Cloyne stun Newcestown to make quarter-finals

DOUBLE TEAMED: Newcestown's Jack Meade being tackled by Cloyne's Diarmuid Byrne and Paudie O'Sullivan. Pic: Denis Boyle

NEWCESTOWN V CLOYNE SENIOR A HC 

Cloyne 1-26 Newcestown 0-16 

This was the biggest upset in the Co Op Superstores Senior A hurling championship this season as Cloyne produced a Houdini act to demolish Newcestown at Church Road.

Over the years the east Cork club have been always been associated with a never say die attitude but on this occasion they defied all logic to stun Newcestown into submission.

Naturally there was ecstatic scenes at the final whistle as manager Eoin O’Lomasney praised his troops.

O’Lomasney said: “To be honest despite losing our two opening games to Mallow and Fermoy we went into this game with belief that we could produce a top performance and the lads were rewarded for their efforts.” 

The permutation coming into the game didn’t look favourable for the east Cork club but with Fermoy overcoming Mallow they came up trumps when a relegation battle stared them in the face.

Brian O’Shea has served Cloyne well over the years but his 15 point contribution was without doubt his best ever for his club.

To be fair the Cloyne coach Donal Óg Cusack and his management team produced a masterstroke just before throw in when they switched Paudie O’Sullivan to centre back and he basically ran the show from start to finish.

Indeed O’Sullivan was instrumental in getting Cloyne up and running when he struck over a point in the opening minute from 80 yards.

Newcestown looked flat but Jack Meade will be wondering how he missed a good goal opportunity in the sixth minute that saw the Cloyne goalkeeper Dylan Costine injured and forced him out of the game.

The main difference between the sides was Cloyne’s ability to win the majority of dirty ball with Cork Senior ace Luke Meade struggling to win any possession.

It proved to be the Brian O’Shea show in the closing quarter and it was fitting he finished with a sideline cut that saw the sliotar go straight between the posts and ensured Cloyne went in at the break commanding a 0-15 to 0-9 lead.

On the restart both sides shared four points in the opening two minutes but suddenly Newcestown went into meltdown that allowed their opponents take total command.

The striking of O’Shea even had the neutrals at Blackrock applauding his skills and entering the final quarter Cloyne had extended their lead to nine points.

It got worse for Newcestown four minutes later when a high ball was not dealt with in the square by Seamus O’Sullivan as Michael Cahill punished them with a clinical finish to the back of the net.

Naturally both sides were being kept informed on the Fermoy and Mallow game but for Cloyne it was a case of driving on and getting the job done.

The prize for Cloyne is a quarter final clash against Bride Rovers.

Scorers for Cloyne: B O’Shea 0-15 (0-10f, sl), M Cahill 1-3, C Mullins 0-3, B Walsh 0-2, P O’Sullivan, E Motherway, D Byrne (0-1 each).

Scorers for Newcestown: C Dineen 0-4, E Kenneally 0-3 (0-2f), J Meade 0-3,L Meade, J Kelleher, E Collins, R O’Sullivan, S O’Donovan, T Twomey (0-1 each).

Cloyne: D Costine; J Sherlock, A Sherlock, D Byrne; E Motherway, S Beausang, Eoin Motherway; T O’Regan, B O’Shea; B Walsh, B Minihane, C Cahill; M Cahill, P O’Sullivan, C Mullins.

Subs: D Cronin for D Costine (inj 10).

Newcestown: C Wilson; M McSweeney, C Twomey, S O’Sullivan; J Kelleher, E Collins, F Keane; T Twomey, L Meade; C Dineen, J Meade, S O’Donovan; C O’Neill, E Kenneally, R O’Sullivan.

Subs: M Courtney for F Keane (h-t), G O’Donovan for C O’Neill (h-t), T Horgan for T Twomey (37), N Murray for C Twomey (inj 57).

Referee: Colm Lyons (Nemo Rangers).