midleton briefly loosened their grip and gave away soft fouls – they finished with 18 in total – but the fourth quarter belonged entirely to the East Cork outfit.

Barrett added a beauty over the shoulder, Conor Morley powered through for a goal he had grafted and earned, and even corner-back Cian Lawton joined the party with a point of his own before sub Senan Carroll chipped in to make it 3-21 to 0-9.

When O’Sullivan raised a white flag for Newcestown in the 52nd minute, it was just their first score from play of the half, and third overall. They struggled to put their mark on proceedings as they had done in this meeting last year, while Midleton were on it from the start and looked fresh and focussed.

Against the breeze, Midleton led 0-5 to 0-1 after ten minutes. Newcestown had threatened a response, Canty’s drive, created by a quick Ciarán O’Donovan sideline, forced a fine save from Zach Smith, while O’Sullivan’s frees trimmed the margin to two.

But for every flicker of hope, Midleton found an answer, and once they pulled six ahead and had the wind at their backs, it would demand too much of Newcestown.

Scorers 

Midleton: P Barrett 2-2; M Finn 0-7 (6f, 1 65); C Morley 1-1; D Cremin 0-4; D Egan, C Stack, C Beausang 0-2 each; M McSweeney, E Fraser, C Lawton, S Carroll, N Coughlan 0-1 each.
Newcestown: O O’Sullivan 0-7 (6f, 1 65); P Twomey 0-2; F Kenneally 0-1.

Midleton: Z Smith; T O’Leary-Hayes, C Lawton; C Cronin; M McSweeney, M Murphy, E Fraser; D Egan, M Finn (jc); C Beausang, E McGrath, C Stack; D Cremin (jc), C Morley, P Barrett.

Subs: S Carroll for Stack (47), D Scanlon for Finn (50-52 temp), Scanlon for Cremin (54), J Hogan for McSweeney (56), N Coughlan for Barrett, A Moloney for Egan (both 58)

Newcestown: R McSweeney; J Burrows, P Kelly, O Callan; C O’Sullivan; F Kenneally, J Kenneally, H Flanagan; F Ó Donnchadha, H Canty; D Flanagan, C O’Donovan (c), O O’Sullivan; E McSweeney, P Twomey.

Subs: S Long for Flanagan (39), T O’Sullivan for Kelly (51), J Hayes for O O’Sullivan (59).

Referee: W King (Banteer/Lyre).