Castlelyons cruise past Ballymartle and into fourth consecutive Cork Premier IHC semi

Castlelyons midfielder Alan Fenton had a field day, scoring a crucial seven points in the first-half and a further six in the second.

Fri, 15 Sep, 2023 - 21:49

Darragh Leen, Pairc Ui Rinn

Cork Premier IHC quarter-final

Castlelyons 0-16 Ballymartle 0-7

Castlelyons may not have employed the fastest route to Cork's Premier IHC semi-final but they rectified that in short order at Pairc ui Rinn on Friday night.

The Imokilly men eased into their fourth consecutive semi-final, seeing off the challenge of a pedestrian Ballymartle in the spills of rain.

The win sees them make up for a disappointing loss to Ballincollig in Round 3. A win there would have seen them into a semi-final but none of that matters now as they have booked their place in the penultimate phase of the competition.

Miserable conditions didn’t affect the pace or urgency of the game at all, especially from Castlelyons perspective. The East Cork lads looked more up for the challenge, starting fast and never letting up until the final whistle was blown.

On the other hand, it took Ballymartle until the second-half to get going, and by that stage it was almost too late.

Having gone goalless across the opening two rounds, Ballymartle’s Darren McCarthy and Shane Cummins raised their first green flags of the campaign last time out.

Big performances were needed by those two again to give Ballymartle any chance but neither could get into the game in the first-half with the Castlelyons backline blocking any opportunities they might have had. McCarthy did score two points from frees to make sure Ballymartle weren’t completely out of the contest.

The game saw no goals but the closest anyone came to one was after nine minutes when a high ball into the Castlelyons full-forward line was dropped by keeper John McCarthy and nearly dribbled into his own net. Luckily for him he got a hurley to it in time to get it out of danger.

Castlelyons midfielder Alan Fenton was having a field day. He scored a crucial seven points in the first-half and a further six in the second in what was an exemplary man of the match display. His accuracy from frees both short and long was frightening, any time he stepped up to the dead ball it was never going anywhere but over.

Castlelyons would go in six points to the good at the break at 0-9 to 0-3 and they never looked back. Fenton would contribute the first three scores of the second-half, extending his side's lead to nine points.

For about ten minutes of the second-half it looked like Ballymartle might have been finding a way back into the game, scoring three on the trot to narrow the lead to six but it wasn’t long until Castlelyons began to take over again. Fenton’s free-taking, the Castlelyons secret weapon, was slowly killing Ballymartle.

There were several battles in the middle of the park, the majority of which it seemed like Castlelyons were winning. If anything it seemed like the brutal conditions were favouring the eventual winners.

The gap in the end was nine, the victory no more than Castlelyons deserved as they cruise into yet another intermediate semi-final.

Scorers for Castlelyons: A Fenton (0-13, 9f, 2 65s), D Morrison (0-2), C McCarthy (0-1).

Scorers for Ballymartle: D McCarthy (0-2, 2f), S O’Mahony (0-2, 1f), B Corry (0-2), L O’Callaghan (0-1).

CASTLELYONS: J Barry; N O’Leary, C Barry, D Spillane; K O’Leary, C Spillane, J O’Leary; J Kearney, A Fenton; P Roche, L Doocey, C McCarthy; D Morrison, A Spillane, O Hallihan.

Subs: S Moroney for J O’Leary (45), R Feeney for C McCarthy (51), B O Donovan for O Hallihan (54), Conor McCarthy for J Kearney (59).

BALLYMARTLE: J McCarthy; TJ Murphy, S Corry, E O’Leary; L Corry, J Dwyer, P Dorney; R Deasy, S Dorney; S Cummins, D McCarthy, R Cahalane; B Corry, B Geary, L O’Callaghan.

Subs: D Desmond for S Cummins (37), S O’Mahony for B Geary (37), N Crowley for R Deasy (51), C Lordan for L O’Callaghan (51).

Referee: P O’Mahony.