A game of two halves sees Kilworth come up short in first round of Senior Hurling Championship:

SAHC R1 – Kilworth 0:18 Fr O’ Neills 3:16

Friday night’s game in Ballynoe really was a game of two halves. Kilworth and Fr O’ Neills faced off in the first round of the Cork Senior hurling championship. This was a historic moment for our club to compete at senior level. The opening scores came from Fr O’ Neills with an early point and a goal. Despite this, Noely Mac got Kilworth on the scoreboard popping over a free in the fourth minute. Kilworth took charge looking comfortable scoring 7 points without reply from the East Cork side. A good clearance from Austin O’ Hara set up Will Condon for another point which put Kilworth in a good position narrowing the gap between the sides.

A great catch out of the air from Eoin McGrath won a free which Eoin Carey pointed to level the sides for the first time in the 16^th minute. Kilworth forwards showed great fight by putting excellent pressure on the O’Neills side not letting them get a clearance easily. Noely Mac pointed another free to put Kilworth in the lead for the first time in the match.

Good pressure was seen by our backline who kept the Imokilly side from scoring. Kilworth kept up this scoring momentum, seeing another 4 points over the bar from Liam Whelan, Brian Sheehan, Eoin Carey and Will Condon without answer from the East Cork side.  It was tit for tat between the two sides nearing the half time mark. Kilworth continued strong putting good pressure on the O’ Neills men. When the half time whistle blew, the scoreline was promising for Kilworth who led by 2 points.

Fr O’Neills came out all guns blazing in the second half looking to repeat history against Kilworth. The Imokilly side pointed 2 points in the first two minutes of the second half. This saw the sides level for the second time in the match. Kilworth responded well to this comeback as Noely Mac pointed a 65 which put us up a point to lead the game for the final time. Kilworth denied Fr O’Neills a goal chance with great pressure from full back Nathan Byrne and corner back Eoin McGrath. However, O’ Neills then succeeded by putting the ball in the back of the Kilworth net in the fourth minute of the second half.

This was quickly answered with a point from Eoin Carey within 15 seconds of the O’Neills goal to bring the game back to a one point margin. O’Neills gained momentum now shooting 5 consecutive points to put the Imokilly side in a comfortable lead of 6 points despite having only 14 men on the pitch after the O’ Neills wing back was shown a straight red card. Kilworth did not add to the scoreboard for 15 minutes until a great pass from Austin O’ Hara saw Jermey Saich get himself on the scoring sheet with a point.  

O Neills proved to be too strong for Kilworth at the latter stage of the match scoring two points and a goal to put the East Cork side ahead by 10 points. Kilworth’s ‘never give up’ mentality persevered even when Fr O’ Neills were dominating the game. Will Condon and Jamie Sheehan reduced the scoring difference to 8 points. Fr O’ Neills were determined to keep their big lead by scoring another point in the 30^th minute. Kilworth were eager to tighten the scoreboard with Liam Whelan and Jamie Sheehan lessening the gap to 7 points which was as close as kilworth got to Fr O’Neills in the end. Both teams scored one more point each (Kilworths coming from Mossie Mac) before the final whistle blew.

Although this was a disappointing result this loss won’t stop us, it will instead drive us on to compete against Ballymartyl in the second round of the Cork senior hurling championship next weekend. We would like to wish the players and management the very best of luck for the remainder of the championship. We would also like to thank all our loyal supporters who tuned in to the match and those who were lucky enough to make it to Ballynoe to support the lads on Friday evening.

Team and Scorers: Kieran Walsh, Maurice McNamara (0-1), Nathan Byrne, Eoin McGrath, James McCarthy, Brian Tobin, Austin O’ Hara, Brian Sheehan (0-1), Jeremy Saich (0-1), Eoin Carey (0-3), Tom Twomey, Liam Whelan (cpt) (0-2), Paddy Moakley, Noel McNamara (0-5), Will Condon (0-3)

Subs used: Paddy Moakley started instead of Jamie Sheehan, Dave Twomey for Brian Tobin, Jamie Sheehan (0-2) for Tom Twomey