Peter O’Brien drives Avondhu to victory

Avondhu 0-20 Ballymartle 1-15: Avondhu showed true grit to get the better of Ballymartle in the opening round of the Cork SHC at Rathcormac on Saturday.

It was close throughout, the accuracy of Peter O’Brien going a long way towards deciding the outcome. The Kildorrery clubman fired 12 points, including a host of magnificent long-range efforts. This terrific team performance is a step forward for the divisional side as they failed to emerge from the Divisions/Colleges section in the last two championships.

Manager Jodie Hayes said preparations have gone well this year: “We acknowledge the club is first and we have said that all along. Avondhu is second, and to be fair to the boys they have always turned up when we needed them. We played five or six challenge games and we have had about five training sessions so the commitment is there.”