Seamus Harnedy and Darragh O'Brien shine as 14-man St Ita’s pip Bride Rovers in instant classic..

St Ita’s 3-20 Bride Rovers 1-25      Echo Reporter Jonathan O Connell

St Ita's will face Carraig na bhFear in the East Cork Oil JAHC semi-final after an epic battle with Bride Rovers at Castlelyons.  It was truly a remarkable game of hurling, as Ita's survived despite losing Michael Lillis to a red card early in the second half, thanks in no small part to star forwards Darragh O'Brien and Seamus Harnedy, who combined for 3-11.

Bride Rovers' second team put in a massive shift, led by top-scorer Conor Barry, with Shaun Knox and Cian O'Connor also landing some great points. After a lively opening quarter saw Conor Barry and Cillian Barry, with a sideline, splitting the posts for Bride, and Darragh O'Brien and Harry Condon to the fore for Ita's, O'Brien's first goal made it 1-4 to 0-4.

Eoghan Hegarty, Daniel Hickey and O'Brien all raised white flags but Bride hit six without reply to go 0-11 to 1-7 up. Condon got his third point from play before a green flag from the outstanding Barry. That was cancelled out by O'Brien's second goal and by half-time Ita's were 2-12 to 1-12 in front, after outscoring Bride four points to one through Harnedy and O’Brien (3).The game resumed with St Ita's third goal within 30 seconds when Harrnedy powered through the Bride Rovers defense and you knew what was coming. Bang and the sliotar into  the back of the net. 

Harnedy and O’Brien were excellent for Ita's during the third quarter, the Cork hurler contributing three points during this period. However, with an extra man, Bride produced a stirring comeback to draw level, 1-25 to 3-19, as Knox, Barry and O'Connor landed scores from a variety of angles. The Gortroe side were under severe pressure after coughing up a substantial lead but O'Brien had the last word as he brought his tally to 2-7 to secure a semi-final spot by the narrowest of margins after a classic.

Scorers for St Ita's: D O'Brien 2-7 (2-2 f), S Harnedy 1-4, H Condon 0-3, E Hegarty, D Hickey 0-2 each, D O'Rourke, C Deane 0-1 each.

Bride Rovers: Conor Barry 1-10 (0-2 f), C O'Connor 0-5, S Knox 0-4, M Collins, C Barry (0-1 sl) 0-2 each, E Cashman, O Kielty 0-1 each.

ST ITA'S: P O'Brien; B McCarthy, M Lillis, T McCarthy; M Doherty, M O’Brien, B O'Neil; C Deane, D O'Rourke; H Condon, D O'Brien, S Harnedy; D Doherty, E Hegarty, D Hickey. Subs: G Coleman for T McCarthy, E Loughlin for E Hegarty.

BRIDE ROVERS: D Dooley; O Roche, L Collins, E O'Connor; O Kielty, W Finnegan, A Hynes; S Ahern, Conor Barry; Cillian Barry, D Buckley, S Knox; C O'Connor, J Mannix, B Knox. Subs: E Cashman for B Knox (bs), M Collins for Cillian Barry.

Referee: C McAllister (Aghada).