Imokilly dominate Blackrock to seal return to Cork hurling showpiece

Ahead on the scoreboard from pillar to post, the east Cork division dominated from the off having opened up a 12-point lead at one stage in the second quarter, their leading scorer Jack Leahy (1-8) responsible for an early goal that set them on their way, as they turned eight points in front.

Blackrock hit back to come within three. However, after they scored three goals in every championship match thus far, the key to Imokilly’s success was their tenacity in this area of the field Incredibly, the Rockies only registered one point from play in the opening half from Robbie Cotter.

And before any sliotar was thrown in, Imokilly enjoyed another slice of good fortune when a number of their players were relieved of club duty on Saturday due to the Status Orange weather warning.

Blackrock made one change from the side that beat Kanturk in the quarter-final with Ollie McAdoo (hand injury) replaced by the fit again Stephen Murphy, while also opting to keep Tadgh Deasy as an impact sub.

Imokilly, meanwhile, welcomed back their captain and defender Ciarán O’Brien, who missed their win over Fr O’Neill’s due to injury and he replaced Mike McGrath.

There was also a fascinating duel between Alan Connolly and his inter-county teammate Ciarán Joyce.

The winners couldn’t have asked for a better start, or indeed, a better first-half, when Jack Leahy raised a white flag from a placed ball in the first minute. The same player doubled his tally 60 seconds later.

When Leahy again, the attack started by Seán Desmond, goaled Denis Ring’s charges went 1-5 to 0-1 up.

With the Imokilly defence averting any threats that came their way, their forwards capitalised, and another run of six unanswered points placed them into a commanding lead, among them two from half-back Dáire O’Leary, 1-11 to 0-2.

The sides swapped a brace before the Rockies started to make some sort of headway.

Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong for Blackrock, whose first point from play didn’t arrive until Robbie Cotter in the 26th minute, after their forward unit had been uncharacteristically off target all too often. They overhit passes, struck the woodwork, but appeared to settle after Cotter’s flag. Alan Connolly struck three frees up to that juncture.

Gavin Connolly did brilliantly as well to save twice, first from Seán Desmond and then Jack Leahy.

The Church Road club were thrown a lifeline in stoppage when Cotter was fouled, the resultant penalty buried by Alan Connolly to leave the score at the break, 1-13 to 1-5.

Blackrock set about reducing the deficit straight from the restart when they nailed seven points to Imokilly’s two - Peter Linehan got the ball rolling while Robbie Cotter was in the thick of the action.

By the 40th minute, the contest was wide open, 1-15 to 1-12.

Crucially though, Imokilly always had an answer. Séamus Harnedy and Brian Lawton among those able to restore their advantage.

With 10 minutes to go, the three-point margin remained, 1-20 to 1-17.

From there to the end, Imokilly were able to deal with what came their way. Nine points to three they outscored their opponents.

After getting past this formidable challenge, they await the winners of the second semi-final between holders Sarsfields and Midleton.

Scorers for Imokilly: J Leahy (1-8, 0-4 frees), Brian Lawton (0-5), S Harnedy (0-4), D Healy, E Davis (frees) and D O’Leary (0-2 each), S Hegarty, B Cooper, A Murphy, S Desmond, D O’Brien and M Kelly (0-1 each).

Scorers for Blackrock: A Connolly (1-9, 1-0 pen, 0-7 frees), R Cotter (0-4), R Sweeney 0-2, T Deasy, G Connolly (free), P Linehan, K O’Keeffe and S O’Keeffe (0-1 each).

IMOKILLY: E Davis (St Catherine’s); T Wilk (Cobh), M Russell (Aghada), C O’Brien (St Ita’s, Capt); D O’Leary (Watergrasshill), C Joyce (Castlemartyr), J Cronin (Lisgoold); S Hegarty (Dungourney), B Cooper (Youghal); S Harnedy (St Ita’s), D Healy (Lisgoold), Brian Lawton (Castlemartyr); A Murphy (Watergrasshill), S Desmond (Watergrasshill), J Leahy (Dungourney).

Subs: K O’Neill (Watergrasshill) for M Russell (39), M Kelly (Castlemartyr) for A Murphy (43), D O’Brien (St Ita’s) for D Healy (58), L O’Shea (Lisgoold) for S Desmond (61).

BLACKROCK: G Connolly; D Meaney, J Cashman, A O’Callaghan; Cathal Cormack (Capt), M O’Keeffe, N Cashman; D O’Farrell, S Murphy; P Linehan, Ciarán Cormack, K O’Keeffe; A Connolly, F Coleman, R Cotter.

Subs: T Deasy for N Cashman (39), R Sweeney for D O’Farrell (44), S O’Keeffe for M O’Keeffe (54), J O’Sullivan for Ciarán Cormack (56).

Referee: Colm Lyons (Nemo Rangers).