CHARLEVILLE are the first – and only – team to have guaranteed their progression to the knock-out stage of the Co-Op Superstores Premier SHC.
Beating Douglas by 0-19 to 0-14 in Mallow, Charleville, who beat Sarsfields in their opener, sit on four points at the summit of Group 2, ahead of Sars (two points) and both Newtownshandrum and Douglas (one point each).
Darragh Fitzgibbon led the way with 0-7, while Seán Bresnan, Zach Biggane and Robert Carroll all scored 0-2 each. Shane Kingston finished with 0-8 for Douglas, seven from frees, with the city side looking for a result against Sars on September 6th to avoid being pulled into the relegation play-off conversation.
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Defending champions Sars need to win that game, too, to guarantee their spot in the quarter-finals. They bounced back from their opening round loss to beat Newtownshandrum 4-21 to 4-14 in Mallow on Saturday. They held a commanding 3-12 to 0-7 lead at the break. Barry O’Flynn top scored with 1-7 (7f) for Sars, while James Sweeney struck 2-1 and Ben Nodwell finished with 1-1. Tim O’Mahony scored 1-4 for Newtown.
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In Group 3, which includes Newcestown, St Finbarr’s recovered from their eight-point loss to Midleton in their opener.to beat Bride Rovers by 3-21 to 1-18 and move up to second in the table.
Ben Cunningham hit 2-4 for the Barrs, while William Buckley finished with 0-7 from play, but the win came at a cost – injuries to Brian Hayes and Jack Cahalane, with the latter coming off after 18 minutes.
This result sets up a huge clash against Newcestown in Enniskeane on September 6th. There’s still a chance Newcestown, bottom of the table, can progress – if they beat the Barrs and Midleton defeat Bride Rovers.
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In Group 1, Blackrock lead the way with a 100 percent record after two rounds. They defeated Fr O’Neills by 3-29 to 2-23 in Midleton, as hat-trick hero Robbie Cotter racked up 3-2, while Alan Connolly scored 0-9, with seven from frees.
In the other group game, Glen Rovers were too strong for Kanturk, winning 3-20 to 1-24 in Castletownroche. In the final round of games early next month, bottom-of-the-table Fr O’Neills take on Glen Rovers, while Blackrock play Kanturk.
