McCarthy lifts Ballymartle

Ballymartle 3-16 Courcey Rovers 0-15

Central to that collapse was a virtuoso performance up front by Cork senior hurling sub-keeper Darren McCarthy, a deadly 1-3 in eight minutes early in that second-half. The goal was a pure peach in the 41st minute, an outrageous piece of opportunism, the score that broke the back of the Courcey challenge.

Courcey’s keeper Stephen Nyhan, who had been having a fine game, won possession in front of goals but rather than just clearing the area, he opted – as do so many keepers these days – to be a little more adventurous and brought the ball out towards the corner scanning upfield for the outlet pass. He was put under immediate pressure though by both Brian Corry and McCarthy who scented blood. They hunted him down, robbed him of possession and no-one had bothered to cover the Courcey goal-line which was a fatal error. Though only about 25m from goal and out on the sideline – a challenging distance and angle — Darren shot between the posts into an empty net. That score put Ballymartle six points in front (1-12 to 0-9) and there would be no looking back.