Hartley hails composed Mahony as Ballygunner survive stern test
EXPERIENCE is a difficult thing to quantify but when the going got tough in Walsh Park yesterday, Ballygunner were able to go to the well and find something extra.
Trailing by three points with 15 minutes to play and over-relying on the brilliance of ace marksman Pauric Mahony, the Waterford city side needed something to spark them to life and Conor Power provided it.
His 49th-minute goal was a tonic to break Midleton’s resistance and while there were a few nervy moments at the finish, they held on much to the relief of manager Fergal Hartley.
After securing their fifth Déise title in succession, Ballygunner were hot favourites (1/6) here but the Cork side made a mockery of those odds.
“I don’t know who came up with those odds, because they were the most ridiculous odds. If I were a neutral I’d have put all my money on Midleton. That was a 50-50 game and it was always going to be,” Hartley said.
It started off like it was going to be a cakewalk for Ballygunner, however, with Tim O’Sullivan and Power menacing every time the ball came their way in the full-forward line.
Mahony fired over six placed balls in the opening quarter to lead 0-6 to 0-2 as Finbar O’Mahoney and Luke Dineen were walking the tightrope for Midleton – who waited until the 14th minute for their first free – after earning early yellow cards.
It took the Cork club, who were runners-up to divisional side Imokilly two weeks ago but representing the Rebel county in Munster, time to settle into the contest but Conor Lehane’s expertly-taken goal from a free saw them rise from their slumber to level 1-5 to 0-8.
The shackles came off Midleton after that score and with Cormac Walsh firing three superb first halfpoints, they scorched ahead before the lively Cormac Beausang rifled past All-Star goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe to leave them four in front at the break, 2-8 to 0-10.
Ballygunner were rattled and making little or no inroads in attack as the sides traded scores after the interval but the introduction of JJ Hutchinson helped to turn the side.
Mahony cut the gap to two with another of his dozen scores before Power fired the all-important goal, albeit fortuitously when his groundstroke – after initially being hooked – took a deflection en route to the net.
That handed them the lead, and it was one they wouldn’t relinquish as they used all their guile and provincial experience over the past five seasons to hold out by two points with Mahony unerring from dead balls.
“You know what you’re getting from Pauric and at this level every ball, every possession matters and certainly every free matters,” Hartley said of the Déise star. “When it’s a one-point, two-point game, having someone like him is huge.”
Midleton were a significant hurdle to climb for Ballygunner and Hartley hopes that being forced to dig deep will stand them in good stead with 2016 All-Ireland club finalists Ballyea making the trip to Walsh Park next Sunday for their semi-final clash.
If they are to move one step closer to an elusive Munster crown, Hartley knows that the influence of Clare star Tony Kelly will have to be curbed.
“We know the scale of the challenge from Tony Kelly and Co – thinking about stopping him is a week’s worth of work alone,” he said, before adding: “It’s a huge goal for us (winning a provincial title), but look at what you have to do for that. You have to beat Ballyea, a huge task and from now, our focus is on that. It’s the next step.”
Having surrendered a lead, defeat was a bitter pill for Midleton selector Ger Fitzgerald to swallow but he paid tribute to his side’s resolve after bouncing back from the “trauma” of their county final defeat.
“We gave it the respect it deserved and we were very proud to come down here and represent Cork. That was showed in the performance so it wasn’t really that hard,” he said.
FOOTNOTE: Admission for yesterday’s clash was €10 for adults and €5 for students/OAPS, a far cry from the €25 (€20 for students/OAPS) which the Midleton faithful were asked to fork out for the Cork SHC final.