Éire Óg 0-16

Bishopstown 0-9

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

SURVIVAL was the name of the game on Sunday in Blarney where Éire Óg preserved their premier intermediate hurling championship status with a convincing win over Bishopstown.

Not that victory was easily achieved, as they didn’t move into the comfort-zone until the last ten minutes, outscoring a spirited Bishopstown outfit by five points to one on the run-in.

At the same time, Éire Óg almost looked the more likely side to prevail after a four-point sequence enabled them to lead by 0-6 to 0-3 midway through the first half.

They weren’t hauled back to equality afterwards, but manager Diarmuid Kirwan revealed he never felt confident about the outcome until the final whistle, indicative of the pressure Éire Óg were under going into such a high-stakes fixture.

‘I could never relax on the sideline, because this was a huge pressure game for us.

‘We’re very proud of the way the lads coped with it, grinding out a victory in what were very testing conditions,’ he remarked.

Stressing how important it is for Éire Óg to stay up, Kirwan believes the work being done at underage level in the club augurs well for the future.

‘We have young lads with a lot of potential coming through, and the higher the grade we’re competing in, the higher the standard they’re likely to reach,’ he said.

Éire Óg fell behind just once when Bishopstown midfielder Conor Hegarty, who stood out in the first half, pointed to make it 0-3 to 0-2 in the tenth minute.

Then came the Éire Óg purple-patch, which yielded points from David Kirwan (two), Kevin Hallissey and Colm O’Callaghan, giving them good cause to feel satisfied with developments at that juncture.

It did nothing to diminish the resolve of the city men, who remained well in touch, finishing the first half 0-8 to 0-6 in arrears.

Again Bishopstown showed no signs of wilting after Éire Óg burst from the traps on the turnover, stretching the gap to five, thanks to a brace of points from midfielder Johnny Galvin at either side of a converted free by ace marksman David Kirwan.

Galvin’s second point, which came in the 38th minute, resulted from a bout of slick interplay involving a few Éire Óg players, most notably the seasoned Kevin Hallissey.

It mirrored the essential difference between the teams in that Éire Óg, with Hallissey and David Kirwan to the fore, had much more to offer up front than the losers.

That James Scally was the only forward in the starting fifteen to register a score from play for Bishopstown tells its own story.

It was a case of the chickens coming home to roost when a point from Hallissey pushed Éire Óg 0-12 to 0-8, in the 48th minute, kick-starting the late flurry of scores to which Bishopstown had no answer.

OUR STAR: With nine points to his credit, including three tasty efforts from play, David Kirwan was instrumental in smoothing Éire Óg’s path to victory.

Scorers

Éire Óg: D Kirwan 0-9 (6f); K Hallissey 0-3; J Galvin, C O’Callaghan 0-2 each.

Bishopstown: C Murray 0-4 (f); J Scally 0-3 (2f); C Hegarty, T Murray 0-1 each.

Éire Óg: D Desmond; J Mullins, J Kelleher, C Clifford; C McGoldrick, M Brady, O O’Shea; K Beechinor, J Galvin; K Hallissey, D Foley, J Kelleher; D Healy, C O’Callaghan, D Kirwan.

Subs: S Hurley for Healy (ht), D McCarthy for Foley (50).

Bishopstown: D O’Brien; G Murphy, B Murphy, N O’Shea; D Daly, C O’Driscoll, C Dunne; L O’Driscoll, C Hegarty; C Caplice, J Scally, D Murray; C Murray, N Crowley, D Quaid.

Subs: R Foley for Caplice (ht), C O’Hara for Crowley (37), T Murray for Quaid (inj, 51).

Referee: D Copps (Ballyhea).