Ballymartle emerged victorious in a thrilling PIHC encounter against Éire Óg at Ballinshassig on Saturday night.
Ryan Deasy’s exceptional free-taking and goalkeeper Darren McCarthy’s crucial saves proved vital for Ballymartle. Despite trailing by four at halftime, Éire Óg mounted a late comeback, with Cork footballer Colm O’Callaghan’s flick narrowly missing the post.
Brian Corry opened the scoring for Ballymartle with a fantastic point. However, Éire Óg’s Eoin O’Shea responded immediately with a long-range score. Ballymartle then took the lead when Brian Corry set up Eoghan Healy for a goal.
Kevin Hallissey scored a point from distance for Éire Óg. Ballymartle maintained possession and added points from a Ryan Deasy free and Simon Dorney.
Éire Óg fought back, and Mark Kelleher scored a goal after a pass from Johnny Galvin, reducing the deficit to a single point (1-4 to 1-3). Ballymartle responded with points from Cillian Lordan and another Deasy free.
Johnny Galvin scored a point for Éire Óg. Deasy then scored two more frees for Ballymartle, giving them a 1-10 to 1-6 lead at halftime.
After the restart, the teams traded scores before Luke O’Callaghan scored a great point for Ballymartle. The second half was a lower-scoring affair, but the intensity remained high as Ballymartle maintained their four-point advantage through the third quarter.
Eoin Ó Shea’s goal from a 20m free narrowed the gap to three points with 10 minutes left for Éire Óg. Soon after, Colm O’Callaghan’s goal attempt was denied by a save from Ballymartle’s Darren McCarthy.
Ballymartle were under pressure, but Ryan Deasy scored a much-needed free, and Rickard Cahalane added an inspirational point from distance. Éire Óg continued to push with Daniel Healy and Eoin O’Shea (a free) scoring to make it a two-point game.
In the final play, Colm O’Callaghan’s flick on a delivery from Johnny Galvin went just wide of the post.
R Deasy 0-7 (0-6 f), L O’Callaghan 0-4, E Healy 1-0, C Lordan, J Dwyer, D Casey, S Dorney, S Cummins, R Cahalane 0-1 each.
E O’Shea 1-7 (1-6 f, 0-1 ’65), M Kelleher 1-0, J Galvin 0-3, K Hallissey, D Healy 0-1 each.
D McCarthy; C Coleman, TJ Murphy, E O’Leary; J Dwyer, R Cahalane, S Corry; F Desmond, S Dorney; S Cummins, E Healy, R Deasy; C Lordan, B Corry, L O’Callaghan. P Geary for E Healy (45), D Desmond for S Cummins (50).
C Sheehan; C McGoldrick, M Brady, J Mullins; D Dineen, D McCarthy, D Herlihy; E O’Shea, L Considine; J Kelleher, J Galvin, D Casey; D Foley, M Kelleher, K Hallissey. C O’Callaghan for K Hallissey (h-t), D Healy for D Foley (h-t), D Clifford for L Considine (35).
W Wallis (Aghada).
