Fiery Fermoy edge it over The Hill in hurling championship
Watergrasshill 0-17 Fermoy 1-16
THE foundations for Fermoy’s victory over Watergrasshill were laid midway through the first half of their county PIHC round 3 encounter at Pairc Ui Rinn last Sunday.
Between the 13th and 18th minutes, the North-Cork men slotted over five scores on the trot to transform a two-point deficit into an 0-7 to 0-4 lead, and, as things transpired, they weren’t to fall behind again after that.
Fermoy didn’t have things all their own way for the rest of the hour, however, with the issue remaining very much in the balance until full-forward Shane Aherne bagged the game’s only goal in the dying minutes.
It left them four points to the good, but even then gutsy Watergrasshill – who had hauled themselves back from the brink with a last-gasp goal against Blarney in the previous round – refused to give up the ghost, hitting back with a brace of points before the final whistle came as a source of considerable relief to the winners.
It was far from a convincing triumph by the 2014 intermediate kingpins, who will need to improve on this display if they hope to one better than in 2016 when they filled the runners-up slot at PIHC level behind Bandon.
Watergrasshill, involved in a relegation play-off last year, showed from the outset they were ready to make a bold bid for the laurels, responding to a Fermoy point from Kieran Morrison with a hat-trick of scores shared by Shane O’Regan snr – who converted a couple of placed balls – and James McCarthy inside seven minutes.
A booming point from distance by Fermoy centre-back Brian O’Sullivan was negated by Watergrasshill full forward Shane O’Regan Junior before the Avondhu side struck the purple-patch that, in the final analysis, was instrumental in paving the way for their hard-earned win.
It began with a long-range score by wing back Pádraig De Roiste, with Jack Hutchings and Shane Aherne also contributing from play and Liam Coleman chipping in with two points from frees.
Fermoy’s brief flourish stemmed primarily from the dominance of their half back líne in which De Roiste and O’Sullivan were particularly prominent, so it was obviously a setback when the latter was forced to retire injured nearing half-time.
Still, Fermoy coped fairly well in the wake of O’Sullivan’s departure, as De Roiste moved in to the pivotal position to good effect for the second half, while substitute Jack Scannell also paid his way in a line completed by the dependable Martin Brennan.
Leading by 0-8 to 0-6 at halftime, Fermoy were hauled back to equality, 0-9 to 0-9, by the 37th minute, and there was never more than two points between the sides for the rest of the second half until Shane Aherne plucked a Jack Scannell delivery from the clouds to shoot a priceless goal two minutes into stoppage time.
Despite the admirable tenacity of Watergrasshill full back Aaron Ricken, Aherne always looked threatening at the edge of the square in the second half and it was no means unfitting that he ultimately tilted the issue in Fermoy’s favour.
Apart from ace free-taker Liam Coleman, none of the other forwards impressed after the interval when Coleman and Watergrasshill’s Shane O’Regan Junior did the bulk of the scoring from placed balls.
Elsewhere, substitute David Geary at midfield and full back Darragh O’ Carroll, who kept a reasonably tight rein on Watergrasshill’s highly-rated number 14 Shane O’Regan jnr, made noteworthy contributions to Fermoy’s cause.
Aaron Ricken and Sean O’Cal-
laghan at the back, Anthony Cronin at midfield, and Eoin Barry and Shane O’Regan snr up front were numbered among the leading lights for Watergrasshill in a contest that, despite the closeness of the scoring throughout, never really sprang to life.
In truth, the quality of the hurling was nothing to write home about, and one feels that more will be required from Fermoy in order to see off Charleville in a mouth-watering North-Cork derby quarter final tie next time out.
FERMOY: C Quinn; J Daly, D O’Carroll, E Clancy; P De Roiste (0-1), B O’Sullivan, M Brennan; P Clancy, A Aherne; J Molloy, K Morrison (0-1), T Clancy; J Hutchings (0-1), S Aherne (1-2), L Coleman (0-8, 7f)
Subs: J Scannell for O’Sullivan (injured) 29, D Geary (0-1) for Morrison, 41, A Creed (0-1) for Molloy, 52, R Morrison for Daly, 59
WATERGRASSHILL: D O’Callaghan; D McCarthy, A Ricken, D O’Farrell; P Cronin, S O’Callaghan (0-1), P O’Regan; A Cronin, B Halbert; K O’Neill, S O’Regan, snr (0-12, 9f, 1 ‘65), J McCarthy (0-1); E Barry (0-2), S O’Regan jnr (0-1) D McCarthy Subs:
S Field for Halbert, 49, A Collins for J McCarthy, 56.
REFEREE: M Maher (St Finbarrs)