Kilmichael revel in victory
There was no hurling at all in the club until 1999, when an U12 team was entered, and with the growing number of underage teams providing a conveyor belt, a junior B team first represented the club in 2007.
In just their third year of existence, 2009, they reached a county semi-final, only to lose by three goals to eventual champions Ballinacurra, and few would have predicted that margin would be turned on its head in Saturday night’s county final at Páirc Uí Rinn.
Using the wind advantage well in the first half though, Kilmichael built up a sizeable interval lead, 1-10 to 1-3, and had managed to further buttress it with four more points before Ballinacurra opened their second-half account.
While the east Cork club did score a goal to give them some hope with a quarter of the game remaining, their late pressing came to nought as Kilmichael defended excellently to claim that first title and leave manager Jerry Masters to reflect on the amazing rise of the club.
“Starting from scratch at underage was the only way we could do it,” he said.
“A lot of the players tonight would have been on the U12 team in 1999 so they’ve all come up together.”
Against the side who won this competition two years ago, however, Kilmichael were giving up a lot in experience, and Masters had felt that their first-halfdisplay might not be enough.
“It was a good performance but we were a bit disappointed because we had missed an awful lot of scores too, you’d want to be putting away them, so we were a bit apprehensive going into the second half.
“At the start of the year we were leaking goals left, right and centre but we put James O’Leary back full-back and John O’Riordan centre-back and we haven’t looked back.”
Those two were excellent at the heart of the defence in the first half, O’Riordan seeming to magnetically attract the ball, allowing the Kilmichael attack plenty of possession with which to build up that lead.
Wing-forwards Darragh Foley, who would finish with 10 points, and Cormac Cotter were excellent, as was Donal O’Brien in midfield, and by the 15th minute they led by 0-5 to 0-2.
That advantage could have been more as Micheál Masters was denied an 11th-minute goal for a square infringement, but on 16 he atoned for that as he doubled home a lovely Kieran O’Leary reverse hand-pass.
Dominating at midfield, Kilmichael continued to come forward in waves, and three points in as many minutes at the end of the first half, two by Foley and one from Cotter, ensured that they were 10 ahead at the break, even if the wides tally was worrying.
Ballinacurra had offered little, unable to get dangerman Scott Richards on the ball enough, but turning with the wind they would have been expected to eat into the deficit. Instead, Adrian Kelly and Cotter each pointed twice for Kilmichael in the first seven minutes of the second period while Masters again had a goal ruled out, and even with a third of the game left the task looked beyond Ballinacurra.
A couple of Richards frees lifted them a little, but Foley was doing the same for Kilmichael, and even when Mark O’Sullivan found the net for Ballinacurra on 45, it only served to lessen the arrears from 14 points to 11.
The east Cork side never gave up, midfielder Damien Daly scoring twice in quick succession, but in the final 10 minutes Kilmichael’s defence went into lock down mode, with no goal chances conceded, to ensure they took their first honours.
Scorers for Kilmichael: D Foley 0-10 (6f, 1 65), C Cotter 0-4 (4f), M Masters 1-0, A Kelly 0-2, D O’Brien, F Buckley 0-1 each.
Scorers for Ballinacurra: S Richards 0-4 (4f), M O’Sullivan 1-0, D Daly 0-2 (1 65), T O’Leary, K Harty 0-1 each.
KILMICHAEL: D O’Donoghue; B Cotter, J O’Leary, D O’Riordan; Cian Dromey, S O’Riordan, F Dromey; S Foley, D O’Brien; C Cotter, A Kelly D Foley; F Buckley, K O’Leary, M Masters.
Subs: Colm Dromey for Cian Dromey (52), D O’Riordan for Masters (60).
BALLINACURRA: A Murphy; T O’Meara, I Cahill, S Kane; D McCarthy, T Richards, M Stack; D Daly, T Costigan; M O’Sullivan, T O’Leary, G Healy; B Sigerson, K Harty, S Richards.
Subs: S Finnegan for Kane, R Keohane for Healy (both 35), R Lehane for O’Sullivan (55), T Finnegan for K Harty (56).
Referee: C Egan (Glen Rovers).
