AIB Munster GAA Hurling Intermediate Club Championship Final – Youghal (Cork) 2-13 Ballina (Tipperary) 2-10

Youghal find an extra edge in hour of glory

By Therese O’Callaghan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Youghal are the Munster Club IHC champions following a titanic battle with Ballina at Mallow yesterday. A huge crowd witnessed an enthralling contest as both teams were reduced to 14 players in the second half, but Youghal held strong to become the first Cork team to receive IHC title since Ballymartle in 2010. Youghal clung on to a three-point advantage in the dying minutes as Ballina searched for the equalising goal.

The final whistle brought great scenes of celebration, and for top-scorer Brendan Ring (0-7), it was a day to savour after an incredible year. “You know we didn’t have the best of starts to the year,” he said. “We were beaten in the first round of the Cork championship but we rallied. You can see that here today. We are going about five years now trying to win a county and you can see how we got here. There are no heroes on this team. We’ve had so many disappointments before, losing semi-finals year after year but there is great credit to all the players and what they have put into it. “The county was our goal, but deep down, we thought we had a team good enough to win the Munster. You are going into the unknown [Munster] but we knew it would take a really good team to beat us. We got the goals at vital stages — we would have been beaten by those goals in the past and today we got them.”

Youghal made a statement early on when Ollie Dempsey finished to the net in the third minute after a brilliant save by Martin McKeogh from a Brendan Ring shot. Ballina answered back with points from Michael Breen and David Hickey but Youghal managed to keep their noses in front courtesy of two fantastic points from standout forward Brendan Ring. Wing forward Brian Stritch was causing problems at the other end which meant the Tipp side were never too far behind. And when his brother Stephen Stritch latched on to a perfect long delivery from Stephen O’Brien to fire past Richard Cunningham in the 18th minute, Ballina took the lead for the first time, 1-6 to 1-5. But Youghal moved quickly to curb their attacking play, switching Dempsey to wing back and introducing Andrew Curtin to full forward. In fact, Curtin had the sliotar in the net soon after but it was disallowed for a square infringement. As Ballina moved ahead by a point, Damien Ring crucially found the net for Youghal after combining with Curtin and this goal gave them a timely interval advantage, 2-6 to 1-7 — but they were also turning to play with the wind.

Points were exchanged before Ballina received a major blow with corner back Brian McKeogh receiving a second yellow card six minutes after the restart, which resulted in a reshuffle with centre-forward Michael Breen (later forced off injured) switching to defence while Barry Ring was the free player for Youghal. Bill Cooper and Curtin edged Youghal four points clear but Ballina were right back in the game when Domhnall McKeogh found the net with the final quarter to play. They trailed 2-8 to 2-9. Damien Ring struck a fine point from play before Ollie Dempsey received a straight red card with 10 minutes remaining. Crucially Brendan Ring converted a pair of frees to make it a four-point match. Barry Ring, John Grace and keeper Cunningham all made vital saves as Ballina were desperate for a goal. A Stephen O’Brien 65m cut the gap to three points but Youghal, not for the first, dug deep. They travel to Ruislip to play St Gabriel’s of London (All Ireland finalists 2012/2013) in the All-Ireland quarter-final next month.

Scorers for Youghal: Brendan Ring (0-7, 4fs), D Ring (1-1), O Dempsey (1-0), B Cooper (0-2), J O’Mahony, L Desmond and A Curtin (0-1 each).

Scorers for Ballina: S Stritch (1-1), M Breen (0-4, 3fs, 1 65), D McKeogh (1-0), S O’Brien (0-2, 1 65), D Hickey, B Stritch and TJ O’Connell (0-1 each).

YOUGHAL: R Cunningham; B O’Sullivan, J Grace, K Walsh; M Cronin, C Spillane, Barry Ring; L Desmond, N Roche; D Ring, A Frahill-O’Connor, B Cooper; J O’Mahony, O Dempsey, Brendan Ring.

Subs: A Curtin for K Walsh (23), B Coleman for A Curtin (60).

BALLINA: M McKeogh; R Kennedy, P Cosgrove, B McKeogh; K Cosgrove, T Collins, D Kent; J O’Brien, S O’Brien; S Stritch, M Breen, B Stritch; D McKeogh, D Hickey, TJ O’Connell.

Subs: E Sheehy for R Kennedy (ht), B O’Connor for M Breen (47 inj), S McKeogh for D McKeogh (55).

Referee: Shane Hourigan (Limerick)

The key moment

After Youghal’s great start, Damien Ring’s goal moments before the break yielded a two-point lead at half-time against the wind.

Pub talk

First time visitors to the Mallow GAA complex were in awe of the fabulous facilities.

Haven’t seen that before

The next generation of Ballina and Youghal hurlers. The underage section provided a guard of honour.

The main man

Brendan Ring was a thorn in Ballina’s side throughout, supplying seven points.

The man in black

Shane Hourigan’s job was made easy by two sporting teams. He consulted with his umpires before disallowing Andrew Curtin’s goal in the first half.

What’s next?

All-Ireland club quarter-final for Youghal against London senior champions St Gabriel’s in Ruislip next month.

When – Sunday November 17^th at 2:00pm

Where – Mallow

Referee – Shane Hourigan (Limerick)
Standby Referee – Declan O’Driscoll (Limerick)
Linesman – Jason Mullins (Limerick)
4th Official – Donie Browne (Limerick)
Umpires – Barry O’Donoghue, Padraig Jones, Kevin Sheahan and Joe Browne (Limerick)

Extra time – (2 periods x 10 minutes only) to be played if sides finish level at the end of 60 minutes

Replay date – Saturday November 23^rd

Next Round – the winners play the British champions in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final on Sunday December 1^st.

Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information

For the Record

Munster GAA HURLING Club Intermediate Championship 2013

Quarter-Finals

Sunday October 27^th

@ Pairc Ui Rinn                               Youghal (Cork) 4-13 Ardmore (Waterford) 1-12

@ Bruff                      Ballina (Tipperary) 1-12 Dromin-Athlacca (Limerick) 0-14

Semi-Finals
Sunday November 3^rd

@ Sixmilebridge                               Whitegate (Clare) 0-18 Youghal (Cork) 0-18 (AET)

@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh Ballina (Tipperary) 3-19 St. Brendan’s (Kerry) 0-15

Semi-Final Replay
Sunday November 10th

@ Fermoy                                          Youghal (Cork) 1-16 Whitegate (Clare) 0-8

Final (Extra time)

Sunday November 17th (Replay date – Saturday November 23rd)

@ Mallow Ballina (Tipperary) v Youghal (Cork) 2:00pm

Odds and Ends

There have been two previous finals between the Tipperary and Cork champions in the Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship. In 2003, Bride Rovers (Cork) defeated Kilruane MacDonaghs (Tipperary) by 0-14 to 0-11 while in 2010, Ballymartle (Cork) defeated Borrisokane (Tipperary) by 2-14 to 0-8.

Tipperary clubs have won 7 of their last 9 matches in the Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship dating back to 2010, including 5 in a row courtesy of Silvermines and Ballina. By contrast. from 2005 to 2009 the Tipperary Intermediate Hurling Champions were knocked out in their first match in this competition.

Since the competition began in 2003, Cork clubs have won 4 of the 9 Munster titles on offer, the last one in 2010 when Ballymartle were successful. Clare and Tipperary are the only other counties with a winning record in this competition.

The Munster Club Intermediate Hurling Championship Final was last played in Mallow in 2009 when South Liberties (Limerick) defeated Douglas (Cork) by 2-10 to 1-12.

Munster GAA Club HURLING Intermediate Championship Roll Of Honour

Cork (4) – 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010

Clare (2) – 2006, 2007

Tipperary (2) – 2004, 2012

Limerick (2) – 2009, 2011

Munster GAA Club HURLING Intermediate Championship
List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began 1888 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/ihclub_teams/

All Ireland GAA Club HURLING Intermediate Championship

In the Club Intermediate Hurling All Ireland Roll of Honour, Cork have secured 2 titles courtesy of Blarney (2009) and Ballymartyle (2011) while Kildangan (Tipperary) won the 2004 All-Ireland title.

Munster GAA Club HURLING Intermediate Championship

List of Winning Teams

2003 – Bride Rovers (Cork) 0-14 Kilruane MacDonagh’s (Tipperary) 0-11

BRIDE ROVERS, CORK: Denis Fitzgerald; Aidan Collins, Niall Fitzgerald, James Murphy; Barry Johnson, Barry Murphy, Brendan Walsh; Padraig Murphy, Brian Murphy; Donal Ryan, Michael Hogan, Terry Broderick; Richard Cahill, Sean Ryan (Captain), Jerome O’Driscoll.

Subs: Pat Cotter for Hogan

2004 – Kildangan (Tipperary) 1-10 Dromin Athlacca (Limerick) 1-4

KILDANGAN, TIPPERARY: Dermot Hogan; Brian Lawlor, Liam Kelly, Michael Ryan, Karl Hogan, Dan Hackett, Ger Slattery (Captain); Brian Kelly, John Maher; Tommy Connors, Liam Karl Flannery, Enda Nolan, Darragh Egan, Hugh Flannery, Conor Hayes.

Subs: Colm McGrath for Maher, Patrick Lynch for Hayes.

2005 – Ballinhassig (Cork) 1-12 Ballyduff Upper (Waterford) 0-13

BALLINHASSIG, CORK: Martin Coleman, Stephen McCarthy, Brian O’Sullivan, Brendan Coleman, James Ahearne, Michael Ahearne, Brendan Lombard, David Brennan, Kevin O’Sullivan, Paul O’Sullivan, John Mullaney, Stephen Dineen, Diarmuid Duggan, Dan O’Callaghan, John O’Sullivan.

Subs: Declan O’Sullivan for John O’Sullivan; Tadhg Coleman for Duggan

2006 – Clooney-Quin (Clare) 0-14 Bishopstown (Cork) 1-8

CLOONEY-QUIN, CLARE: Damien O’Halloran; Eoin Gallagher, Pat Markham, Joe O’Loughlin; Adrian Fleming, Cillian Duggan, Enda Harrison; Sean Conheady, Conor Harrison; John Earls, Fergal Lynch, Donnacha Murphy; Brian Shally, Ronan Gallagher, Cathal Egan

Subs: Shane McNamara for John Earls; Mark O’Halloran for Donnacha Murphy

2007 – Clonlara (Clare) 1-14 Dromin-Athlacca (Limerick) 1-8

CLONLARA, CLARE: Gerard O’Connell, Brian Woods, John Moloney, Paul Collins (Captain) Domhnall O’Donovan, Paul Nihill, Nicholas O’Connell, Cormac O’Donovan, Diarmuid Conway, John Conlan, Tomas O’Donovan, Patrick O’Hare, Darach Honan, Donal Maddan, Thomas Lynch

Sub: Alan O’Connell for Lynch (60th minute). Unused subs – Barry Moloney, Diarmuid O’Meara, William Slattery, Jason Murphy, John Barry, Eoin Hackett, Senan Nihill, Mark Dillon

2008 – Blarney (Cork) 2-7 Broadford (Clare) 0-3

BLARNEY, CORK: Ronan Byrne; Danny Cronin (Captain), Darragh McSweeney, Paul O’Leary; Joe Jordan, James Hughes, Stephen O’Donoghue; Brian Hurley, Mark McCarthy; Brian Deasy, Eoin Hallahan, Johnny Hurley; Mark Cremin, Ross McNamara, Colin Murphy

Subs: Gerard O’Donovan for Danny Cronin (27); Eugene McCarthy for Deasy (42); James O’Sullivan for McNamara (55); Dave McCarthy for Hallahan (58); Peter Aherne for Murphy (58)

2009 – South Liberties (Limerick) 2-10 Douglas (Cork) 1-12

SOUTH LIBERTIES, LIMERICK: Albert Shanahan; Shane Garry, Niall Shanahan, Tony Carroll; Thomas Ryan, Mark Keane, Shane O’Neill (Captain); William Hickey, Mike Keane; Brian Slattery, Anthony Owens, Rory O’Neill; Colm Godfrey, Ciaran Carbery, David O’Neill

Subs: Eamonn O’Connell for William Hickey (30); Derek Grimes for Colm Godfrey (30); Mike Moynihan for Ciaran Carbery (48)

2010 – Ballymartle (Cork) 2-14 Borrisokane (Tipperary) 0-8

BALLYMARTLE, CORK: Declan McCarthy; Daniel Coleman, Michael Tobin, Declan Dwyer; Daniel Edmonds, Patrick O’Dwyer (Captain), Noel Sheehan; S Corry, Graham Webb; Ruairiy Dwyer, Brian Corry, Barry Dwyer; Paul Coughlan, Jamie Dwyer, Dan Dwyer

Subs: Sean O’Mahoney for Coughlan (h-t), John Kelly for Sheehan (55), Eamonn Kelly for Webb (58), Colm Sheehan for S Corry (59).

2011 – Effin (Limerick) 0-14 Ballyduff (Kerry) 0-11

EFFIN, LIMERICK: Danny O’Donoghue; John P. O’Donnell, Capt., John Dillon, Andrew Dillon; Michael O’Donnell, Nicky Quaid, Michael Rea; James O’Donnell, Patrick Carroll; Pierce O’Kelly, Damien Moloney, Conor Kearney; Tommy Quaid, Timmy Rea, Darren Sheehy

Subs: Enda Kelly for O’Kelly, Hugh O’Neill for Sheehy

2012 – Silvermines (Tipperary) 0-14 Ballyduff (Kerry) 0-8

SILVERMINES, TIPPERARY: Cathal Sherlock; Maurice Leamy, Brendan Timmons, Damien Boland; Dónal Keogh, Ronan Sherlock, Noel Quirke; Cathal Gleeson (Captain), Orrie Quirke; Willie Keogh, David Boland, Seán Quirke; Daniel Keogh, Jason Forde, David Keogh

Subs: Kevin Cuneen for Donal Keogh (27); Paudie Fogarty for Seán Quirke (40); Gary Tuohy for Daniel Keogh (56)