High drama as Morrissey magic wins it for Ballyhea

Ballyhea stay alive in the Senior A championship despite a Colm Leahy hat-trick for Killeagh

Sun, 25 Aug, 2024 - 18:34

Dylan O’ Connell, Rathcormac

Cork SAHC: Ballyhea 2-16 4-9 Killeagh

A crunch Senior A tie between Ballyhea and Killeagh came down to a flick of a ball as a last-second goal from Gavin Morrissey gave the team from Avondhu victory in the Co-Op Superstores Senior A Hurling Championship in Rathcormac.

That decided it and, despite Colm Leahy hitting a hat-trick for Killeagh, they remain pointless after two games. Ballyhea were in the similar position, as they lost their first game to Inniscarra despite hitting 3-11.

That brought the same hunger for scores yesterday afternoon as they raced into a 0-9 to 0-2 lead during the first half.

John Morrissey scored five times for them and Pa O’Callaghan raised two white flags before he had to go off.

Killeagh struggled to put together some fluency in attack, with their highlights being points from play by Ciaran Leahy and Andrew Leahy.

Despite their best efforts, little stuck or worked. Dylan McCarthy placed balls were going astray — the forward missed a free and a ’65 during this period.

Then Colm Leahy bundled through and hit the back of the net with a close-range shot, and it was 0-9 to 1-2. Killeagh belatedly started their push during the final minutes of the first half.

When David Buckley was brought down, a penalty was given to the East Cork club, and Ryan McCarthy goaled. That made it 0-11 to 2-2 at half time.

Killeagh picked up where they left off by outscoring Ballyhea 0-6 to 0-3 during the first 15 minutes of play after the restart.

David Buckley raised the equalising white flag, 2-8 to 0-14. Ballyhea edged back in front through a Mikey Browne penalty, with the goalkeeper putting the ball just beyond the reach of his Killeagh counterpart.

Colm Leahy ensured parity between the two sides by squeezing the ball in from the tightest of angles, and the scoreboard read 3-8 to 1-14 as the clock turned red.

A grandstand finish was set up, and tension reached new levels when the Ballyhea goalkeeper missed a free in the second minute of time added on.

It came down to Gavin Morrissey, and the half-forward fired through a wall of Killeagh jerseys in the dying seconds of the game. It was chaotic, but that did not matter for Ballyhea as they kickstarted their season at the last opportunity.

Scorers for Ballyhea: J Morrissey 0-6 (1f); J Hickey 0-4 (2f, 1 65), G Morrissey 1-0, M Browne 1-0 (1 P), P O’Callaghan 0-3 (1f), D Copps 0-2, E O’Leary 0-1.

Killeagh: Colm Leahy 3-0; R McCarthy 1-0 (1P), D Buckley 0-2, R Long 0-2, Ciaran Leahy 0-1, S Walsh 0-1, E Lane 0-1, D Walsh 0-1, A Leahy 0-1.

BALLYHEA: M Browne; A Barrett, J Hennessy, W Carroll, M Morrissey, J Copps, F O’Sullivan, J Morrissey, M O’Sullivan, L Crowley, G Morrissey, K Morrissey, E O’Leary, P O’Callaghan, D Copps.

Subs: J Hickey for O’Callaghan (22); M Mortell for D Copps (HT), D Curtin for J Copps (50).

KILLEAGH: C Walsh; B Delaney, P O’Brien, D Walsh, R Sinclair, S Long, A Walsh, C Leahy, R McCarthy, A Leahy, R Long, S Walsh, D Buckley, D McCarthy, E Lane.

Subs: C Leahy for D McCarthy (22); S Smiddy for D McCarthy (50).

Referee: Brian Coniry (Crosshaven)