Lenihan goal kills off Mayfield, Midleton next for Erin's Own

A late surge saw Erin's Own comfortably defeat Mayfield in Ballymah in the Cork IAHC

Erin's Own's Alan Bowen fired 12 points Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Cork IAHC quarter-final: Erin’s Own 2-24 Mayfield 1-14 

Erin’s Own will face Midleton in the semi-final of the Co-Op Superstores Cork Intermediate A Hurling Championship after a late surge saw them comfortably defeat Mayfield in Ballymah on Saturday evening.

A superb goal from Cathal Lenihan in the second half killed off any hopes of a Mayfield fightback, although the final score – a 13-point loss – isn’t entirely a fair reflection on their efforts.

Erin’s Own did race out of the traps though and by the fifth minute they led by three points to no score, the pick of the bunch coming from the excellent Alan Bowen, who would finish the day with twelve points.

Mayfield finally opened their account in the seventh minute with a free from Nicky Kelly and while they would trail 0-4 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter, they would rue the fact that they led 4-1 on the wide count.

Erin’s Own increased their advantage with a free from Bowen but in the space of just one minute to two teams would be level as the powerful David O’Neil fired over shortly after Daniel O’Gorman blasted the ball into the back of the net at the second attempt, 1-2 to 0-5.

But the Caherlag club, to their credit, refused to panic and although they were pegged back by a couple of monstrous frees from Kelly, they would surge clear before the interval.

The brilliant Cathal Lenihan added a couple of fine scores to his tally, but the crucial strike belonged to Tiernan Connell, who blasted the sliotar into the roof of the net from distance to give them a four-point lead at the break, 1-10 to 1-6.

That remained the difference between these two clubs at the end of the third quarter as every time Mayfield reduced the deficit with the help of Kelly and O’Neil in particular, Erin’s Own had the answer with Bowen continuing to shine, 1-17 to 1-13.

Mayfield’s final point of the night came from Darren Hayes in the 48th minute and led by the accuracy of Bowen’s arrows, and a thunderous finish to the net from Lenihan, Erin’s Own ended the contest with 1-7 without reply to ensure they deservedly booked a meeting with local rivals Midleton in the last four.

Scorers for Erin’s Own: A Bowen (0-12, 8fs, 1 ’65), C Lenihan (1-3), T Connell (1-1), R Blackton (0-4), C Coakley (0-2), B Nolan and J McMahon (0-1 each).

Scorers for Mayfield: N Kelly (0-6, 6fs), D O’Neil (0-4), D O’Gorman (1-0), D Hayes (0-2), S O’Donovan and MJ Coffey (0-1 each).

ERIN’S OWN: T Dillon; B Nolan, P Fitzgerald, A Moynihan; D Twomey, I O’Mahony, S Cronin; C Coakley, G O’Mahony; R Blackton, A Bowen, T Connell; C Lenihan, K Murphy, S Horgan.

Subs: J Kavanagh for T Connell (48), C O’Sullivan for C Coakley (48), J McMahon for A Bowen (60).

MAYFIELD: A Hegarty; D Lucey, B Punch, B O’Leary; D O’Gorman, E O’Sullivan, K Punch; S O’Donovan, D O’Neil; P Duggan, N Kelly, MJ Coffey; F McSweeney, T Horgan, D Hayes.

Subs: S Keegan for B O’Leary (48), S Kelly for P Duggan (48).

Referee: David Copps (Ballyhea).