Slowly but surely the story is beginning to unfold on what is likely to transpire at the group stage of the Premier Cork County SHC on Leeside.
Six games were played out over the weekend and this observer managed to fit in half of them, the all-city derby between the Rockies and the Barrs last Friday night and the Saturday double-header featuring Midleton and Newcestown, followed by the big East Cork local derby between Sarsfields and Erin’s Own.
Similar to some of the games in the opening round, the fare on offer didn’t produce anything exceptional but that’s not saying that we went away with nothing much to reflect on.
Of the three games on our agenda, the one that kept the pot boiling throughout was the collision of Midleton and Newcestown.
All the pressure was heaped on Newcestown in this one, an opening day loss to Charleville had put them under immediate pressure in the group and the general consensus was that Midleton would be carrying too much heavy artillery for them.
Midleton are always there or thereabouts in the list of leading title contenders and are again this time but in the aftermath of their draw with the West Cork side they must now be bracketed among the sides that must be much better next time out and that will be against Charleville next month.
With a win and a draw from their opening two games, they are still very advantageously placed to reach the knockout stage and they may even go on to win the title in a few months.
But that’s for another day and in the end, they would have been happy enough to bag the point last Saturday night as we witnessed another illustration of what this club, Newcestown can bring to the table.
For starters, they were more than deserving of the draw and it was clear from the outset that this was not going to be an easy evening at the office for the East Cork team.
Newcestown’s sheer grit and teak-toughness have been a hallmark of their teams in both codes through the years in all grades and this current bunch have inherited that trait.
They simply never refuse to wilt and will battle to the bitter end as they did on this occasion, levelling the tie in the 64th minute from Richard O’Sullivan, whose expertise from the placed ball was one of the stories of a game that always held one’s interest.
Another minute and a half was added to the extra four and in the dying embers, they had to defend a long-range Midleton free to collect the precious point.
O’Sullivan did the bulk of the scoring for them but special mention too of David Buckley, who registered four points from open play.
Cork’s Luke Meade more than made his presence felt in a team that stood shoulder to shoulder with each other throughout.
Some of Brion Saunderson’s first-half puckouts for Midleton were monster efforts, two of them had the umpire waving for wides. He did land a huge point from a free in a Midleton display that may not be good enough if it’s repeated going forward.
And one is certain that they would acknowledge that themselves.
Local derbies, more so ones featuring very close neighbours as Sarsfields and Erin’s Own are, carry plenty of potential and sometimes these types of games can take an unexpected turn.
Not on this occasion, however, as impressive opening round winners Sarsfields romped to victory in a contest that had run its course by the interval with the Riverstown side 16 points to the good.
Sars were excellent in that opening half, as good as we have seen them play for quite some time.
Jack O’Connor’s pace and movement was a joy to behold, he ended the hour with 1-8 alongside his name and the majority of his scores were sublime efforts.
James Sweeney belted in two goals of real quality in a display that was near flawless in the opening 30 minutes.
One feared for Erin’s Own at that juncture, were they going to be wiped off the face of the earth thereafter and it most certainly was a damage limitation exercise for them in the second half.
Killian Murphy, Sarsfields, tries to block down Eoghan Murphy, Erin’s Own. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
And to give them immense credit, they more than saved face with a performance that yielded three goals and some finely executed points and despite the winning margin of 18 points at the end for Sars, a return of 3-15 for Erin’s Own was damn good going in itself.
It’s accepted that they are a team in transition but they certainly fought the good fight to the end.
The Sars management would have been thrilled with the first-half display, maybe not so much thereafter and the concession of three goals would certainly have annoyed them.
But, let there be no doubt about it, they are the best club side that we have seen thus far in this competition, rightly regarded as the big fancy for the crown in many quarters.
In last Friday’s column, we spoke of the great traditions of the Barrs and the Rockies and their great rivalry down the corridors of time. There is an acceptance that those epic battles of the past are long consigned to history but you always expect that bit more when they collide.
Last Friday night’s encounter was a disappointment, not for the Rockies, though, who put in a very impressive shift over the hour and in doing so moved up the leading title contenders list.
They were full value for their whopping 11-point victory over a Barrs side that were well off the pace and for the most part were very flat.
Their performance was certainly in stark contrast to their opening night win over Douglas and if it wasn’t for some super saves from Shane Hurley, the margin of defeat would have been much greater. Now there is a bit of soul-searching to be done in Togher before they face Kanturk in their final group game.
The Cashman boys. Niall and John were superb for the Rockies, Tadhg Deasy impressed and Michael O’Halloran made a handsome contribution with a brace of goals.
There’s a wealth of experience in this Rockies team, a few of the younger brigade are fitting in well too and their aim now must be to win all their three group games and try to be in a position to move straight into a semi-final.
Sars are probably the more fancied side to accomplish that feat as they did last season but nothing will be nailed on until the conclusion of the group stage. But with a haul of 5-58 from their two games thus far, they are in pole position.
Finally, the point apiece bagged by Douglas and Kanturk in Castletownroche last Saturday may prove to be very valuable when everything is sorted out.
Douglas, with a last-gasp leveller will probably have been the more satisfied team at the end.