Kanturk go goal crazy to blitz Éire Óg

Five goals and a spectacular second-half display from Kanturk saw them breeze past Éire Óg in their Cork IHC round two encounter in Mallow last night.

Driven on by terrific displays from Cork senior star Lorcain McLoughlin and his half-forward team-mates of John Healy, Aidan Walsh and Mark Healy, Kanturk put in a 20-minute display that simply proved unstoppable on the night.

McLoughlin was everywhere and dominated from his berth in the middle of the pitch.

Other notable displays came from Ian Walsh at right half forward and John McLoughlin at centre-back.

Ciarán Sheehan and John Dineen led the charge for Éire Óg, with Daniel Goulding also playing well at centre-back.

Kanturk started the game at a lightning pace and notched up the first three points in just over two minutes.

The Knockanemore men responded quickly, however, and were back on level terms just before the quarter-hour mark — mainly thanks to some clinical free-taking from both Dineen and Sheehan.

Moments later a John Healy net-buster put the Duhallow men back in front before another three-pointer — this time from Lorcain McLoughlin — put Kanturk back in the driving seat.

Éire Óg responded well and dragged themselves back to parity by half time (2-6 to 1-9) with some tasty finishing from Sheehan and a terrific goal from Timothy O’Leary.

The game changed dramatically after the turn, however, as another goal from John Healy was quickly followed by goals from Aidan Walsh and Mark Healy to open up a 12-point gap with less than a quarter of the tie remaining.

Éire Óg battled on well to no avail and a date with Blackrock in round three awaits as relegation fears begin to grow.

Scorers for Kanturk: L McLoughlin 1-6 (0-5f); J Healy 2-0; A Walsh 1-2; M Healy 1-1; I Walsh 0-2, W Murphy, D Kenneally, C Burke 0-1 each.

Scorers for Éire Óg: C Sheehan 0-6 (3f, 1 65); J Dineen 0-5 (4f); T O’Leary 1-0; K Hallissey, D O’Connor 0-1 each.

KANTURK: A Nash; S Walsh, D Duane, E O’Connor; L O’Neill, J McLoughlin, D O’Connor; L McLoughlin, W Murphy; I Walsh, A Walsh, M Healy; A O’Keeffe, J Healy, D Kenneally.

Subs: J Browne for A O’Keeffe (50), C Burke for D Kenneally (56), R O’Sullivan for I Walsh (57), M O’Riordan for M Healy (58).

ÉIRE ÓG: P Ryan; S McCarthy, T Dineen, C O’Mahony; B Corkery, D Goulding, L Murphy; C Sheehan, D O’Herlihy; E. C. Murphy, K Hallissey, D O’Connor; T O’Leary, J Dineen, C Murphy.

Subs: D Sheehan for T Dineen (20), M O’Shea for C Murphy (35), T Crowley for P Ryan (37).

Referee: M Sheedy (Shanballymore).