Cork Hurling League: White's hat-trick keeps Midleton perfect as Carrig boost survival bid

Glen Rovers fell to a second-consecutive defeat as Blackrock won at Church Road while Sarsfields marginally got the better of Charleville

EYES ON PRIZE: Sarsfields' Jack O'Connor wins the sliotar from Charleville's Cathal O'Carroll during the RedFM SHL division 1 game at Kildorrey. Picture; Eddie O'Hare

Midleton stand as the only RedFM Division 1 Hurling League team to maintain a perfect record, following their comprehensive win over Killeagh on Thursday. The 5-19 to 1-10 victory was achieved with only four of the team that started last year’s county semi-final win over Blackrock.

Three of those four – Pa White, Mikey Finn and Ross O’Regan – contributed a combined 4-12 of their haul, White notching a hat-trick from play while Mikey Finn scored 0-10 (0-2 from play).

Ross O’Regan hit 1-1 while Paul Connaughton got the other goal, as much of Midleton’s younger players were given a chance to impress. Cian Stack and Conor Morley each contributed 0-2, while wing-back Evan McCarthy got on the scoresheet too.

Ryan McCarthy carried the scoring burden for Killeagh with eight frees as David Buckley hit their only goal. Now, with three defeats from three, they’re under relegation pressure once again.

Carrigtwohill picked up a crucial win to bolster their survival odds, a dominant first-half performance helping to secure a 1-26 to 0-18 win over Fr O’Neill’s.

Sean Walsh top scored for Carrig with 1-9 (1-3 from play) while younger brother Patrick and substitute Pádraic Hogan contributed 0-3 each.

Carrig led by 10 at the break, Walsh’s first-minute goal key as James Mulcahy was impressive in the first half before departing with a minor injury. O’Neill’s were strong on the restart and pushed back, Ronan Lowney and Tadhg O’Donoghue Brosnan impressive while Kevin O’Sullivan finished with 0-10 (0-2 from play).

Glen Rovers fell to a second-consecutive defeat on Saturday as Blackrock won 1-26 to 2-15 at Church Road. The northsiders welcomed Patrick Horgan back into the starting team and while he finished with an impressive 1-5 (1-1 from play), they faded away in the second half.

Robbie Cotter’s 0-9 (0-5 from play) was the standout Rockies contribution, while Ryan Sweeney hit 1-1 and Niall Cashman and David O’Farrell finished with 0-3 apiece. Stephen Lynam got the other Glen Rovers goal, while Rockies’ keeper Ross Browne put in another impressive showing.

Sarsfields marginally got the better of Charleville winning 0-20 to 0-16. Bryan Murphy was the game’s top-scorer from play with 0-4, while Daniel Hogan finished with 0-6 overall for Sars.

The visitors led 0-11 to 0-7 at the break, and despite sustained pressure from Charleville in the second half, Sars managed to stay in front. David Forde top-scored for the north Cork side with 0-8 (0-6 frees, 0-1 sideline) as Conor Buckley and Tim Hawe hit 0-3 each.

St Finbarr’s got the better of southside rivals Douglas, winning 0-22 to 0-19 as Cork hurlers Ben Cunningham and Shane Kingston were present.

Cunningham scored 0-16 of the Barrs tally with 0-7 from play, while Kingston clipped 0-4.

Alan Cadogan contributed 0-7 (0-1 from play) for Douglas. They had remained in the fight against their opponents right up until the end, but Cunningham fired over two impressive points to seal an important victory.

In Division 2, Carrigaline suffered a third defeat as they were edged out by Ballincollig, 0-21 to 0-18. Brian Kelleher impressed with 0-12 (0-4 from play) and Carrig led early, but would fall behind before the break as Ballincollig pushed 0-12 to 0-10 ahead.

Ballincollig were never comfortable, and after David Drake got Carrigaline to three points behind at the death, Kelleher almost rescued a draw with a goal attempt from a free.

Fenton Denny and Ross O’Donovan did well for Ballincollig in defence, while Tadhg O’Connell finished with 0-5 from play and Adam Wills with 0-9 (0-4 from play).

Na Piarsaigh got on top early to secure a comfortable win over Ballymartle, finishing 1-21 to 0-13 winners. They moved into an early 0-10 to 0-0 lead after 11 minutes and never looked back. Ross O’Sullivan finished with 0-8 (0-4 from play), Padraig Guest hit 0-7 (0-5 from play) and Pa Rourke struck 1-1.

Bride Rovers managed an impressive 1-19 to 1-7 home victory over Kanturk to go three from three. They had led 0-11 to 0-6 at the interval, and kept their opponents to just 1-1 in the second half as Adam Walsh finished with 0-8 (0-1 from play), while Ronan O’Connell totalled 1-1.

Also in Division 2, a Cathal Lenihan goal from a free for Erin’s Own midway through the second half put the Caherlag side out of sight as they went on the defeat Newcestown 1-19 to 0-10. Podge Collins hit 0-3 from play for the Carbery club while Richard O’Sullivan finished with 0-4 from frees.

In Division 3, Ballinhassig condemned Castlelyons to a third defeat in as many games. Last year’s SAHC victors were runaway winners on a 2-24 to 1-10 scoreline. Elsewhere, Blarney defeated Lisgoold 0-20 to 1-12 to go top of the table.

Bandon defeated Russell Rovers 4-14 to 1-3 as Kevin Hannon, Michael Cahalane and Conor Calnan hit the green flags. Courcey Rovers got the better of Inniscarra by one goal, 1-17 to 0-17 while Fermoy managed beat Éire Óg, 1-15 to 0-13.

Mallow defeated Watergrasshill 1-18 to 0-14 to go joint-top of Division 4, alongside the Hill and Kilworth, who each have four points, though Kilworth have a game in hand. Dungourney sit atop Division 5 with three wins from three after defeating Cloyne 0-12 to 0-10 on Saturday.