Cork SHC Final: Glen win thriller

Cork SHC Final

St Finbarr’s 0-23

By Jack McKay at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Champions of Cork once again, and a first title achieved since 2016 for Glen Rovers.

The northsiders put up an excellent second-half performance, as Eoin O’Leary struck for the two goals to see the Glen bring down their city rivals St Finbarr’s.

A total of 19,041 flocked to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh to watch the first Cork Senior Hurling Championship final between these two since 1988, and it didn’t disappoint.

Despite exerting greater control over their opponents in the opening period, Glen Rovers would find themselves trail at the break, after the Barrs hit four on the bounce to move two ahead at the interval, 0-12 to 0-10.

On the restart, Glen Rovers roared back and would not be caught. A couple of frees from Patrick Horgan – who was superb – had the teams level again, and in the 37th minute they found clearance.

A long ball in was misjudged by Seán Daly and O’Leary ghosted in behind to gather, and despite the best efforts of Ciarán Doolan to put him off balance, O’Leary batted home from close range to leave the northsiders 1-12 to 0-12 clear.

The Barrs fought on throughout the third and fourth quarters, Ethan Twomey in particular growing in influence. He would finish with five points from play in the second-half, but they could never draw level with their opponents, hovering between two and three behind.

The Glen were still two ahead with 55 minutes gone, right before O’Leary got the clinching goal. Rhys Dunne gathered possession and O’Leary was left unmarked right in front of goal, and Dunne popped the pass over the top to O’Leary, who made no mistake, 2-18 to 0-19.

From there a Barrs comeback would only materialise if they could conjure a green flag, and they fought so hard for it. But, each time they tacked on efforts, the Glen would find a response. The northsiders remained five in front going into added time.

Rickey Barrett and Ethan Twomey struck points to leave three in it, and they almost had that goal chance when Twomey fired a long ball in that broke kindly for William Buckley, but Cathal Hickey came out to meet Buckley before he could get his shot off, and the Barrs’ calls for a penalty were ignored.

With that moment, the Glen had it. The pitch was duly invaded by supporters and the celebrations ensued.

But how unthinkable this all looked just three years ago when they were relegated from Cork’s top flight.

The first half had been fiercely contested, the teams never separated by more than a goal. The Glen had started well to move in front early, and they maintained that advantage as Robert Downey had starved his inter-county teammate Brian Hayes of possession for almost the entirety of the opening half.

When Hayes finally did break free he was lethal, scoring three points in the 10 minutes before the break and assisting Sam Cunningham for the fourth on the bounce that left them two up.

However, they failed to build on that momentum in the second half and once the Glen re-established their advantage, they would not be caught.

Scorers for Glen Rovers: Patrick Horgan 0-11 (8fs), Eoin O’Leary 2-2, Rhys Dunne 0-3, Dean Brosnan 0-2, Micheál Mullins, Simon Kennefick 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: Ben Cunningham 0-6 (5fs), Ethan Twomey 0-5, William Buckley, Brian Hayes 0-3 each, Sam Cunningham 0-2, Ciarán Doolan, Cian Walsh, Aidan Barry, Rickey Barrett 0-1 each.

Glen Rovers: Cathal Hickey; Adam Lynch, Robert Downey, Eoin Varian; Luke Horgan, Eoin Downey, Liam Coughlan; Rhys Dunne, Conor McCarthy; Dean Brosnan, Micheál Mullins, Lee Quilligan; Simon Kennefick, Patrick Horgan, Eoin O’Leary.

Subs: Brian Moylan for Quilligan (37), Dave Noonan for McCarthy (55), Adam O’Donovan for Dunne (60).

St Finbarr’s: Shane Hurley; Seán Daly, Damien Cahalane, Jamie Burns; Eoghan Finn, Ciarán Doolan, Conor Cahalane; Cian Walsh, Ethan Twomey; John Wigginton-Barrett, Ben Cunningham, Jack O’Kelly; Sam Cunningham, Brian Hayes, William Buckley.

Subs: Aidan Barry for Walsh (37), Jack Cahalane for O’Kelly (38), Rickey Barrett for S Cunningham (53).

Referee: Wayne King (Banteer).