County stars show their class to set up feast from the East

By Michael Moynihan

We had the makings of an unusual occasion in Páirc Uí Chaoimh for a while yesterday. When, after all, have you seen two Cork senior hurling semi-finals played out on a surface which still had the ghostly outline of a centre circle in the middle of the field?

The markings for the Liam Miller game played last Tuesday were discernible in the grass, but in truth that was as unexpected as it got.

Once Imokilly captain Seamus Harnedy got their second goal against UCC — right at the three-quarter stage of the game — the contest was in the bag for the east Cork men.

In the other semi-final, another Cork forward proved crucial, with Conor Lehane’s alertness yielding a first-half goal. Luke O’Farrell’s goal on the resumption set them on the way to victory, though Blackrock ended the game knocking on the door for a dramatic winner.

Semi-final day is probably a better barometer of standards in a county than the big show itself. County finals can be an unnerving experience for a new team, for instance, or a triumphant procession for a club enjoying a golden age.

This isn’t just a GAA issue: How often have you seen the last game in any competition — in any sport — throw up the best contest in that competition?

By comparison, the two games which produce those finalists give a sense of the quality on offer across an entire season.

Yesterday in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, then, we had a divisional side, a university side, and two club sides: A rough estimate would suggest half of the side Cork put out in this year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick were on show in the two games.

What could be more representative than that?

The semi-finals are also a shop window, of course. For the diehard it’s a chance to ink a little tick in the match programme next to the name of the county’s new hero.

The fond myth beloved of Cork hurling fans is that a golden age existed where a team heading to the old Athletic Grounds for the Little All-Ireland got the horse-and-car to pull over on the Albert Road to pick up a random teenager to make up the numbers. One golden hour later and the child prodigy was a guaranteed starter for the Blood and Bandage the following summer.

Young talent no longer manages to blush unseen — promising youngsters are tracked assiduously now — but a county senior semi-final can be viewed like the old Chinese pictograph which stands for opportunity and crisis at the same time. For some youngsters it’s the former; for others, the latter.

On those grounds neutral Leesiders in the stadium yesterday were keen to run the rule over the next generations, the likes of Sean O’Leary-Hayes of Midleton and Ger Mellerick of Imokilly and Fr O’Neill’s, both of them having featured in Cork’s run to the All-Ireland minor final last year.

Imokilly’s selection plans foiled them on the first count, as Mellerick came on as a substitute late in their win over UCC, despite starring in last year’s success with the division.

O’Leary-Hayes played at centre-back for Midleton, however, and marshalled his defence well. The east Cork side had the upper hand after the opening quarter, so maybe it was easier to defend when your side enjoyed the initiative, but still . . .

You’d expect O’Leary-Hayes and Mellerick to be in John Meyler’s plans for the Munster Senior Hurling League come January, if not the big show itself come June.

The games? UCC-Imokilly was an open contest with plenty of long-range point-taking — new Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy will be glad to hear Michael Breen’s radar was working well — but Midleton-Blackrock was a real battle.

The city side wouldn’t die quietly and fought to the bitter end, trying to rescue a dramatic win.

In that they also rescued the day, answering the basic question of whether we’re unrealistic in our expectations given the shadow cast by contests of legendary (if unverifiable) intensity.

We’re not. The quality of Blackrock-Midleton’s second half proved that.

Mind you, the size of the playing area... the superannuated guest stars at last Tuesday’s soccer game were reportedly stunned by the size of the pitch, though it sounded fishy considering how many of them have played in Wembley: A touch of hearing ‘there’s no audience like an Irish audience’ at a gig in the 3 Arena.

Is the grass arena near the river just not conducive to a tight battle, though?

Comparisons may be unfair, particularly when you consider that the first iteration of the Páirc, opened in the mid-70s, was blessed with immortal games.

At county level, Cork clashed with Kerry in famous Munster football finals, and at club level in the great county finals of the era involving Glen Rovers, St Finbarr’s and Blackrock: The entertainment was so high-quality that attendance records set then still stand.

Even with the double-header yesterday those records were never under threat, but on that score perhaps the Cork County Board should take a leaf from their counterparts in Tipperary, given more than one spectator at yesterday’s game swallowed hard at the price of tickets.

€20 is good value on the face of it for two senior hurling semi-finals in a state-of-the-art stadium, but it pales in comparison with the Tipperary offer of admission to all county championship games for an entire weekend — for exactly the same price.

Anyway. The two results yesterday mean the county final will pit the pick of east Cork against the biggest town in east Cork. Another chance for the first truly immortal occasion in the new house.