Lehane and O’Farrell cut loose as Brideself-destruct

Midleton 1-24 Bride Rovers 1-11

The Magpies, who were last champions in 1991, were solid without dominating in the first half, leading by 0-9 to 0-7 when Bride’s Barry Murphy was sent off in the 24th minute. Thereafter, their lively young forwards benefited from the extra time and space afforded them and had built up a nine-point lead when the Rathcormac side were reduced to 13 men as sub Pádraig Murphy was dismissed, like Murphy, for a second booking.

Conor Lehane was in fine form for Midleton, shooting nine points, four from play, feeding off the good play of Aidan Ryan at centre-forward. Ryan himself got three points and put in an impressive all-round performance.