Blarney seize control to roll on into Cork Senior A semis
Na Piarsaigh's Luke Sheehan holds onto the sliothar as he is chased down by Blarney's Shane Mulcahy during the SAHC quarter final match in Pairc Ui Rinn. Picture: Howard Crowdy
Blarney roll on. This quarter-final victory wasn’t half as convincing or ruthless as the closing scenes to their group campaign. It didn’t need to be. They took the lead in the 54th second and led uncontested from the fourth minute to the final whistle. Constant control.
After losing their opening game of the championship to recent rivals Bride Rovers, Blarney hit the blitzkrieg button and pummeled all on their path.
Winning margins of 21 and 19 points respectively over Watergrasshill and Courcey Rovers had Na Piarsaigh plenty forewarned ahead of Saturday evening’s fixture.
The breeze at their back in the second period, Na Piarsaigh could never go closer than five points. And considering the interval difference stood at seven, theirs was minimal and inconsequential shrinking of that gap across the second half an hour.
The vanquished northsiders finished with 14 men inside the whitewash, corner-back Keith Buckley red-carded in injury-time for an off-the-ball challenge. It was an injury-time seven minutes long owing to a notable stoppage early in the second half for a stricken umpire.
All of Blarney’s starting six forwards found the mark from play. Full-forward Cian Barrett was top of the pops with 1-4. Shane Mulcahy topped the corresponding assists chart. The latter was central to so much of the Blarney highlights reel.
Shane Barrett chipped three points and raised trouble on other occasions. His Cork teammate Mark Coleman, who was well shadowed by Patrick Murphy, contributed five from the placed ball.
When they click, their forward movement and finishing is of the highest order. Castlelyons are next on their path. A third consecutive semi-final appearance. They’re chasing a third consecutive final appearance. They’re all the time chasing redemption.
In the other half of the field, their defence, marshaled by Conor Power and Patrick Crowley, didn’t allow even half a scent of a green flag during the second period.
One of the few key junctures of that second period was on 50 minutes and the difference at five. Na Piarsaigh had won a most scorable free. Owen Galvin tackled Shane Barrett after the awarding of the free and the initial decision was overturned to a throw-ball. The play ended not with a fourth straight Na Piarsaigh point and the margin moved to four, but a Mark Coleman free and Blarney advantage of six.
For almost all of the second quarter, Na Piarsaigh were in the perfect position. Playing into a stiffish breeze, they had closed a five-point deficit to two. They had survived Blarney’s blistering opening - six shots, six points - and proceeded thereafter to haul themselves into contention through the middle third assertion of Cian Hogan, Patrick Rourke, and Padraig Guest, complemented by the inside liveliness of DJ Coffey and Ross O’Sullivan.
Mark Coleman’s free out on the terrace sideline, four minutes from the break, was Blarney’s first in 10 minutes. Patrick Rourke answered for Na Piarsaigh. Another Coleman free once again left separation of three.
On 29 minutes, the beaten finalists of the last two years found the green flag they had threatened to locate once or twice earlier in the half. It was a green flag necessary to reflect on the scoreboard the strength of the elements and puncture Na Piarsaigh optimism of what the second half might hold given their close proximity to the favourites.
Shane Mulcahy provided the final pass to the inside-the-cover Cian Barrett for the goal. Mulcahy followed with his second white flag less than a minute later. All of a sudden, a three-point lead was seven-strong. 1-12 to 0-8.
The northsiders were afforded the opportunity in first half stoppages to repair some of the damage. Ross O’Sullivan would have batted a certain goal but for a last-ditch hauling down of the corner-forward. O’Sullivan himself stepped over the resultant penalty. His shot whizzed right and wide. Their challenge never properly recovered.
C Barrett (1-4); M Coleman (0-5 frees); S Barrett, S Mulcahy (0-3 each); E Kirby, C McCarthy (0-2 each); D McSweeney, C Hegarty (0-1 each).
P Guest (0-6, 0-3 frees, 0-1 ‘65); R O’Sullivan (0-3, 0-1 free); K Moynihan, D Coffey, P Rourke, E Sheehan (0-2 each); L Sheehan, O Galvin (0-1 each).
P Hallissey; D Murphy, S Crowley, S Mullane; C Power, P Crowley, A McEvoy; O Hegarty, M Coleman; D McSweeney, S Barrett, E Kirby; S Mulcahy, C Barrett, C McCarthy.
C Hegarty for McSweeney (52); J Murphy for Hegarty (58).
J Lonergan; K Buckley, Eoin Sheehan, C Meaney; K Moynihan, C Buckley, G Healy; C Hogan, P Murphy; L Sheehan, P Guest, P Rourke; C Hanifin, DJ Coffey, R O’Sullivan.
O Galvin for L Sheehan (40); E Sheehan for Hanifin (50); G Joyce for Hogan (57).
C McAllister
