Carraig na bhFear win East Cork Junior A final for third time

CHAMPIONS: Full back Felix Murphy clears from defence in the East Cork Oil- sponsored East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship final: St Ita's vs Carrignavar (Carrig Na bhFear) at Rathcormac. Pic: Larry Cummins

East Cork Oil Junior A Hurling Championship

Carraig na bhFear 0-18 St Ita’s 1-14

Carraig na bhFear held their nerve to win the East Cork Oil Junior A Hurling Championship for the third time in their history by defeating St Ita’s 0-18 to 1-14 at Rathcormac on Sunday afternoon.

The club were inspired by James Forde, with the corner forward scoring 0-8 during the hour that was played.

His work-rate helped Carraig na bhFear navigate a St Ita’s side that had Cork hurler star Seamus Harnedy.

The eventual winners showed no fear in dealing with the occasion as they raced into a three point lead, and each score was from open play. Paul Sheehan got two of those and Brendan Murphy hit one over after running down the right wing.

St Ita’s got back in the game through a Seamus Harnedy free and Darragh O’Brien splitting the posts from close range. James Forde’s first score was followed by another converted St Ita’s free, and it was 0-4 to 0-3.

Instead of being the start of a tit-for-tat game between the two east Cork rivals, things erupted in the form of a 0-7 run by Carraig na bhFear.

James Forde led that push by putting the ball over the bar from a number of different positions. The pick of the bunch was a free that the corner forward hit while positioned inside his own 65.

Carraig na bhFear ended up 0-11 to 0-03 in front and St Ita’s responded with a brace of Harnedy frees.

The script was torn up when a Padraig O’Brien free hit the inside of the post at the start of the second half and the ball dropped to Darragh O’Brien. He laid it off for Harnedy and the full-forward hit the back of the net and made it 1-7 to 0-11.

The Carraig na bhFear lead evaporated and just the bare minimum separated the two clubs.

The next 20 minutes was end to end, with both teams getting into space and putting the ball over the bar. Forde’s second 65 was ultimately the difference as they hung on to get the one point win.

Scorers for Carraig na bhFear: J Forde 0-8 (4f 265 1S); C Murphy, B Connolly, and P Sheehan 0-2, O Crowley, B Murphy, T Geaney and D Sweeney 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Ita’s: S Harnedy 1-12 (7f); D O’Brien 0-2.

St Ita’s: P O’Brien; S O’Connor, M Coleman, M Lillis, B O’Neill, C O’Brien, B McCarthy, D Dorian, M O’Brien, G Coleman, D O’Brien, C Deane, J McCarthy, S Harnedy, D Hickey.

Subs: K Lee for Dorain (28); McCarthy for O’Rourke (30); E Coleman for G Coleman (50), E Hegarty for C Deane (52).

Carraig na bhFear: A Buckley; T O’Donoghue, F Murphy, T Hegarty, B Murphy, C Cooney, T Geaney, John Forde, R Sheehan, A Dorgan, P Sheehan, B Connolly, C Murphy, O Crowley, James Forde.

Subs: T Coleman for Hegarty (35), J Ahern for Forde (40) S O’Donoghue for Crowley (52), D Sweeney for Murphy (55).

Referee: Brian Sweeney (Erin's Own).