Avondhu-Newtown clash should be a cracker

MAYBE, just maybe, hurling followers in Cork will finally get that big game they have been craving all season when Avondhu and Newtownshandrum clash in the semi-final of the Permanent TSB SHC at Páirc Uí Chaoimh tomorrow (4pm).

The ingredients are there for a cracking contest between two teams from north Cork, which has captured the imagination of followers in that strong hurling division. Both teams are previous winners of the title in the last 10 years, Avondhu in 1996 and Newtown in 2000, and the fact that the club team beat tomorrow’s opponents on the way to their title win, only adds to the sense of anticipation about the eagerly-awaited clash. Many felt that Newtown would be the only team to pose a problem for Blackrock in defence of their title, but the 2000 champions weren’t quite as convincing in their quarter-final win over Erin’s Own as was expected.

There wasn’t the same fluency in their play as in previous outings, and maybe the absence of Gerry O’Connor for three-quarters of that game had something to do with that.