Barryroe 3-19

Cloughduv 0-26

TOM LYONS REPORTS

SEVEN points down after 12 minutes, being hammered in every position and looking like they were heading for a long afternoon, Barryroe needed a lift.

Luke Murphy provided it.

His first goal in the 13th minute changed the course of the game, his second put Barryroe in front and his third, in the 59th minute, ultimately sent them into the county premier junior semi-final.

What a game of hurling, what a contest. This county premier junior quarter-final had everything one could wish for in a hurling match – skills, spills, thrills, a marvellous comeback and a heart-stopping finish as the game went right down to the last puck.

Murphy finished with a hat-trick of goals and six points, but there were heroes galore in blue and navy and green and gold.

Barryroe's Olan O'Donovan cuts inside Cloughduv's Aidan Murphy. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Had Cloughduv won, Mark Verling would have been lauded for his ten-point contribution from play and frees.

But goals win games and Barryroe’s three all came at vital stages in this epic played out in perfect conditions in Enniskeane on Saturday.

To the victor go the spoils and sweet revenge for Barryroe against the side that had comprehensively beaten them in last year’s championship.

‘You’d have to smile after that one, what a win,’ said a beaming Barryroe manager Kevin McCarthy.

‘It wasn’t looking good for the first ten minutes, we were looking very sluggish. But we came to grips with it and found our tempo. Goals win games, we got three but it was a huge battle all through.

‘They started the second half well again, but the breeze seemed to drop a bit. The lads just stuck to it, never dropped the heads, when you train hard, you get the rewards.

‘Olan (O’Donovan) was a big lift to the lads when he came on. We have a few injuries, about six between football and hurling, but when the opportunity presents itself, you just have to take it and the lads did that today.

‘This is the first time we have ever won a game in the knock-out stages of the group championship.’

Barryroe's Adam McSweeney breaks past Cloughduv's Odhran O'Driscoll. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The game started at a blistering pace, at least for one team, as Cloughduv rode roughshod over the opposition, with the pacy Seán O’Leary and the Verlings, Mark and Brian, flying up front, and Eoghan O’Connell dominating midfield.

The points flowed, eight in the first 12 minutes, from the Verlings (play and frees), Clifford and Max O’Leary, only a single reply from Luke Murphy.

It certainly wasn’t looking good for the West Cork men, but then Murphy flipped the switch with his opening goal.

Four of the next five points went Barryroe’s way. When Murphy hit his second goal in the 21st minute, they were a point in front, with Adam McSweeney, Murphy, Ryan O’Donovan and the Ó Buachallas, Tomás and Dónal, leading the way in play and on the scoreboard.

The closing minutes of the half belonged to Barryroe, five points added to Cloughduv’s two. It was Barryroe 2-9 to 0-11 in front at the break.

Cloughduv's Brian Verling feels the pressure from Barryroe's David O'Sullivan. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

With the breeze, Cloughduv started the second half just as they did the first, swapping two points each with the Blues but then striking five in succession to take the lead by a point after 40 minutes.

Again the Verlings, Clifford, O’Leary, as well as Eoin Moynihan, found the target. Again, as in the first half, the game turned and it was Barryroe’s turn to hit four in a row, from Tomás Ó Buachalla, Ryan O’Donovan, Jack Murphy and sub Olan O'Donovan, who made a big impact when introduced for the last quarter.

The last quarter was score for score, Barryroe with their noses in front until Mark Verling and Seán O’Leary hit points to level the scores for the third time in the 58th minute.

Anybody’s game now, hell for leather exchanges, huge excitement, with Luke Murphy, hugely influential in the closing stages, coming up with his third goal in the 59th minute.

Barryroe, three to the good, but it was far from over as Cloughduv went searching for the goal to save the game. They were truly regretting a series of poor wides during that second half – nine in all – and even though they cut the lead to a single point with Verling frees, they couldn’t find the equaliser, against a resolute Barryroe defence, backboned by Michael Whelton, Jerome O’Brien, Conn Dinneen and the Moloneys, Daniel and James.

Fittingly, it was Murphy who hit the clinching point for the winners.

With hurling like this at club level, who needs changes to the rules?

Next, it’s a county semi-final against St Catherine’s early next month.

OUR STAR: Credit Mark Verling with his ten points and Seán O’Leary for his exciting hurling for Cloughduv, but there was one stand-out hero in this game. Step forward, Luke Murphy, with his tally of 3-6 for the winners.

Scorers

Barryroe: Luke Murphy 3-6 (3f); Dónal Ó Buachalla 0-3; Tomás Ó Buachalla, Ryan O’Donovan, Olan O’Donovan (1f), Adam McSweeney (2f) 0-2 each; Jack Murphy, Michael Whelton (1f) 0-1 each.

Cloughduv: Mark Verling 0-10 (7f, 1 65); Eoghan Clifford, Eoin Moynihan, Brian Verling, Seán O’Leary 0-3 each; Odhran O’Driscoll, Max O’Leary, Eoin McNabola, Ian Holohan 0-1 each.

Barryroe: Michael Whelton; Daniel Moloney, Jerome O’Brien, David O’Sullivan; Killian Sheehy, Conn Dinneen, James Moloney; Adam McSweeney, Seán O’Riordan; Dónal Ó Buachalla, Tomás Ó Buachalla, Jack Murphy; Luke Murphy, Seán Holland, Ryan O’Donovan.

Subs: Olan O’Donovan for D Ó Buachalla (38), Conor O’Regan for S Holland (50).

Cloughduv: Stephen O’Donoghue; James Moynihan, Liam Kelleher, Patrick Buckley; Odhran O’Driscoll, Aidan Murphy, Harry Murphy; Eoghan Clifford, Jack Kelleher; Eoin Moynihan, Seán O’Leary, Mark Verling; Brian Verling, Aodh Twomey, Max O’Leary.

Subs: Ian Holohan for P Buckley (ht), Eoin McNabola for A Twomey (42), Mark Walsh for E Moynihan (59).

Referee: Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).