Kanturk’s endurance paid off in four game marathon against Millstreet in 1998

BACK in 1998, Freemount justified the favourite’s tag to retain their Duhallow Junior A Hurling Championship title in a golden era for the club that claimed four titles in a five year spell.

Rightly Freemount were a dominant force yet for excitement, thrills, goalmouth incidents and a bit of controversy thrown in, a marathon four game quarter final between Kanturk and Millstreet caught the imagination.

At the finish there could be no denying that the honours rested where they belonged in favour of Kanturk. But from a Games of Thrones blockbuster, it was impossible to escape the twists and turns of a four game saga before Kanturk snatched victory in the longest drawn out duel in Duhallow hurling where it was fair to say, the remainder of the 1998 championship dwarfed in comparison to the clash of Millstreet and Kanturk.

From the opening game the sides traded score for scores in a contest that lacked bite yet the tight exchanges kept the suspense up to the last minute, a Finbarr O’Leary lead point for Millstreet cancelled by Kanturk wing back Cathal Cronin to force parity.

And there was no separating the pair in a dramatic replay, a tussle of shifting fortunes and a late point from Tim Burke in the fifth minute of injury time in extra time allowed Kanturk a third bite of the cherry.

Earlier Burke landed a last gasp equalising point at the end of an extended hour to ensure extra time. The sides traded goals to Edmund Aherne and Gerard McCarthy prior to Burke registered his 11th point to salvage a second replay.

Here Kanturk looked the better side for much of an invigorating third showdown, as the rain teemed down, neither side deserved to lose in a contest that had the attendance on edge. Scheduled extra time was abandoned due to fading light in the deteriorating weather.

Goals either sides of the interval from Frank Healy and Pádraig Kearns appeared to had Kanturk in the driving seat. However Millstreet got right back into contention once Denis O’Riordan netted and late points from Kevin McCarthy tied matters in the saturated conditions.

Act Four from the intense saga returned to Banteer, again unrelenting rainfall prior to the throw in created waterlogged conditions and provided a real lottery for the contestants. As in the previous outings, the sides were closely matched but two goals from Burke and Tim Healy in the opening half gave Kanturk an advantage that Millstreet could never fully wipe out.

Though the deficit was cut to a single point, Millstreet needed a goal to boost their prospects yet they came up against an inform Kanturk custodian Eamon Barry. Indeed Barry excelled on safely catching several high balls that rained in on him during the second half, no mean feat from a slippery sliothar.

At the opposite end, Millstreet net-minder Kieran Curtin kept his side in the hunt with a string of excellent saves late in the contest. At the end of the four game marathon, both Kanturk and Millstreet deserved to be complimented for their sportsmanship, providing hotly competitive fare with determination aplenty in the longest running battle in Duhallow hurling.

The excursions placed on Kanturk to play over consecutive weekends took its toll when they were defeated by Banteer in a semi final, the latter yielding to Freemount in the decider. To Freemount, the championship silverware yet Kanturk and Millstreet deserve credit for the entertainment provided during a wet summer of 1998.

The rival team panels were:

KANTURK: Eamon Barry, John Healy, Ger O’Brien, James Healy, Cathal Cronin, Edward Geaney, Edmund Aherne, Peter O’Dwyer, Jerome Walsh, Frank Healy, Tim Burke, Aidan O’Keeffe, Con Cronin, Tim Healy, Padraig Kearns, James O’Connell, Dave O’Riordan, Ger O’Sullivan, Francis Kenneally, Tom Walsh, Neally Galvin, John Kenneally, Brendan Moylan

MILLSTREET: Kieran Curtin, Stephen Lyons, Matthew Dennehy, Tim Vaughan, Donal Twomey, Donough McCarthy, Eoin Moynihan, Declan O’Connor, Donal Cashman, Kevin McCarthy, Denis O’Riordan, Finbarr O’Leary, Gerard McCarthy, Michael Thornton, Dermot Golden, Edmund Coffey, Thomas O’Leary, Eamon Cremin, Denis Lane, James O’Leary, D J Collins

REFEREES: Eoin Walsh (Freemount), Michael Higgins (Castlemagner), Ger Moran (Banteer)

Photo by John Tarrant

Cathal Cronin was part of the Kanturk team that played Millstreet in the four game Duhallow JAHC quarter-final marathon in 1998. Four years later, Cathal captained Kanturk to land outright Duhallow championship honours.