Muskerry edge 14-man Duhallow

MUSKERRY put themselves in pole position in the Divisional section of the Cork County senior hurling championship following their defeat of Duhallow at Cloughduv last night.

And while they just about shaded it, Duhallow will be wondering what might have been had attacker Noel O’Callaghan not been sent-off with the game just 20 minutes old.

O’Callaghan can consider himself unlucky to have departed the action for an off the ball altercation while his marker only received yellow. However, it didn’t deter Duhallow who showed a fighting spirit to the very end. But, with both the winners and runners-up emerging from this group (also including Avondhu and Imokilly) Duhallow still have a chance of going through to meet UCC or CIT in round two.

A very small crowd witnessed this encounter as Muskerry led at half-time by two points, 0-11 to 1-6. The mid Cork side started well but Duhallow fought back with Eamonn Brosnan notching a couple of frees and when Liam Daly rifled a brilliant goal to the top right hand corner of the net on seven minutes, Duhallow were deserving of their three point advantage.

However, as Muskerry came more into the game at midfield, five points on the trot were tallied with marksmen Mark Cremin and Colin Murphy to the fore. At this juncture Duhallow lost O’Callaghan, yet they matched Muskerry score for score to the break. Indeed, they could have taken over the mantle if a couple of Brosnan’s frees had not missed the target. John Dineen was in fine form for Muskerry bagging three excellent points as the mid Cork forward line was only too happy to capitalise on the solid defensive work of Paul O’Leary and Joe Jordan.

The second-half was full of drama, with an action-packed finale. Despite some wayward shooting Muskerry managed to hold on to their two-point lead after the resumption. However, when Duhallow corner back John Healy delivered a huge delivery from his own half of the field, the sliothar went all the way deceiving keeper Padraig O’Sullivan as it bounced high into the net, Duhallow were not holding back. We were now at the three-quarter stage and dramatically the sides were level.

But, Duhallow’s joy was short-lived when Muskerry corner forward Murphy was dragged down in the square a couple of minutes later and Cremin blasted the resultant penalty past Anthony Nash, which also yielded Muskerry some much-needed breathing space. Tom Kenny fired over a brace of points but still Duhallow refused to give in. They trailed by three points with as many minutes left but when Murphy poked the sliothar over the line in the dying stages, it appeared as if Muskerry had done enough.

Duhallow were not finished yet though. Deep in injury time they were awarded a 20 metre free which brought Nash all the ways up field. His journey was worthwhile as he drove an unstoppable shot to the net to cut the margin to three points. Unfortunately though, it mattered little to the Duhallow men as the final whistle was blown upon the puck out.

Scorers for Muskerry: M Cremin 1-7 (1-0 pen, 0-4 frees), C Murphy 1-3, T Kenny and J Dineen 0-3 each, J Crowley and M O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Duhallow: E Brosnan 0-7 (frees), J Healy and A Nash (free) 1-0 each, L Daly 1-1, N O’Callaghan, F Broderick, K Sheahan and J Ballantyne 0-1 each.

MUSKERRY: P O’Sullivan (Inniscarra); K Cummin (Grenagh), P O’Leary (Blarney), C O’Mahony (Éire Óg); N Buckley (Aghabullogue), R Doherty (Ballincollig), J Jordan (Blarney); T Kenny (Grenagh), J Dineen (Éire Óg); M Cremin (Blarney), J Crowley (Éire Óg), S Sexton (Donoughmore); B Aherne (Cloughduv), M O’Sullivan (Dripsey), C Murphy (Blarney).

Subs: D O’Sullivan (Dripsey) for S Sexton (42 mins), D Corkery (Cloughduv) for B Aherne (50).

DUHALLOW: A Nash (Kanturk); M O’Riordan (Kilbrin), D Duane (Kanturk), J Healy (do); K Tarrant (Banteer), M Ellis (Millstreet), J Forrest (Meelin); W Murphy (do), P Egan (Kilbrin); J Ballantyne (Freemount), T O’Reilly (Kilbrin), K Sheahan (do); E Brosnan (Meelin), N O’Callaghan (Kilbrin), L Daly (do).

Subs: F Broderick (Freemount) for T O’Reilly (ht), M Murphy (Freemount) for J Ballantyne (45).

Referee: J Dorgan (Nemo Rangers).