Blackrock 3-17
Newcestown 0-21
NOEL HORGAN REPORTS
NO joy for Newcestown in their do-or-die county premier senior hurling clash with Blackrock at Coachford last Sunday.
Beaten by Fr O’Neill’s in their opening assignment, the 2023 senior A kingpins needed to get something out of the tie in order to keep their hopes of qualification for the knock-out stages alive.
That was always going to be a tall order against a Blackrock side crowned champions in 2020 and narrowly eliminated by the eventual title winners – Midleton, St Finbarr’s and Sarsfields – in the three subsequent campaigns.
Newcestown's Colm O'Donovan cuts inside Ryan Sweeney of Blackrock during the Co-op Superstores PSHC in Coachford on Sunday.
As things turned out, the task proved beyond the Carbery men, but they made a gallant bid to upset the odds, matching the Rockies in most facets of the play, apart from carrying a comparable goal-scoring threat.
That was the essential difference between the sides, leaving Newcestown to reflect on how much the absence of such marquee attackers as Edmund Kenneally and Richard O’Sullivan through injury limited their fire-power up front.
Manager Charlie Wilson was reluctant to put forward their unavailability as an excuse for the loss, although he did agree missing a couple of key players was bound to be a bit of a handicap.
‘I suppose our strength in depth wouldn’t be up there with that of the top teams at premier level, but that’s something we’ll just have to work on and try to remedy in the future. Having said that, anytime you put out 15 players, you expect them to do the best they can, and we got that from all of them today, so we have no complaints.’ he remarked
‘I thought we acquitted ourselves admirably, we played well enough to have won the game, but a few lapses cost us dearly, and the three goals Blackrock got were a killer.
‘It’s obviously disappointing, but we’ll take a certain amount of encouragement from our first season in the premier grade, and we’ll keep driving on now to try and get a result against the Barrs the next day.’
The first of the Blackrock goals came in the 14th minute, courtesy of Alan Connolly, who booted the ball home from close range. It left Newcestown trailing by 1-4 to 0-4, and they fell four points behind a minute later, which looked ominous considering they were favoured by a stiffish breeze in the first half.
With outstanding centre-back Luke Meade and corner-forward Colm Dineen providing much of the inspiration, they gave as good as they got in the second-quarter when Jack Meade’s free-taking was also a major asset. It was 1-7 to 0-9 at the interval, and the tit-for-tat nature of the struggle continued on the resumption before Newcestown were dealt another crippling blow in the 37th minute.
Newcestown's Luke Meade is challenged by Blackrock's David O'Farrell. (Photo: Paddy Feen)Blackrock’s second goal was scored by Shane O’Keeffe, who, in trying to control a speculative lob from Robbie Cotter with his stick, inadvertently deflected the ball to the net.
It was a lucky break that pushed Blackrock 2-9 to 0-11 ahead, but it did nothing to diminish Newcestown’s resolve.With Ciarán O’Donovan deputising adequately for the injured Jack Meade as free-taker, they got back within striking range, 2-12 to 0-15, before incurring a third major setback in the 46th minute.
After Newcestown goalkeeper Cathal Wilson brilliantly parried a rasper from Alan Connolly, Robbie Cotter was on hand to knock the rebound home, putting Blackrock firmly in the driving seat where they remained until the finish.
Not that Newcestown gave up the ghost in the last quarter when substitute Olan Walsh made a noteworthy impact around the middle, but – unable to grab the goal they needed to knock the Rockies off course – they never managed to cut the gap to less than four points.
Indeed, they almost conceded a fourth goal approaching the last ten minutes when a shot by Alan Connolly was taken off the line by James Kelleher, who, along with Eoghan Collins and the heroic Luke Meade, earned the main plaudits in the Newcestown rearguard.
Scorers
Blackrock: A Connolly 1-5 (3f); R Cotter 1-2; F Coleman 0-4; S O’Keeffe 1-0; P Lenihan, N Cashman 0-2 each; A O’Callaghan, K O’Keeffe 0-1 each.
Newcestown: J Meade 0-5 (f); C Dineen, L Meade 0-4 each; Ciarán O’Donovan 0-4 (f); N Kelly 0-2; S O’Donovan, Colm O’Donovan 0-1 each.
Blackrock: G Connolly; S Murphy, J Cashman, O McAdoo; Ciarán Cormack, A O’Callaghan, N Cashman; D O’Farrell, D Meaney; P Lenihan, A Connolly, K O’Keeffe; S O’Keeffe, F Coleman, R Cotter.
Subs: R Sweeney for S O’Keeffe (46), Ciarán Cormack for Meaney (46), J Golden for McAdoo (59).
Newcestown: C Wilson; M McSweeney, F Keane, J Kelleher; C O’Neill, L Meade, E Collins; T Twomey, Colm O’Donovan; N Kelly, D Buckley, S O’Donovan; C Dineen, J Meade, Ciaran O’Donovan.
Sub: O Walsh for J Meade (inj, 36).
Referee: B Barry-Murphy (Aghabullogue).
