Cork Hurling League Final Round-Ups: Ballymartle secure return to second tier

Elsewhere Lisgoold landed the Division 4 title after they bested Dónal Óg Cusack’s Russell Rovers by 1-19 to 0-15 in Castlemartyr on Saturday.

GOING UP: The Ballymartle team who defeated Valley Rovers in the RedFm Division 3 hurling league final at Ballygarvan, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan

On a busy weekend on the club hurling scene in Cork, Ballymartle returned to the second tier of the Red FM League in style as they defeated Valley Rovers by 2-20 to 1-19 in the Division 3 final played in Ballygarvan on Sunday.

Ballymartle were relegated last season but they gave their championship preparations the perfect boost with gutsy win over their neighbours.

Former Cork player, Darren McCarthy was their top scorer with 0-8, while crucial contributions of 1-2 and 1-1 from Cillian Lordan and Brian Corry respectively helped them over the line.

Eoin O’Reilly was Valleys main scorer with 1-2, as Adam Kenneally clipped over 0-3 for the Brinny based side who can take solace from the fact that they have still secured back-to-back promotions.

Lisgoold secured the Division 4 title after they bested Dónal Óg Cusack’s Russell Rovers by 1-19 to 0-15 in Castlemartyr on Saturday.

Russell Rovers made the early running, and led by 0-10 to 0-5 at the break with Ciarán Sheehan and Brian Hartnett prominent but a powerful second half display saw Lisgoold finish their campaign on a high note.

Watergrasshill took the honours in Division 5 as they defeated Tracton by 4-23 to 1-19 in Mayfield. Adam Murphy was their star man on the day, as he hit Tracton for 2-11 while Brendan Lehane and Padraig O’Leary struck for the other goals and Seán Desmond pilfered 0-6.

Ronan Walsh hit 0-8 for a Tracton side that are re-building after a tough 2023 campaign while Sean Kiely hit 1-1.

Erin’s Own went into the Division 6 final searching for back-to-back titles but their quest was thwarted by Kilbrittain who recorded an impressive 0-19 to 0-16 win in Ballincollig.

Early scores from Alan Bowen, Stephen Horgan and Kieran Murphy meant the Imokilly side trailed by 0-8 to 0-7 at the break, but the West Cork side ensured that they would go up in style as they simply had too much firepower in the second half.

Finally, Ballinascarthy were crowned Division 7 champions after they had a comfortable 3-15 to 0-12 win over Kinsale in Bandon on Sunday. Jeremy Ryan was key to their success, as he hit Kinsale for 1-7 while Eoin Ferguson was in fine form too as he struck for 2-1.

John O’Brien hit 0-8 for Kinsale on a disappointing afternoon, while Brian Coughlan also hurled well at midfield.