East Cork U21 A Hurling Championship Group 1 Round 1 in Carrigtwohill on Saturday, 11th November

Carrigtwohill 2-18

Erin’s Own 1-20

The U21 hurlers welcomed neighbours, Erin’s Own to Páirc Séamus de Barra for this championship game. Carrig played the same opposition in the first football championship fixture three weeks previously in Caherlag. With Midleton having already overcome Erin’s Own (1-19 to 1-17) in the hurling championship, and with two teams to progress from the group of three, a win would ensure Carrigtwohill’s place in the semi-finals.

In the second minute, Seán Walsh opened the scoring, splitting the posts at the Carrig Downs end with the breeze to his back after brother, Patrick popped the ball to him. Carrig then struck three quickfire points in the space of a minute; Walsh doubled his tally with a fine lofted effort from the wing, Liam Scriven cut through the middle and struck a good point and Seán made it four points for Carrigtwohill after as many minutes of play. Two Erin’s Own frees halved Carrig’s lead. Justin Oke raised a white flag after good crossfield and link-up play by Liam Scriven and Seán Walsh. The Caherlag side converted another free before Daniel Murnane’s long range diagonal placed ball was latched onto by Seán Brennan and he fired the ball over the bar on the turn. Erin’s Own notched three unanswered points (two frees) to level matters at 0-06 to 0-06 midway through the half.

Seán Walsh landed the ball over from 80m after Cian O’Riordan was fouled and he followed up with another long range free. Erin’s Own reciprocated with a brace of frees; one either side of another Walsh placed ball after some hard work by Justin Oke drew a foul. Mark O’Connor struck a beauty over the bar from 60m on the left hand sideline after a ‘Brick flick’ from Patrick Walsh. Another long range Walsh free from midfield after more Oke grafting was followed by Erin’s Own’s eighth pointed free of the half. That made it a two point game in Carrigtwohill’s favour at the break on a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-09. Concerning for Carrig was the fact that all bar one of Erin’s Own’s nine points had come from placed balls.

On 34 minutes, Seán Brennan squared the ball to Patrick Walsh and he struck the first score (point) of the second half from close range. Erin’s Own replied from play. Carrig got a great turnover from a throw-in ball after a prolonged stoppage and Seán Walsh riffled the ball over the bar. Again, Erin’s Own clawed it back to two points (0-13 to 0-11) on 41 minutes. Seán Walsh struck a free from his own 65m line; when the ball broke in the square, Joel Joseph gained possession, pulled away from his marker and struck a tidy shot low into the near corner of the goal from close range. After good defensive play by Seán de Búrca, Jack Barrett was released up the right wing and offloaded the ball to David Joseph who was fouled as he cut in off the wing. Walsh made no mistake with the free to put Carrig six clear (1-14 to 0-11) on 45 minutes.

Erin’s Own came into the ascendency over the next eight minutes, scoring an unanswered four points (one free), as Carrigtwohill struggled to win their own puck-outs into the breeze. During this onslaught, Seán Ahern pulled off a brilliant reflex stop to a hammer shot that was headed goalwards. Seán Brennan had a super first touch to collect Daniel Murnane’s diagonal ball and he fired the ball over the bar to relieve the pressure. Erin’s Own struck another brace of points (one ’65’) to close the gap to a single point (1-15 to 0-17) on 56 minutes. Seán de Búrca played a long range free down the line to Seán Brennan who played the ball out to Seán Walsh and he struck a super point over the shoulder from near the sideline. Erin’s Own again surged with two points (one free) to level matters in the 60th minute. They won the Carrig puck-out and struck for a goal a minute later. Joel Joseph gathered possession inside the Erin’s Own 45m line. He cut in through the middle with his trademark explosive speed and unleashed an audacious bullet of a shot from about 20m into the top right hand corner of the net. It was again a drawn game on 62 minutes, with the referee indicating that there were four minutes remaining. An Erin’s Own ‘65’ edged the Caherlag side in front. Two late Seán Walsh frees sealed the win for Carrigtwohill.

This was a very entertaining and exciting game, played in very good conditions for November. The match had a ‘see-saw’ second half. It looked like Carrigtwohill were going to win it midway through the half. Approaching the end of normal time, the sense was that they had lost it and then that it might end in a draw. There were some impressive performances throughout the field but the undoubted hero of the hour was ‘Two Goal Joel’ who made an enormous impact when introduced in the second half.

Well done to the panel of players and management for maintaining their composure when the excrement collided with the oscillation device after Erin’s Own went a goal ahead at a vital point in the game. Credit must go to Erin’s Own for their part in what was a very good competitive and lively game of hurling.

Carrig will play Midleton in the remaining group game on Saturday, 25th November. (Fixture details to follow.)

Carrigtwohill Team: Darren Flynn; Seán Ahern, Seán de Búrca, Niall Harte; Matthew Barrett, Daniel Murnane, Cian O’Riordan; Justin Oke (0-1), Jack Barrett; Liam Scriven (0-1), Seán Walsh (captain: 0-12; 0-7f), David Joseph; Mark O’Connor (0-1), Seán Brennan (0-2), Patrick Walsh (0-1). Subs Used: Joel Joseph (2-0), Oisín Lynch. Other Subs: Fionn Kidney, Alex Kidney, Alex O’Driscoll, Daragh Hannigan, Daniel Cahalane, Oscar Cahalane, Ben Allen, Daniel Nolan.

Management: Aidan O’Donnell (manager), Aidan Flanagan, Tomás Hogan, Tom O’Brien, Clive Cremen.

Referee: Niall O’Neill (Midleton).

(Míle buíochas to that man on the bank for the suggestion for the headline. He knows who he is!)