Cork Hurling League round-up: Fr O'Neill's edge champions Sars in Division 1 opener

Elsewhere last year's defeated finalists Charleville beat Blackrock thanks to excellent performance from Jack Doyle.

Sun, 09 Mar, 2025 - 18:36

John Coleman

Fr O'Neill's edged reigning champions, Sarsfields, by 2-18 to 3-12 in Aghavine on Sunday morning in the opeing round in Division 1 of the Red FM CHL.

Kevin O'Sullivan was the main man for O'Neill's as he plundered 1-9, Rob Cullinane pounced for the other goal and Joe Millerick hit a brace of points. In what was Sars' first game since the passing of Ray Ryan, Shane O'Regan hit 2-6 and Conor O'Rourke landed their other major.

Last year's defeated finalists, Charleville, welcomed Blackrock to their home pitch on Sunday. Inspired by 1-9 from Jack Doyle, the Avondhu men recorded an impressive 2-22 to 0-19 victory. 0-4 from Rob Carroll and 0-3 from Kristian Gorman were also crucial for Charleville while for the Rockies, Kevin O'Keeffe landed 0-8 and Ryan Sweeney 0-4.

St Finbarr's marked their return to the top flight with a win over Glen Rovers in the Eucharistic Procession match in the Glen Field on Friday.

Three red cards as Cork hammer Clare with six-goal haul

William Buckley led the charge for the Barrs as he hit 0-11, 0-8 from play while 0-4 from Aidan Buckley and 0-3 from Aidan Barry also helped them to a 0-26 to 0-15 win. Eoin O'Leary top scored for the Glen with 0-7 while Dean Brosnan clipped 0-4.

Last year's Division 2 champions, Carrigaline, played out a 1-18 apiece draw with Carrigtwohill on Saturday afternoon. James Mulcahy struck a goal in injury time for Carrigtwohill to earn his side a point.

Mulcahy also clipped 0-2 as Sean Walsh struck for 0-9 while for Carrigaline Brian Kelleher hit 0-8, David Drake 0-4 and Kevin O'Reilly scored the major.

Finally, Douglas got their campaign off to an impressive start with a 2-22 to 1-22 win away to Kanturk. 1-7 from Alan Cadogan, 1-3 from Charlie Lucas and 0-5 from Joseph Harte did the business for Douglas while for Kanturk, Ronan Sheahan registered 1-12 and Colin Walsh scored 0-5.

Sarsfields squad during the minutes silence for the late Ray Rayn. Pic: Jim Coughlan.

In Division 2 Ballincollig and Na Piarsaigh played out a thrilling 2-16 to 3-13 draw in Ballincollig on Saturday. 2-1 from Cian O'Driscoll, 0-5 from Stephen Wills and 0-4 from Shane O'Sullivan left Ballincollig 2-15 to 2-11 ahead.

Daire Connery and Pa Rourke had the goals for the Northsiders before a second goal from Connery blew the game open. James Dwyer put Ballincollig ahead late on, but a sideline cut from Kevin Moynihan, his fifth point, earned them the draw.

Éire Óg travelled to Riverstick on Saturday and pipped Ballymartle by 1-16 to 1-15. Eoin O'Shea hit 0-10 for Éire Óg, David Casey scored 0-2 while a goal from Chulainn Malone late on earned them the win. For Ballymartle John and Darren McCarthy hit 0-10 between them while Brian Corry landed the major.

Killeagh travelled to Newtownshandrum on Friday evening and recorded 2-19 to 2-11 win. Dylan McCarthy was a real thorn in Newtown's side as he hit 2-8 from placed balls while David Buckley contributed 0-3. Jamie Coughlan scored 1-9 for Newtown and Conor Griffin got the other goal.

Finally, Midleton got their campaign off to a winning start with a 2-18 to 1-15 win at home to Fermoy. Cormac Beausang was in fine fettle for the Magpies, hitting 0-9, while Dave Cremin and Paul Connuaghton scored 1-1 each.