Sars edge out Erin’s Own for final spot
Despite losing heavily in last year’s decider against Newtownshandrum and being defeated in the opening round this season by Midleton, Sars have journeyed through the backdoor and are only 60 minutes away from reclaiming the title they last won in 2008.
Sarsfields made the early running to lead 0-6 to 0-1 by the 10th minute, with Cian McCarthy striking three of those scores. Erin’s Own fought back to only trail 0-10 to 0-7 at the break, inspired by the accurate free-taking of Eoghan Murphy.
Erin’s Own managed to bridge the gap to 0-11 to 0-10 during the second-half but with Cork captain Kieran ‘Fraggie’ Murphy in excellent form, Sarsfields held on for a 0-17 to 0-15 success.
Meanwhile, Glen Rovers, at the second attempt, edged out a young but promising Midleton side in a thrilling Cork SHC quarter-final replay at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.
Midleton made the early running, with goals from Luke O’Farrell and Sean Hennessy propelling them to a 2-4 to 0-5 lead by the 27th minute. However, a crucial Dean Brosnan goal for Glen Rovers left them only 2-5 to 1-6 adrift at the interval.
The second-half saw some rip-roaring action with Denis O’Callaghan finding the net for Glen Rovers before Conor Lehane replied with a goal for Midleton. A Conor Dorris goal and a Richard Whitty point pushed the Glen 3-15 to 3-10 ahead, but they had to withstand a late Midleton rally, which yielded a goal from Stephen Moore, before booking their semi-final spot against either CIT or Douglas.
Tracton tore the form book to shreds at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday night to see off the challenge of a highly-rated Youghal side in the Cork PIHC semi-final replay by 0-22 to 0-13. In the process they set up a mouth-watering final against local rivals Ballymartle in a fortnight’s time with Billy Lynch, Tom McGuinness, and attackers Ronan Walsh (0-7) and Joe Kingston (0-4) all starring.
In the Cork IHC, Barryroe were seconds away from a place in the final only for Ballygarvan’s Mark Kennefick to deny them with a late free in Saturday’s semi-final tie in Brinny as it finished 3-12 to 2-15. Elsewhere in the Cork IHC, Adrian Mannix shot 1-9 and Paudie Lynch struck 0-5 as Kilworth narrowly defeated Aghada in the quarter-final by 1-17 to 2-13 in Watergrasshill on Saturday. Meanwhile in the Cork JHC quarter-final yesterday afternoon, Meelin defeated Diarmuid O’Mathuna’s by 2-17 to 0-11 in Coachford to set up a semi-final meeting with Cloughduv who claimed Mid-Cork JHC honours with a 1-11 to 0-11 win over Grenagh.
