Midleton finish with a flurry to end Glen Rovers' Premier SHC involvement

Midleton steadied the ship in the second-half, outlasted their tiring opponents, and got their scorers into space to fire the final 1-11 without reply.

ALL OVER: Midleton's Luke Dineen breaks past Glen Rovers' Simon Kennefick, during their Premier SHC clash at Carrigtwohill.

Cork Premier SHC: Group A 

Midleton 3-19 Glen Rovers 1-13 

This was one Houdini act too many for Glen Rovers, eliminated by Midleton’s own late escape at Carrigtwohill.

The Magpies looked in trouble when Conor Lehane, who had carried their attack through the first half, departed at half-time with an ankle injury.

Even worse arrived when Eoin Downey kicked the sliotar to the net to put the Glen 1-13 to 2-8 ahead in the 36th minute.

But somehow, Midleton steadied the ship, outlasted their tiring opponents, and got their scorers into space to fire the final 1-11 without reply.

It meant curtains for the Glen, knocked out of the group of death with a round to spare. The losers of their clash against Bishopstown will enter the relegation final, while the winners of Midleton against Blackrock will most likely get a bye into the semi-finals.

This repeat of the 2021 final appeared to be going the Glen’s direction at half-time. They led by one, 0-11 to 1-7, and Lehane had limped off into the dressing rooms after a tangle with Eoin Downey. 

He didn’t return for the second half, watching on from the sideline with his foot elevated on a chair.

The city side’s quicker start was dictated by Rob Downey bossing puck-outs to spearhead a dominant defence, Dean Brosnan finding pockets of space around midfield, and Stephen Lynam slotting two early points.

Midleton veteran Cillian Hurley found himself unexpectedly in goal due to first-choice keeper Brion Saunderson being suspended and back-up Bryan Rossiter getting injured last week.

He kept a clean sheet to the break despite three first-half goal chances for Simon Kennefick. The first was stopped on the line by Luke Dineen before Hurley saved the second and the third was repelled under pressure from Séadhnaidh Smyth.

In attack, however, Midleton were over-reliant on Lehane. He struck their first five points (two from play) despite the close attentions of Eoin Downey and created the goal for Luke O’Farrell with a quick-thinking short free.

That gave Midleton a rare lead, 1-2 to 0-4, but the Glen cancelled that out with the next three points.

Lehane was going for the jugular, with another 21-yard free stopped on the line by Eoin Downey, but his injury appeared a hammer blow to the Magpies.

His replacement Patrick White had other ideas, goaling with his first touch from the throw-in after the Glen failed to clear.

The Blackpool side’s reply was almost instantaneous, with Downey’s kicked goal correctly allowed after initially being whistled back for a free.

Seán O’Leary Hayes, back from America, had been switched onto Horgan at half-time and he managed to limit his influence thereafter.

They struggled to break through Midleton’s half-back line for long spells of that scoreless final 24 minutes (plus four more minutes of stoppage time) and missed with all of their final eight shots.

Smyth produced a fine block on Lynam at a crucial juncture before their forwards began to fire. A super Ross O’Regan point had them level for the seventh and final time in the 47th minute.

Then, O’Farrell grabbed Eoin Moloney’s delivery inside the full-back and raced in to bounce the sliotar past the keeper.

From there, the Magpies reeled off another nine points, including two each from David Cremin and Cormac Beausang, taking over frees from Lehane.

Ten different scorers in all as Midleton gave a formidable display of their strength and depth.

Scorers for Midleton: L O’Farrell (2-1); C Lehane (0-5, 3 frees); P White (1-1); C Beausang (0-4 frees); P Connaughton, D Cremin (0-2 each); S O’Sullivan, E Moloney, M Finn, R O’Regan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Glen Rovers: P Horgan (0-7, 0-5 frees, 0-1 65); E Downey (1-0); S Lynam (0-2); R Downey, D Brosnan, S Kennefick, L Coughlan (0-1 each).

MIDLETON: C Hurley; S Smyth, L Dineen, S O'Sullivan; E Moloney, T O'Connell, S O'Leary Hayes; M Finn, C Beausang; S Quirke, C Lehane (capt), R O'Regan; P Connaughton, L O'Farrell, D Cremin.

Subs: P White for Lehane (h-t inj), C Smyth for Finn (47).

GLEN ROVERS: C Hickey; D Dooling, S McDonnell (capt), A Lynch; B Moylan, E Downey, R Downey; C Healy, D Noonan; D Brosnan, S Kennefick, M Dooley; L Coughlan, P Horgan, S Lynam.

Subs: Z Lynch for E Downey (29-30+2, blood), A O’Sullivan for Healy (49).

Referee: S Stokes (Tullylease).