East Junior C Hurling Championship Final in Caherlag on Saturday, 14^th October

Carrigtwohill 4-11

Carraig na bhFear 2-14

The junior C hurlers lined out on the second pitch in Caherlag for this final, knowing that anything less than a big performance would not be sufficient against Carraig na bhFear.  Carrigtwohill were beaten by 16 points (4-07 to 4-23) by the same opposition when they met in the group stage of the championship at the end of August, so they were under no illusions as to the challenge they faced.

Shane O’Hanlon raised the first white flag of the match inside 60 seconds, with a super effort from far out on the right wing.  A minute later he doubled his tally after great vision and a handpass to match from Darragh McCann.  Carraig na bhFear burst into life with three points inside two minutes.  Mairtín Neylon cleared the ball into the path of Darragh McCann who squared it to Shano; his high ball into the penalty was won by Chris Keegan and he offloaded it to Daragh Hannigan.  Hannigan finished low to the corner of the net for the game’s first goal.  The lively Hannigan was fouled a minute later and Keegan coverted the close range free.

Carraig na bhFear responded immediately with a goal on the second attempted shot after a brilliant save from Darren Flynn.  Matthew Kidney used the power of his shoulder to win the ball and feed Daragh Hannigan, who struck a lovely point from a very tight angle.  Frank Kierans cleared his lines to Alex Kidney; Kidney played it in to Chris Keegan, who won the ball, upending his marker in the process and he struck an angled shot into the back of the net.  Jack Barrett followed up with a good score on the run after McCann again showed great vision to play him in.  Carraig na bhFear struck two points to make it 2-05 to 1-05.  The game was being played at a ferocious pace, with thirteen scores inside eleven minutes.

The gap was closed to two points with a Carraig na bhFear score.  The selfless Darragh McCann played the ball across the penalty area to his namesake, Hannigan, whose ground strike found the back of the net.  Carraig na bhFear hit a purple patch, scoring an unanswered 1-2 to level matters, 3-05 to 2-08, on 19 minutes.  A minute later, Jack Barrett played a long ball into the danger area.  Chris Keegan struck the ball on the ground but it came back off the post.  Darragh Hannigan’s ground stroke hit the same (left) upright but went over the line to make it a hat-trick for the on-song corner forward.  The first wide of the game came in the 22^nd minute, such was the quality of the hurling.  The frantic scoring pattern dried up in the last ten minutes of the first half until Carraig na bhFear converted two frees late on to make it a one point game in favour of Carrigtwohill, 4-05 to 2-10, at the break.

Shane O’Hanlon converted a ‘65’ early in the second half after a Darragh McCann attempt on goal was deflected over the endline.  Jack Barrett surged through the middle and offloaded to Daragh Hanningan, who spit the posts.  Shano notched another score from a free after Jack Scully’s grafting drew a foul.  That put Carrig four points clear (4-08 to 2-10) on 42 minutes.  There was another period with no scoring until Carraig na bhFear pointed a free on 50 minutes.  Jack Barrett made another dash up the left wing, combining for a one-two and drew a foul, which Chris Keegan duly slotted over the bar.  Carraig na bhFear notched a brace of points to close the gap to two points on 59 minutes.  Shano added another free to his tally.  McCann played the ball from the sideline into the path of Matthew Kidney and he lofted a long over-the-shoulder effort between the posts to give Carrig a four point cushion in added time.  Carraig na bhFear finished the scoring with a point just before the final whistle.

This was a fantastic team performance from first until final whistle.  Carrig hit the ground running and kept the tempo going throughout the game, knowing that any lapse would hand a good Carraig na bhFear team the initiative.  Ben Alen was very assured at corner back.  Frank Kierans was the epitomoy of efficiency at wing back, not once wasting or losing a possession and making some vital interventions.  Jack Barrett was full of energy at midfield, covering enormous ground and linking up the play very well.  Hat-trick man, Daragh Hannigan had possibly his finest hour in the blue and gold.  His namesake, McCann was a super play maker, setting up a lot of scores.  (This writer is sitting on the fence for the man-of-the-match award!)

Credit must go to Carraig na bhFear for their part in what was a very entertaining and sporting game of hurling.

Well done to the entire panel and to the management team of Peter Hogan, Kieran Horgan and Jim O’Connor.  Carrigtwohill have only had a third team in more recent times since 2021.  Peter Hogan deserves enormous credit for the development and progress of this panel, to get them from a fledgling team to winning an East Cork championship in just three seasons.

The East Cork Board was represented by Don Hegarty and John O’Donoghue.  Don Hegarty addressed those in attendance and called on Dan Joe Foley (brother of Micheál, RIP) to present the Micheál Foley Cup to Carrigtwohill captain, Christopher Keegan.  Chris thanked Erin’s Own, the players and management, Carraig na bhFear and the match officials.

Carrigtwohill Team: Darren Flynn, Ben Allen, Éamonn Fitzgerald, Mairtín Neylon, Jack Scully, Liam Scriven, Frank Kierans, Jack Barrett (0-1), Alex Kidney, Matthew Kidney (0-1), Shane O’Hanlon (0-5; 0-2f, 0-1 ‘65’), Trevor English, Daragh Hannigan (3-2), Chris Keegan (captain: 1-2; 0-2f), Darragh McCann.  Subs Used: Tim O’Connor (blood sub).  Other Subs: Fionn Kidney, George McCarthy, Ted O’Sullivan, Patrick O’Connor, Darren Burns, Ronan McCrave, Adam Walsh, Alex O’Driscoll, Daniel Covaci.

Management: Peter Hogan (manager), Kieran Horgan, Jim O’Connor.

Referee: Shane Hodgins (Erin’s Own).

[Apologies for the delay with the report.  We were ‘flooded’ over the last week and a half!]