Exciting climax in store for the News & Star cup
Mount Sion's Adam Regan is tackled by Ferrybank's Stephen O'Kane
The crowds turned out in force across the county last weekend for the knockout stages of the hurling championships in all grades and with semi-finals and finals taking place next weekend it will be more of the same at various venues with the attendance at the senior semi finals in Walsh Park expected to surpass that of last Sunday’s quarter final double header.
The clash between Mount Sion and Abbeyside gets things underway at the city venue on Sunday and this is an intriguing pairing with traditionally a strong championship rivalry between the pair. Abbeyside have appeared in six county finals losing the first four to Mount Sion in the fifties and sixties before losing narrowly on their return as championship contenders to De La Salle in 2008. More recently they reached the final in 2018 but lost out to a Ballygunner side at its best. Since then Abbeyside have been building patiently through their underage structures towards their present side which has come through the Group stage with comfortable wins over Ferrybank and Fourmilewater and scored a decisive win over local rivals Dungarvan on Sunday last.
With county players Conor Prunty and Michael Kiely in top form others such as Michael O’Halloran, Brian Looby, Eoin Kiely, William Beresford, Maurice Power and Charlie Treen have stepped up to the plate and they have their eyes firmly fixed on a final place.
Mount Sion came through what could be described as the ‘Group of Death’ with hard earned narrow wins over De La Salle and Passage thanks mainly to the free taking of Austin Gleeson but they were hard pressed to come through last Friday’s quarter final against Ferrybank. Apart from Austin Gleeson, they will need big performances from such as Mikey Daykin, P. J. Fanning, Donal Power, Jamie Gleeson, Martin O’Neill, Alan Kirwan and John Kennedy to come through here.
Abbeyside are the form team but this is a game that could go either way.
There is no stronger local rivalry than that between Ballygunner and Passage. Since Passage’s shock victory over Ballygunner in that sensational 2013 final the Gunners have not looked back and have made Passage pay at every opportunity. Passage are coming through a patient transitional period that has seen the departure of All Star players such as Noel Connors and Eoin Kelly but they have young players coming through and while they will be very much up against it facing the Gunners’ machine on Sunday they will relish the opportunity to have a go as was the case with last Sunday’s sensational win over Roanmore with fourteen players.
As always Ballygunner will be taking nothing for granted on Sunday with all their top men available with the exception of the barred Shane O’Sullivan. It may be that Passage’s best ploy would be to concentrate on their own strengths and not be drawn into a man on man marking situation against such experienced opposition. Players like Gary Cullinane, Darragh Lynch, Mark Fitzgerald and Thomas Carey can, given their freedom, give the opposition enough trouble.
It is difficult to see anything other than a decisive win for the champions here but Passage can make things difficult for them.
This Intermediate final completes a great double header at Fraher Field on Saturday where it will be preceded by the eagerly awaited Premier Intermediate clash between Ballysaggart and Clashmore that will see Tadhg De Burca and Stephen Bennett likely to be in direct opposition.
Ballyduff Upper go into this game on the back of last weekend’s impressive 1-24 to 1-12 win over Colligan Rockies and given they were in senior ranks not too long ago will start favourites here to continue their journey towards regaining that status. In former senior star Mikey Kearney they have their top scorer with 0-13 to his credit against Colligan while others to feature strongly in the Ballyduff line up are Sean Hickey, Jamie Kearney, Cathal Murphy, Kevin Casey and Tir Eoghan Flynn.
Despite the loss of D. J. Foran, Portlaw produced their best performance to date in last Saturday’s Western final against St, Mollerans and will not be short of confidence going into this big game. They have experienced campaigners such as John Dee, Blake O’Connor and Darren Rockett in defence while Cormac Rooney and Evan Burrows up front can cause problems for any defence. Ballyduff Upper will start favourites but being underdogs for the first time in this campaign will suit Portlaw.
The senior clubs dominated the Eastern Junior A Championship this year with Roanmore defeating De La Salle by 1-24 to 0-10 in their semi-final clash while Ballygunner’s third string came through with a one point win over Mount Sion in Ballybeg on a score of 1-14 to 0-16. Roanmore will start favourites here having already beaten their opponents in the Group stage.
The other remaining county final down for decision this weekend will also see Roanmore involved as their third string side faces Lismore in the Junior B decider in Fraher Field at 12 noon on Sunday.
