Rockies roar back into the Cork Premier SHC race
Alan Connolly (Blackrock) connects with the sliothar against Charleville during the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier SHC tie at Banteer. Picture John Tarrant
Third-quarter goals from Alan Connolly and Tadhg Deasy saw county champions Blackrock get their 2021 Co-op Superstores Cork Premier SHC campaign back on track with a hard-fought victory over Charleville in Banteer this evening.
The Rockies led by the minimum, 0-13 to 0-12, at the break after an enthralling half of hurling and when Andrew Cagney levelled the game for the third time just after the re-start, the large attendance seemed set for more of the same.
Blackrock, however, had other ideas as the introduction of Ciarán Cormack proved to be the catalyst that they needed to break for home. His first action was to feed Niall Cashman for the lead score, then he was the penultimate player in a five-man move as he played in Connolly who finished to the net with aplomb.
Two minutes later he broke the ball for Connolly whose fast hands played Deasy through and he finished brilliantly to the net when others may have been tempted to take their point.
Michael O’Halloran rubbed further salt into the Charleville wounds with a point from the sideline and a game that had looked so tight was pretty much done and dusted as the city side led by 2-15 to 0-13 with 20 minutes to go.
Points from Gavin Kelleher and Darragh Fitzgibbon meant Charleville, who will rue the three clear cut goal chances that they left behind them, trailed by two goals going into the final quarter but the Rockies defence never let them get any closer than that.
Two points from the outstanding Cathal Cormack and one each from Connolly and Daniel Meaney pushed them ten points clear but they played the last ten minutes with 14 men as Cormack picked up a harsh second yellow card.
Charleville outscored them by 0-3 to 0-1 after that, and those scores may prove crucial for both teams when the final round of games are played in three weeks’ time.
The first half was played at a relentless pace as the knock-out nature of this group game came immediately to the fore following both sides losses last weekend. Fitzgibbon put the Avondhu side ahead after ten seconds before two points from Robbie Cotter and one each from Connolly and Deasy gave Blackrock an early cushion.
Two Fitzgibbon points reduced the margin to the minimum before the Rockies outscored their rivals by four points to three to lead by 0-8 to 0-6 at the water break.
They matched each other score for score after that before Charleville’s Jack Doyle hit the post from a tight angle though Andrew Cagney pointed from the rebound to leave just the one between them 0- 11 to 0-10 as halftime drew near. Mark Kelleher’s second point then levelled the game for the second time before Connolly and O’Halloran pushed the city side ahead again.
Daniel O’Flynn then popped over the twenty-fifth score of the half to leave the minimum between them at the break. Then came The Rockies’ third quarter surge and they now face into a mouth-watering encounter with their old friends from St Finbarr’s to keep their year alive while Charleville will need to beat Erin’s Own to stave off the threat of relegation.
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