Cork County Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship Semi-final – Kilworth 2-16 V Inniscarra 0-15 on Sunday September 29^th 2019 in Pairc Uí Rinn.

There were scenes of elation both on the pitch and in the stands on Sunday afternoon when the final whistle was sounded and we had made history in progressing to our first ever premier intermediate hurling county final. We have waited a long time to get here and now we are just 60 minutes from reaching the Promised Land.  

After the wet weather of Saturday and Monday, we were very lucky to have beautiful sunshine and dry conditions for our semi-final clash on Sunday afternoon in Pairc Uí Rinn. It was wonderful to see such large crowds gathered in both stands to watch the match and support the lads in their bid to reach the final. The game had a 2pm throw-in and it was Inniscarra who enjoyed the better of the two starts as they went into a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after four minutes. Noel McNamara, who finished with a tally of 1-10 on the day, got us off the mark in the 5^th minute with a pointed free followed by another in the 8^th minute. The opposition enjoyed much more possession than us in the early stages and they were quick to go two points clear again by the ten minute mark, 0-4 to 0-2. Our first crucial goal of the game came in the 13^th minute when Maurice McNamara cleared the ball down field to his brother Noel who caught it excellently, turned his man and baring down on goal, he buried it to the back of the Inniscarra net to put us in front for the first time in the game, 1-2 to 0-4. It was tit-for-tat for the for the next few minutes with both sides exchanging scores but Inniscarra happened to pull away again with a three point lead by the 26^th minute, 1-4 to 0-10. Noel McNamara with a pointed free and Brian Tobin with a point from play reduced the gap and then came our second crucial goal of the game just before the break. Jamie Sheehan this time winning the ball and finding the corner of the Inniscarra net to put us a point clear, 2-6 to 0-11. Instead of going in two points down at half time, we were thrilled to go in a point up considering we hadn’t played our best hurling in the opening 30 minutes. Although we had a slow start to the game and we conceded a number of frees, we stuck at it and a number of points from Noel McNamara along with the two goals kept us in it and we were in a very good position heading in at the break.

Kilworth made a great start to the second half and that’s just what we needed, pulling into a three point lead by the 41^st minute, 2-10 to 0-13. Inniscarra kept plugging away at our lead and although they did miss a number of scoring chances, they could only reduce the gap to within two points. Our defence held strong and they withstood the pressure to keep us in front. It was great to see more scorers get their name on the score sheet in the second half and Paddy Moakley also had an impact when he came in off the bench. We outscored the opposition 0-10 to 0-4 in the second 30 minutes with a much better performance and in the end we ran out very deserving winners on the score line of 2-16 to 0-15. This was an incredible team effort from Kilworth. Semi-finals are not easy to win, they aren’t always pretty but our lads worked extremely hard for the entire 60 plus minutes to grind out that win. They made it over that all important winning line and we will now relish the chance to meet Fr. O’Neills in the final. This is our third year on the trot meeting O’Neills in the championship and we’ll be hoping that this year will be our third time lucky after they knocked us out in round three in 2017 and at the quarter-final stage last year. We all remember the county final of 2005 as well but everything crossed that the result will be a very different one this time around. Let’s go out there and give it our all! Let this be our year!

As said previously, this is our first final at this grade.  This is our first county final in seven years. And this is our fourth county final in the last fifteen years. That in itself is some achievement for our wonderful club. But we don’t want to stop here. We want to go that one, big step further. We want to be crowned county champions and we will do everything we possibly can to make that happen. There is just 60 minutes between us and making history. Just 60 minutes between us and entering the history books with what we hope will be our first ever premier intermediate hurling title. Just 60 minutes, that’s all it takes. The countdown is on and we want the management and the players to know that we are all behind you in your quest for glory. We are with your every step of the way and we will continue to support you as best we can going forward. We wish you all the very best of luck in your preparations for the final and of course in the big game once we have a date. Here’s hoping that now is our time. Kilworth Abú!

Team and scorers: Kieran Walsh, Maurice McNamara, Kieran Lane, Mark O’Connor, Nathan Byrne, Dave Twomey, Austin O’Hara, Brian Tobin (0-2), Eoin McGrath, Seán Keane, Liam Whelan (0-1), Eoin Carey (0-1), Jamie Sheehan (1-01), Noel McNamara (1-10 (0-8f)) and Will Condon (0-1). Subs used: Paddy Moakley for Mark O’Connor.

THANK YOU

On behalf of the club and the team we would like to sincerely thank Seán O’Brien for once again providing Lucozade Sport ahead of last Sunday’s game. It was greatly appreciated as always Seán.

WELL DONE U10S

Well done to the Kilara Óg U10s who played at half time in Sunday’s game against Inniscarra. It was great to see our up and coming stars playing in Pairc Uí Rinn and we hope they have many more great days out there in years to come.

DECK THE PLACE IN RED AND WHITE

So now that we have a county final to look forward to, it’s time to get the village ready and decked out in red and white colours from top to bottom! We want every single house in the village and surrounding areas to put out a red and white flag in support of our hurling heroes. You can buy a big flag, two small flags or a car flag in the ‘Almost Everything €2 Shop’ in Fermoy for just €3 so please help us to cover the village in red and white by purchasing one or maybe more! We promise it won’t break the bank! And it would be greatly appreciated by the club and the team themselves. We, as a club will be out on Saturday putting up posters, flags and bunting so please join in and let’s make sure everyone knows that we are in a county final! Let’s get behind our team for the most important event the year!

TRAINING FUND

As our premier intermediate hurlers have now reached the county final and they, along with their management have put in a tremendous amount of work to get there, it is tradition to set up a training fund which anyone can donate to for the team. It is the least we can do considering how much time, effort and commitment it takes to get to this stage of the competition. If you or anyone you know would like to donate to this fund then please let one of the club officers know. We would love to hear from you. And we thank you in advance for your kind donations.