{"id":546738,"date":"2026-07-13T02:38:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T02:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/546738\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T02:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T02:38:13","slug":"cloyne-hold-nerve-to-deny-dungourney-in-lively-league-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/546738\/","title":{"rendered":"Cloyne hold nerve to deny Dungourney in lively league final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Cloyne: 2-17\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney: 0-22\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Driven on by James O\u2019Brien, Cloyne edged out Dungourney in the RedFM Division 5 Hurling League final at Castlemartyr on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The all-Imokilly affair drew a large attendance, and they were treated to a fine game of hurling with the outcome not known until the very end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Extra-time looked a real possibility heading down the home stretch in what was a ding-dong battle, but a strong finish from Cloyne saw them over the line by the bare minimum.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">O\u2019Brien was key in securing the title with 0-8, while the likes of Conor Cahill and Brian Walsh were also crucial figures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney lined out without their talisman Jack Leahy, but they looked to have overturned a three-point deficit at the break to win. They led by a point going into added time, but Cloyne hit three of the last four points.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5153417_13_articleinlinemobile_DSC00545.jpeg\" alt=\"Noel Cahill of Cloyne sails past the Dungourney defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" title=\"Noel Cahill of Cloyne sails past the Dungourney defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Noel Cahill of Cloyne sails past the Dungourney defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">There was an element of shadow boxing too, given both will meet again in three weeks\u2019 time in their opening group game in the Co-Op SuperStores PIHC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In baking-hot conditions, it was a lively start with the sides level at 0-3 each after seven minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cloyne then struck the first of a couple of vital green flags a minute later when Brian Walsh billowed the net after Paudie O\u2019Sullivan used all his experience to play him in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Keith Dennehy and an O\u2019Brien free pushed Cloyne five points clear before the sides traded efforts, 1-6 to 0-4 after 13 minutes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney were reliant on James Ahern for scores, and a pair of frees kept his side in touch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The game ticked on with Cloyne leading 1-8 to 0-9, with Ian Cahill dominant at centre-back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cloyne got their second goal three minutes before the interval when Conor Cahill used his pace to glide away from the Dungourney defence and finish to the net.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Another pair of James Ahern placed balls left Dungourney a goal adrift at half-time, 2-8 to 0-11.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5153420_13_articleinlinemobile_DSC00663.jpeg\" alt=\"Dungourney\u2019s Richie Harney pushes through the Cloyne defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" title=\"Dungourney\u2019s Richie Harney pushes through the Cloyne defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Dungourney\u2019s Richie Harney pushes through the Cloyne defence. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney came out for the new half with renewed belief, helped by a slight breeze. They hit five of the first seven points to draw level, 0-16 to 2-10, with James Ahern to the fore and a Bryan Forbes effort included.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The sides exchanged white flags before Walsh and an O\u2019Brien free gave Cloyne a 2-13 to 0-17 buffer with 15 minutes to go.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney then had their purple patch, which looked timed to perfection. They landed four of the next five white flags as they went ahead by a point heading into seven minutes of added time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">But an O\u2019Brien 65, a free, and a point from play gave his team a two-point advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Sub Shane Hegarty did point in the dying embers for Dungourney, but they couldn\u2019t find the leveller to bring the game to extra-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Both will meet again in three weeks \u2014 first spoils to Cloyne.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/5153429_4_articleinlinemobile_DSC00900.jpeg\" alt=\"Tom O\u2019Sullivan, son of Cloyne's Paudie O\u2019Sullivan, picks up the cup and gives it a big lift. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" title=\"Tom O\u2019Sullivan, son of Cloyne's Paudie O\u2019Sullivan, picks up the cup and gives it a big lift. Picture: Noel Sweeney\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Tom O\u2019Sullivan, son of Cloyne&#8217;s Paudie O\u2019Sullivan, picks up the cup and gives it a big lift. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Scorers for Cloyne: J O\u2019Brien 0-8 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), B Walsh, C Cahill 1-2 each, P O\u2019Sullivan 0-2, S Beausang, C Smith, K Dennehy 0-1 each.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Dungourney: John Ahern 0-12 (0-10 f), K Coady-Byrne 0-3, S Hegarty 0-2, N Motherway, Cathal Murphy, B Forbes, N McGrath, John Ahern 0-1 each.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">CLOYNE: A Walsh; J Sherlock, E Motherway, A Sherlock; C Smith, I Cahill, D Byrne; S Beausang, J O\u2019Brien; C Cahill, B O\u2019Shea (c), N Cahill; B Walsh, P O\u2019Sullivan, K Dennehy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Subs: M Cahill for K Dennehy (43), I Farmer for C Smith (54).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">DUNGOURNEY: P Flynn; M McGrath (c), R Harney, C Ryan; M Leahy, J Griffin, S Geaney; N Motherway, Cathal Murphy; B Forbes, K Coady-Byrne, N McGrath; John Ahern, James Ahern, C Griffin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Subs: S Hegarty for S Geaney (41), C Sweeney for John Ahern (59), Colin Murphy for B Forbes (65).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Referee: Anthony O\u2019Regan (Youghal).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cloyne: 2-17\u00a0 Dungourney: 0-22\u00a0 Driven on by James O\u2019Brien, Cloyne edged out Dungourney in the RedFM Division 5&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-546738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}