Clinical Midleton have their revenge on Cloyne

MIDLETON took a leaf out of Limerick’s book, got the early scores and succeeded in holding their nerve in the closing minutes to see off the challenge of Cloyne in a rousing Cork SHC tie at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, causing the first serious upset of the championship.

Hurling with supreme confidence, Midleton stormed into a 1-2 to nil lead after four minutes while playing into a very strong wind; they fell a point behind early in the second half with the wind to their backs, before putting in a great last 15 minutes to earn themselves a quarter-final place against Bride Rovers.

It was easy to understand Midleton’s jubilation at the final whistle. Twelve months ago they were humbled by Cloyne by a massive 15 points, but there was to be no repeat as the Magpies produced a gutsy performance reminiscent of the good old days when they were winning county titles.