'A bridge too far': Injuries and errors hurt Midleton in Cork decider

Midleton were missing key players Eoin Moloney and Conor Lehane, while Ross O'Regan was carrying an injury. 

Midleton manager Micheál Keohane thought inaccuracy early and late in the Cork Premier SHC final against Sarsfields cost his side. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Midleton manager Micheál Keohane said fundamental errors ultimately proved costly in Sunday’s Cork Premier SHC final, while injuries that kept key players Eoin Moloney and Conor Lehane out of contention were also a factor. And Ross O’Regan played with a heavily strapped leg.

He praised his team’s resilience, in the face of adversity.

“They’re never not going to give you an incredible effort. The tackle count in the first half was really, really good. They are a great bunch of lads, the level of work they will put in. We will never question that. And in the second half, it was the same again.

“But maybe, it was just a bridge too far. They were two fantastic players we were missing (full-back Eoin Moloney) and (centre-forward and joint-captain Conor Lehane).

“Ross strained his knee. Maybe it was a few days too early for him. But Ross is such an incredible athlete. His pain threshold is off the charts. A couple of years ago, he dislocated a finger in the middle of a game and played that game and the next two training sessions, before mentioning something had happened. He is a great player, a great lad.

“Look, the guys that came in played exceptionally well. The three fellas that started, who didn’t start the last day, all had really, really good games.

“We probably were inaccurate early in the game and late in the game as well. We didn’t take chances when we felt we had gathered a small bit of momentum. We felt if we could get it close, two or three points, it would make for a real exciting end. You would never know what would happen in a final but unfortunately it went further away from us.” 

He also believed the half-time deficit of six points was manageable.

“At half-time, we weren’t too worried. Halfway through the second half, we weren’t that worried either. We were still in the game but Sars are a top quality side and they are going to score, score in bunches and hit purple patches where they will get a lot of scores one after the other. So you need to be resilient. Wait and bide your time and you get your chances and they worked hard. By and large, we were just a small bit inaccurate. It is what it is, we were beaten by a better team.” 

Six points went to eight points soon after the resumption. Twice Midleton pulled the deficit back to four, but they needed a goal. Ben Graham and Conor O’Sullivan came to Sars' rescue on two occasions in the third quarter.

“If we got that goal (ball taken off the line by O’Sullivan), heaven knows what would have happened. Unfortunately, we didn’t. You can be lucky some days. We’re after winning two very close games in the last couple of matches. The lads dug savage deep in those. They did the same today and it just didn’t happen for us.”