Fr O'Neills make light of missing aces to advance to Senior final 

“The character of this team knows no bounds", says manager Robert Dalton

Fr O'Neills make light of missing aces to advance to Senior final 

Cork SAHC semi-final: Fr O’Neills 1-19 Bride Rovers 1-15

A 13-point haul by Kevin O’Sullivan helped Fr O’Neill’s book their place in the final of Cork's Senior A Hurling Championship with a merited win over Bride Rovers at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

In a game dominated by frees, Fr O’Neill’s - without Declan Dalton, Ger Millerick and Liam O’Driscoll - produced a battling performance that will give them great heart going into next week’s final against Kanturk.

It only took two minutes for Fr O’Neill’s to get up and running when Kevin O’Sullivan split the uprights following a free after Cillian Broderick was fouled on route to goal. The Rathcormac side responded in style and consecutive William Finnegan points from frees edged them ahead in the fifth minute.

The opening exchanges were all about soft frees but a classy Shane O’Connor point in the ninth minute extended Bride Rovers lead 0-4 to 0-2.

Fr O’Neill’s full forward Jason Hankard caught a high ball in the 17th minute before assisting a pass to Billy Dunne who flicked to the in rushing Padraig McMahon who should have done better but he did manage to raise a white flag.

The Ballymacoda side trailed 0-6 to 0-5 in the 18th minute but they levelled proceedings with a superb Cillian Broderick point.

O’Sullivan’s fourth point from placed balls edged O’Neill’s ahead two minutes later and the east Cork side surged further clear in the 24th minute with a quality goal.

A high ball into the square was doubled on by full forward Jason Hankard as Fr O’Neill’s now looked in ascendancy.

Three consecutive O’Neill’s points and suddenly Bride Rivers were trailing 1-10 to 0-6.

Bride Rovers' 15-minute drought finally ended in the final minute when Finnegan struck over a free and when the same player added two more in added time it ensured they went in at the break trailing 1-11 to 0-9.

Rovers came out firing for the second half and consecutive points from Daniel Dooley and Finnegan gave them the perfect start.

It took eight minutes for O’Neill’s to register their opening point of the half courtesy of Sullivan’s ninth point from placed balls and he added his tenth in the 43rd minute.

On the rare occasions that Bride threatened the Fr O’Neill’s defence, the outstanding displays of full back Sean O’Connor and Mark O’Keeffe dampened their enthusiasm with some robust defending.

In a game where the Bride Rovers discipline let them down Kevin O’Sullivan punished them with 11 points from frees over the hour.

After going 18 minutes without a score Rovers were given a ray of hope with six minutes remaining. Cian O’Connor latched on to a loose ball before unleashing an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net and when the same player drilled over a point a minute later the deficit was reduced to three points 1-15 to 1-12.

When the going got tough the tough got going as Fr O’Neill’s produced four quality points from play.

A Paddy McMahon point in the 62nd minute was sheer class that was followed by a Kevin O’Sullivan white flag.

Fr O’Neill’s manager Robert Dalton was naturally delighted with his team's battling display.

“The character of this team knows no bounds and now we will need to regroup as we know Kanturk will be very difficult opponents in the final.” Scorers for Fr O’Neill’s: K O’Sullivan (0-13, 10f, 2 65s), J Hankard (1-1), P McMahon (0-2), C Broderick, B Dunne, Joe Millerick (0-1 each).

Scorers for Bride Rovers: W Finnegan (0-9, frees), C O’Connor (1-1), M Collins (0-2), S O’Connor, K Kearney, D Dooley (0-1 each).

FR O’NEILL’S: C Sloane; M Millerick, S O’Connor, E Motherway; J Millerick, M O’Keeffe, T Millerick; D Harrington, John Millerick; R Cullinane, P McMahon, K O’Sullivan; C Broderick, J Hankard, B Dunne. Subs: R Kenneally for E Motherway (64).

BRIDE ROVERS: C Hogan; T O’Sullivan, J Pratt, J Mannix; P O’Flynn, E Roche, S O’Connor; R Prendergast, C O’Connor; D Dooley, Jason Mannix, W Finnegan; M Collins, B Roche, D J Cahill. Subs: K Kearney for D J Cahill (39), S Walsh for J Mannix (52), S Knox for D Dooley (62).

Referee: Ciaran O’Regan (Ballyhea).