Robbie Hogan’s charges will have an opportunity to add a second O’Neill cup to their trophy cabinet after edging a tight encounter with St.Finbarr’s of Cork in the Munster Club Senior Hurling Semi-Final.
It was the visitors who were quickest of the mark in an electric opening ten minutes at Cusack Park with Ben Cunningham pointing twice in quick succession inside the opening five minutes before Ballyea responded in emphatic fashion.
First Niall Deasy converted a free, before a moment of déja vú in the County grounds saw Gary Brennan embark on trademark marauding run through a wall of blue jerseys before burying the ball in the back of the net at the Cloister end in an almost reconstruction of the goal scored in the same fixture against Thurles Sarsfields six years previous.
Upon concession of the goal a further blow was dealt to the St.Finbarr’s cause as Conor Cahalane was dealt a straight red card for a strike on Jack Browne just nine minutes into the contest.
The Barrs weathered the storm into the half time break however as despite a strong closing quarter from Ballyea which saw a Mossy Gavin brace complimented by points from Tony Kelly and Gearóid O’Connell, four first half points from sharp shooter Ben Cunningham in addition to a brace from wing back Ben O’Connor and a score from midfielder Ethan Twomey saw the minimum separating the sides at the break with Ballyea leading by 1-05 to 0-07.
The blow for blow encounter only accelerated on the restart as the sides continued to exchange the lead at vital junctures. Tony Kelly found his rhythm with two superb scores in open play from seemingly impossible angles before converting as many placed balls bringing his personal tally for the day to five points.
However Ben Cunningham once again led the charge for St.Finbarr’s in the second period tagging on additional five points to bring his personal tally to 0-9 and when substitute Brian Hayes scored an equalizer on sixty minutes, the sides seemed destined for extra time.
However new addition to the Clare Senior Hurling panel, Brandon O’Connell struck a monster point from the middle of the field in the final minute of additional time to ensure Ballyea would return to the Munster Club Hurling final.
As it finished in Cusack Park on a score line of Ballyea 1-12 to St.Finbarrs 0-14.
