Blarney entered this Cork SAHC encounter at risk of elimination. They left it with a significant boost to their score difference after a dominant second-half showing against the wind at Grenagh.
Approaching half-time, they were anything but safe. They led Watergrasshill by two, having played with a strong diagonal breeze, but finished with a 1-2 burst as Cian Barrett punished a dropped puck-out.
The conditions brought no benefit to the Hill after the break. Blarney broke down their long puck-outs and held them scoreless from play for the entire half. Mark Coleman was everywhere, accumulating 0-9 (three from play), while Cathal McCarthy poached two goals for a 2-3 total. The second half finished 2-11 to 0-3 in their favour.
Watergrasshill’s Adam Murphy tries to get away from Blarney’s Stephen Mullane, during their Senior ‘A’ HC clash at Grenagh. Picture: David Keane.
A win against Courcey Rovers would guarantee Blarney’s progress. Having seen their 10-game winning streak snapped, the Hill require an upset against Bride Rovers to escape this group of death.
Adam Murphy put in a major shift in the first half for the All-Ireland intermediate champions. He got off 11 shots into the tricky wind, converting eight. That included five excellent points from play.
However, he lacked support. Seán Desmond’s point was their only other from play.
Amid a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning in the distance, Blarney slowly established an upper hand in the opening quarter to build a five-point gap. Coleman had an early pair from play, while wing-backs Alan McEvoy and Conor Power, wearing 2 and 3 on their backs, came forward to score.
Aiden Foley bravely saved a Cian Barrett goal chance and absorbed a loose pull to prevent a rebound. The Hill sideline were unhappy with a couple more frees as Shane Barrett tapped two momentum-builders over from close range.
Watergrasshill’s best period of play followed. Murphy clipped four of the next five points, including a fabulous score from the sideline where he juggled the sliotar back over his head to escape a tackle.
Leading 0-11 to 0-9, Blarney brought Shane Barrett out to centre-forward and he flashed over a low-trajectory point before Eoghan Kirby’s second.
Then, in the second added minute, Denis McSweeney robbed a puck-out to the left wing and fed McCarthy, who handpassed to Cian Barrett for the tap-in finish. 1-13 to 0-9 at half-time.
Both teams were missing big talents in Dáire O’Leary and Pádraig Power, but in Cian Barrett and Conor Power, Blarney had a couple more players coming right after their first-round loss.
On the other side, Kevin O’Neill manfully kept tabs on Shane Barrett, but was visibly hampered from midway through the first half, while Desmond took a heavy blow later on.
A Murphy free from the throw-in opened the second-half scoring, but his side wouldn’t raise another flag until the 50th minute.
They withdrew the full-forward line to target the long puck-outs which worked to such good effect against Courceys. But Stephen Mullane and Patrick Crowley kept bringing the ball to ground and gobbling up the supply.
Blarney reeled off 1-5 without reply, including a crisply-struck Coleman brace from distance. Substitute Jerry Murphy made a quick impact, laying on McCarthy’s first goal, finished with a deft sidestep, and tapping over his first of two points.
The Hill had converted just one of seven shots at the posts in the half until goalkeeper Foley landed a long-range free.
But Paul Hallissey saved from Murphy, and Blarney hit another 1-5 without reply, including McSweeney’s third and 1-1 for McCarthy.
The goal arrived in the first added minute after Cathal Hegarty turned over possession. Coleman even went for goal from a late 21-yard free to build the score-difference cushion. Foley saved, but the Corkman slotted the 65.
The 2023 and ‘24 runners-up are back up and running.
Scorers for Blarney: C McCarthy (2-3); M Coleman (0-9, 4 frees, 2 65s); C Barrett (1-0); D McSweeney, S Barrett (2 frees) (0-3 each); E Kirby, J Murphy (0-2 each); A McEvoy, C Power (0-1 each).
Scorers for Watergrasshill: A Murphy (0-9, 4 frees); A Foley (free), S O’Regan (65), S Desmond (0-1 each).
BLARNEY: P Hallissey; S Mullane, S Crowley, D Murphy; C Power, P Crowley, A McEvoy; O Hegarty, M Coleman; S Mulcahy, D McSweeney, E Kirby; C McCarthy, S Barrett, C Barrett.
Subs: J Murphy for Kirby (43), C Hegarty for C Barrett (52), D Hanlon for Mullane (53), W Crowley for McSweeney (55).
WATERGRASSHILL: A Foley; D Roche, K O’Neill, D McCarthy; J Gowen, I O’Callaghan, S O’Regan; C O’Leary, A Spriggs; P Cronin, B Lehane, L Foley; A Murphy, S Desmond (capt), P O’Leary.
Subs: A Cronin for L Foley (h-t), C Healy for Gowen, C Cronin for P Cronin, R Loftus for P O’Leary (all 43), L Foley for O’Neill (60, inj).
Referee: I McCarthy (Bandon).
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