UCC lost by one point to Bank of New York in the Junior B Hurling Championship Final played under lights in the Mardyke on Wednesday night. Deep in stoppage time UCC led by two points but a ground shot following a 65 that was dropped into the square saw Bank of New York score a match-winning goal. The final whistle blew before the puck out could be taken.
UCC started the game very poorly and in truth were lucky to be only four points down at half time. BNY were completely on top for the opening period but some wayward shooting meant they were only three points to the good after 12 minutes. UCC finally got off the mark with a well taken Mike Wilkinson point but BNY were completely outplaying the UCC midfield and half back line.
BNY struggled to make use of their possession but added on two more points to open up a four point lead. UCC then had two great goal opportunities in quick succession but failed to take advantage of either. Wilkinson apart, a lack of a credible threat upfront was limiting UCC's chances. Wilkinson added a second point and Gerard McGlacken worked hard to knock over a fine point.
Bob Dunphy, Rory Rice and Denis Murphy were under constant pressure in the UCC full back line and their efforts kept UCC in the game. BNY had the lion's share of possession but a tendency to over-elaborate and some ill-chosen shots cost them on the scoreboard. At the half time whistle the score was 0-08 to 0-04.
During the break UCC introduced Eanna Martin on the 40' and moved McGlacken to full forward. Following the restart UCC were a transformed team with overall workrate and effort levels far higher than in the first half. Martin, along with Ronan Spillane and Colm O'Connell on the wings finally began to make inroads on the BNY half back line.
UCC shot over quick points from Spillane and Wilkinson. These were added to with a well worked goal from Eanna Martin following a strong run through the middle. UCC had now wiped out BNY's half time advantage but BNY responded with some good points of their own to restore a two point lead. Soon afterwards Ger McGlacken pounced on a loose ball and crashed a brilliant first time shot to the net for UCC's second goal. UCC could have built on this but some gilt-edged goal chances were squandered.
A high ball to the UCC goal mouth was forced over the line into the net to get BNY back into the game. The melee that led to the goal saw UCC full back Rory Rice suffer a nasty belt to the knee and following a lengthy delay he had to leave the field.
However following a quick dash of water and a rub of an ice pack Rice re-entered the fray and manned the centre forward position. He had an immediate impact and crashed over a great point. UCC were well on top at this stage and responded well to the BNY goal. Further points were added by Spillane and Wilkinson. Eanna Martin complemented these with a couple of fine frees with BNY's response limited to a couple of points.
Entering added time UCC were one point ahead. Substitute Niall Morrisey hit over an excellent point and UCC were now seemingly headed for victory. A late goalbound effort from BNY was deflected out for over the endline. For the resultant 65 the packed goalmouth seemed inpenetrable but somehow a tame ground shot from BNY found its way over the line for the winning goal. This put BNY into a 2-13 to 2-12 lead and the final whistle was blown before play could be restarted.
Losing to a last minute goal is obviously disappointing but following a poor first half UCC were lucky to be only four points behind. Even when UCC were on top in the second half BNY managed to keep in touch and it was this resiliance that left them in position to benefit from the last minute goal.
Since being reformed in 2004 this was UCC's 16th final in Interfirm competitions. From those 16 final appearances UCC have garnered five victories (and one walkover). UCC have one remaining chance for silverware with the Murphy Cup Football Final against South West Energy Services on Monday night.
Team: 1. Seamus Cronin 2. Robert Dunphy 3. Rory Rice (0-02) 4. Denis Murphy 5. John Eakins 6. Donnacha Carr 7. Robert Phelan 8. Mike Fitzgerald 9. Gavin Sullivan 10. Ronan Spillane (0-01) 11. Ger McGlacken (1-01) 12. Colm O'Connell 13. Peter Neary 14. Seamus Coffey 15. Mike Wilkinson (0-04, 1f). Subs. Eanna Martin (1-03, 2f), Conor Lonergan, Donagh O'Mahony, Niall Morrissey (0-01), Brian McGann.
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