McCarthy strikes late to boost Ballinhassig

It was slated as the game of the championship between two of the campaigns pre-tournament heavyweights but in the end you’d have to wonder was the hype misplaced.

A huge crowd filed into Brinny on a near-perfect Saturday evening and though the game was as tough as you’d expect in a local derby, it never caught fire or produced the outstanding passages of play both sides have demonstrated in recent years.

Ballinhassig, however, won’t lose much sleep over that and will be just be glad to have overcome the most stubborn of opponents. They squeaked through courtesy of midfielder Shane McCarthy’s intervention on the stroke of full-time when he punctured a hole in the Newcestown defence and whipped over a rousing winning point.