Aghada 1-23

Kilbrittain 0-18

MATTHEW HURLEY REPORTS

KILBRITTAIN’S first championship defeat in over two years proved costly as they exited the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship at the group stage.

When Jamie O’Hanlon’s goal after 24 minutes gave Aghada a two-point lead in Cloughduv, it left the men in Black and Amber with a gap they couldn’t close.

As it transpired, if Bandon had lost to Russell Rovers elsewhere, Joe Ryan’s side would have advanced. At full time, those on the sideline were frantically checking the score from Páirc Uí Rinn, but with Bandon pulling through, it meant an end to Kilbrittain’s year.

‘Massively proud. The effort that the lads put in throughout the year was great. Even in this game when things maybe weren’t going for us, they kept their heads and they gave everything they had. I can’t ask any more of them,’ Ryan told The Southern Star.

‘It goes both ways. We spoke about where our ambitions lay. Were we happy to just be safe or were we happy to try and maybe push on? We were hoping to push on, but that’s not the case.’

Since Kilbrittain last lost in the hurling championship – to Ballygarvan in August 2024 at premier junior – they have won county, Munster and All-Ireland junior titles. The greatest period of this club’s history. Remarkable times.

But they came up just short in their latest challenge.

Before O’Hanlon hit the net, Kilbrittain led 0-8 to 0-7 in a nip-and-tuck encounter. Mark Hickey, Ronan Crowley, Josh O’Donovan, Luke Griffin and Adam Griffin were all on the scoresheet – they were well in contention.

However, the Carbery club hit eight first-half wides compared to Aghada’s three. That wastefulness came back to bite them when O’Hanlon managed to squeeze the ball underneath Kilbrittain shot-stopper David Desmond for a crucial goal.

‘We could never get it down to within two points again. Anytime we got a run of even two scores, Aghada were able to come up with a score. We probably had a few goal chances in the first half and obviously (we had) wides in the first half as well. There would be no complaints from our side. Aghada were the better team,’ Ryan admitted.

To be fair to Aghada, they had nine different scorers in the opening half and brought serious intensity, as Will Leahy, John Looney and Charlie Terry led them to a 1-11 to 0-10 lead at the break.

Kilbrittain needed a fast start to the second period, but it was the east Cork club who hit the first two scores through the impressive Looney and O’Hanlon.

Crowley and Hickey cancelled those scores out, but Aghada went on a run of four without reply via Leahy, Ronan Murphy, Sam O’Driscoll and Fionn O’Connell. It was 1-17 to 0-12 after 42 minutes.

Kilbrittain hit their first score in ten minutes when Josh O’Donovan split the posts on 44 minutes, but by then they needed goals rather than points.

Crowley and Luke Griffin reduced the margin, 1-17 to 0-15, but Aghada were able to keep the scoreboard ticking through substitutes Pearse O’Neill and Hugh Mulcahy.

Kilbrittain only threatened Aghada goalkeeper John Walsh once in the final moments when Luke Griffin tried a speculative shot in stoppage time but the result was never in doubt.

‘We were competitive in this championship. We beat Russell Rovers. We took a lot of learnings from the Bandon game and we were hopeful coming into this game,’ Joe Ryan said, as he reflected on a season at intermediate level.

‘We felt that we’d matched up well and it just didn’t go for us. I don’t think we can have any complaints. We came up against a very good team.’

OUR STAR: From a Kilbrittain perspective, Ronan Crowley led the way from centre forward, but Aghada’s John Looney took the accolade after hitting 0-5 from play.

Scorers

Aghada: John Looney, Will Leahy (5f) 0-5 each; Jamie O’Hanlon 1-1; Charlie Terry, Sam O’Driscoll, Ronan Murphy, Fionn O’Connell 0-2 each; Noah Devoy, Tim Hartnett, Pearse O’Neill, Hugh Mulcahy 0-1 each.

Kilbrittain: Ronan Crowley 0-7 (4f); Mark Hickey 0-4 (3f); Luke Griffin 0-3; Josh O’Donovan 0-2; Aaron Holland (f), Adam Griffin 0-1 each.

Aghada: John Walsh; Kyle O’Shea, Jack McDonnell, Aaron Kearns; Fionn O’Connor, Michael Russell, Fionn O’Connell; Noah Devoy, Tim Hartnett; Will Leahy, Charlie Terry, Sam O’Driscoll; Ronan Murphy, John Looney, Jamie O’Hanlon.

Subs: Pearse O’Neill for C Terry (56); Jude Devoy for N Devoy (58); Hugh Mulcahy for R Murphy (60).

Kilbrittain: David Desmond; Adam Griffin, James Hurley, Eoghan Byrne; Aaron Holland, Tomás Sheehan (captain), Colm Sheehan; Seán Sexton, Eoin O’Neill; Mark Hickey, Ronan Crowley, Luke Griffin; Josh O’Donovan, Philip Wall, Conor Hogan.

Subs: Fionn Ustianowski for A Griffin (39); Conor Ustianowski for C Hogan (46).

Referee: Niall Hayes (Blarney).