Senior Hurling Championship

“Famed Blackrock”, “ The Rockies” and “The Little Fishing Village” are just some of the names given to the hurlers of the Blackrock National Hurling Club. Winners of the Cork Co. Senior Hurling Championship on 37 occasions and winners of three Club All Irelands – well that’s the team that our senior hurlers took on and beat last Sunday in Pairc Uí Chaoimh. Some pundits said the Rockies weren’t as good as years ago, maybe so but you can only play the team that turns up on the day. This was no classic game, the drizzly rain didn’t help, though the Pairc Uí Chaoimh surface was lovely but make no mistake, Blackrock are never an easy team to beat in any grade.

We scored 3-11 against them in the Senior Hurling League final a few seasons ago, and 3-11 would win most games but then at the very end, Adrian Coughlan hit over the 21st point of the night and we lost by a single score. There was no talk of revenge for that defeat before the game last Sunday, no ‘twas as simple as that, the winners were into the last eight and the losers would have to wait ‘til 2010. The weather was in complete contrast to the week before when we had glorious sunshine. On Sunday afternoon it couldn’t decide whether to rain heavy or not. as it turned out the showers came but in fairness the rain had little or no effect on the match. The Rockies played with the aid of a cross-field wind and Coughlan opened the scoring with a point from a ’65. Within a minute we had a tonic of a score. A long ball into the Rockies defence went to ground in a clash of hurleys and legs. When the sliotar came out Daniel Dooley celebrated his 19th birthday in style by hitting a great goal. Daniel followed shortly with a white flag and we were 1-1 to 0-1 ahead.

We tended to give away easy frees and Coughlan pointed two before Barry Johnson got a similar score for us in the 16th minute, 1-2 to 0-3. The Blackrock half back line of Chris Murphy, Wayne Sherlock and Paul Tierney got on top and we found it difficult to even win possession from our own puckouts. The next four points came to the Rockies, 0-3 from Coughlan frees. That left us 1-2 to 0-7 behind approaching half time. Blackrock went up four but Michael Collins got two great points before the short whistle to leave us just two behind 1-4 to 0-9. It was noticeable in the first half that Blackrock were physically able to get on top in many sectors. We started the second half with a flurry of scores. Barry Johnson from a free and a ’65 levelled the scores before Daniel Dooley put us 1 ahead. With Brendan Walsh and Brian Murphy driving forward from defence, all the team reciprocated and the tempo of our play was increased.

The middle ten minutes of this half were very even with both teams getting two points, ours from Barry (free) and Michael Collins. Coughlan from a free and midfielder Richard Dineen got the two for the city side. Victory was there for whoever wanted it the most at this stage. Aidan Collins and Trevor Moloney made vital clearances and with Mike Kearney and Barry Murphy sealing the backline, we went in search of scores. Michael Collins gave us a 1-9 to 0-11 lead. Daniel Dooley was given a grand pass by Padraig Murphy but he was pulled down. Barry put us up two. Sub Terry Broderick who was just on the field took a super pass and split the posts – we were three points ahead now with a little over 5 minutes to play. Colm O’Keeffe and Sean Ryan were unlucky with shots which could have stretched our lead. Donal Ryan having played like a lion had to go off and was replaced by Stephen Boyce. If only we could go four points up one felt we’d be safe. Back came Blackrock however, veteran sub Alan Brown and teenager Patrick Deasy hit a point each to leave just the minimum between the teams.

A draw looked odds on, especially when Coughlan got two chances to point a free from under the covered stand. His first effort was saved and his second went wide. It seemed as though the whistle had to go but then Blackrock attacked once more. Full forward Colin O’Leary got possession and shot from about 40 yards out but luckily his shot went wide. Then came John Sexton’s final whistle and we had it won. Bride Rovers had beaten Blackrock in the Co. Senior Hurling Championship, unbelievable but true. There were great scenes of celebration at the final whistle – to come here to Blackrock’s ‘home’ pitch in their own parish and defeat them was a great achievement. This was a tough hard-fought game where every score was valuable and it was fitting that just a point separated the teams.

The city side were gracious in defeat as we would expect from them. Well done lads on a fine win. We’ve won nothing yet and we wont get carried away with the victory but ‘tis great to be in the championship as we face into July.

Team & Scorers:Denis Fitzgerald, Aidan Collins, Brendan Walsh, Trevor Moloney, Barry Murphy, Brian Murphy, Mike Kearney, Padraig Murphy, Barry Johnson (0-5), Sean Ryan, Jerome O’Driscoll, Michael Collins (0-3), Colm O’Keeffe, Donal Ryan, Daniel Dooley (1-2). Subs: Terry Broderick (0-1), Stephen Boyce.

This win puts us into the quarter final of the County against C.I.T. The college have defeated Muskerry by 3-18 to 2-8 and Duhallow by 1-20 to 1-9 and last week they beat Carrigdhoun by 2-23 to 2-4 – that’s six goals and 61 points in three games! Two years ago we defeated C.I.T. in Riverstown but on that occasion they were without 7 of their regulars who were gone abroad for the summer. With summer jobs scarce, both home and away this year, C.I.T. will have a full panel to draw from. Kilworth, Fermoy, Inniscarra, Valley Rovers, Kilbrittain and Kanturk are some of the clubs with players on the C.I.T. team as well as some from Tipperary, Waterford and Kilkenny. The game may go on Sunday July 19th or Sunday July 26th but we wont know for definite ‘til after the Co. Board meeting on next Tuesday night July 7th.

Well done to all the players involved and to all the Management team. A special word of thanks once again to our great supporters who made their presence felt and heard.

 

Bride Rovers v Blackrock 1933

The last time we defeated Blackrock in an adult hurling championship tie was in the second round of the Co. Intermediate Hurling Championship in 1933. The Rovers defeated Buttevant by 6-5 to 2-0 in the first round. The game against Blackrock was played in Riverstown on the second Sunday of June. The Rovers won by 3-2 to 1-5. Ned Hoskins got two goals while John Holmes (a Garda who was on the famous Mallow Senior Hurling team of 1926 that “bate Blackrock”) got 1-1 while Billy Barry scored a point. The Rovers team that played against Blackrock in 1933 was:Ned Hoskins, John Healy, Joe Healy, Mick Mulally, John Holmes, Tom Collins, Bill Murphy, Jimmy Ryan, Dick Ryan, Patrick Collins, Ned Daly, Tom O’Shea, Jim Murphy, Billy Barry, Mick Thompson. Dick Ryan who was on that team was in the Civil Service. He went to Waterford and played with Erins Own. On his transfer back to Cork in 1937 he played with Blackrock and was actually on the Cork Senior Hurling team defeated 4-3 to 3-5 by Tipperary in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship. Dick later played in Donegal and was on the Donegal Junior Hurling team that hot to the Ulster Final. he finished his career with the Civil Service Club in Dublin.

Senior Hurling League: Bride Rovers will play Cloyne in Rathcormac on next Tuesday July 7th at 8pm in the Cork Co. Senior Hurling League.