Bride Rovers 1-14 Na Piarsaigh 0-10 

Bride Rovers defeated Na Piarsaigh in a keenly contested Co-Op SuperStores SAHC clash at Riverstown on Friday night.Na Piarsaigh have started life in the second tier of Cork hurling with a defeat and the pressure is on them now if they want to qualify out of this group. The city club suffered relegation from the top flight last season as they aim to bounce straight back up but they were beaten by the better team in this first game of the championship. Bride Rovers will be happy with how the encounter played with a nice spread of scorers throughout the team. This was a very entertaining game of hurling between two teams expected to be in the shake-up when the business end of the championship comes around.Bride Rovers, semi-finalists in this grade last season, started better with a point after a minute from a long-range William Finnegan free, a splendid effort. The Rathcormac side had most of the possession early on and a point from an acute angle from Cork senior Brian Roche pushed Bride Rovers two points clear after five points.

Ronan O'Connell tries to get away from Na Piarsaigh's Cian Buckley, during their SAHC clash at Riverstown. Picture: David Keane.

Cork U20 player Ross O’Sullivan got Na Piarsaigh’s first score after six minutes courtesy of a white flag only for Bride Rovers to go down the other end of the pitch and split the posts through Ronan O’Connell. The momentum was with the Imokilly side and a point from Conleith Ryan pushed their advantage out to three points after 13 minutes.

A pair of Craig Hanifin frees reduced the margin down to a point before a Finnegan free gave Rovers a two-point cushion. Wayward shooting let the black and amber down especially in the opening 30 minutes. The sides traded points until Rovers hit over two quick-fire white flags to push 0-8 to 0-4 clear after 24 minutes of action.

Brian Roche gets his pass away under pressure from Na Piarsaigh's Danny Gunning, during their SAHC clash at Riverstown 

Patrick Rourke reduced the contest down to a one-score game, the full-forwards effort hit the top of the crossbar and went over the bar. Finnegan converted another free for Bride Rovers before Hanifin pointed an easy free right on the stroke of half-time to leave just a goal between the sides, 0-9 to 0-6 at half-time. On the resumption, Na Piarsaigh, who have former Cork stars John Gardiner and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín part of the management team, came out a different side in the new half, as they had much more urgency in their play in the early stages. Keith Buckley raised a white flag 20 seconds into the second half. The sides exchanged white flags before Finnegan pushed the Rathcormac outfit three points clear after 38 minutes, 0-11 to 0-8.

The game tipped along as weather conditions deteriorated with Bride Rovers ahead by 0-12 to 0-9 with 15 minutes remaining as the scores dried up with Na Piarsaigh's shooting below par. O’Sullivan converted a free for Na Piarsaigh to leave just two points in it with eight minutes remaining. 

The crucial score came with four minutes to go when Daniel Dooley scored a close-range goal and the latter sent over a point a minute later, 1-13 to 0-10. A Finnegan free put the icing on the cake in injury time. 

Both teams are out again next Saturday at 7.30pm, Bride Rovers meet Killeagh in Midleton while Na Piarsaigh and Inniscarra clash in Ballincollig.

Scorers for Bride Rovers: W Finnegan0-7 f, D Dooley 1-1, R O’Connell, B Roche 0-2 each, C Ryan, C Tobin 0-1 each. 

Na Piarsaigh: C Hanifin 0-5 f, R O’Sullivan 0-2 (0-1 f), K Buckley, D Connery (f), P Rourke 0-1 each.

BRIDE ROVERS: C Hogan; T O’Sullivan, D Cashman, C Hazelwood; K Kearney, E Roche, S O’Connor; B Roche, J Mannix; C Ryan, R O’Connell, D Dooley; C Tobin, W Finnegan, J Ahern. Sub: P O’Flynn for T O’Sullivan (51).

NA PIARSAIGH: A Hogan; A Dennehy, E Gunning, P Murphy; G Joyce, D Connery, C Buckley; D Gunning, E Moynihan; K Forde, S Forde, R O’Sullivan; K Buckley, P Rourke, C Hanifin. Subs: E Sheehan for K Forde (h-t), K Moynihan for P Rourke (47), L Sheehan for C Hanifin (49), C Dower for R O’Sullivan (55).

Referee: David Copps (Ballyhea).

Match Report courtesy of Echo Online...

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