Last Tuesday night Fermoy Minor Hurlers came out as the victors in the Premier 2A County Hurling Championship over Carrigtwohill. An incredible end to the championship for these lads who’d been so heavily involved in the U21 campaign. The evening in hand was wet but more so windy with a strong gale blowing down the field towards the clubhouse. With all the preparation and training coming down to these last 60 minutes, it was all or nothing for both teams. In the previous encounter, Carrigtwohill came away as victors but Fermoy had to right that result in the Final. Fermoy went in to the toss hoping to play against it in the opening half but Carrigtwohill got the choice and opted to go against it.

Fermoy set the tone of the game from the off with 3 points in the opening few minutes only to be replied with a goal from a goal mouth scramble that saw the ball past John Wales in goal. Credit to Fermoys defence and Wales in goal Carrigtwohill wouldn’t score again for the remained of the half, Luke Aherne led in tenacious play and even a score from corner back with Greg Lardner, Jack Scannell and James Molloy all followed suit. The fullback line remained hard hitting and didn’t give a hit of any sort to the Carrigtwohill forwards. With the backs dominating and the wind making Carrigtwohills progress harder our forwards started hitting form and great points from Dale Dawson, David Lardner and captain Shane O’Keeffe stretched the lead. The conditions showed when a placed ball from David Lardner managed to find the back of the net with a low strike from a big distance out. At the half Fermoy led 1-11 to 1-0. Fermoy had been in this position before in the winner round earlier in the year and Carrigtwohill dug it out and come out on top, this time Fermoy had a different agenda.

Carrigtwohill now had the strong wind so there would be a change in tactics from Fermoy, dropping an extra man in defence to deal with the added pressure. From the restart, Carrigtwohill pointed 4 through their danger man Gosnell whom Scannell had been keeping quite. Fermoy also moved some of the stronger runners and ball winners into the middle to the keep Carrigtwohill from gaining a foothold. Dawson, Adam Creed, Colm Hurley and Nathan Collins got through the world of work and contained threats. Against the wind Fermoy were forced to run the ball and Fermoys Man of the Match, Sean McCarthy was the man in defence who was the leading star in the defensive unit. Under high ball he commanded and was the launch pad for a lot of the counter attacks in which we were rewarded with on the 45th minute when Dawson outpaced the defence and buried the ball beyond the keeper. The East Cork side landed a point straight after the goal leaving the score at 1-5 to 2-11. The final 10 minutes went up a gear when Carrigtwohill piled on the pressure and needed goals at the stage to eat into the 10-point lead. With 2 points from the East Cork side in regulation time again Sean McCarthy and co defended the goal but even managed to counter and Shane O’Keeffe fired home for Fermoys third goal, and a securing point to seal the deal and crown Fermoy P2A County Champions to the tune of 3-13 to 1-7. As the final whistle blew, the panel, supporters, families and management flooded on to the pitch to congratulate all the players. Shane O’Keeffe collected the P2A cup from Jerry Walsh, vice-chairman of Rebel Og and Sean McCarthy was presented as Man of the Match. Huge congratulations must go out to all these players as they have stuck together from a very young age and this may be the defining moment in some of the hurling careers as not many other players within the club have the same feats. The minors will now look to a possible league dominance and focus will shift to the Premier 2 Football championship now, so there are still many days out left for these lads. The team that lined out for the final: J Wales, J Ennis, R Sargent, L Aherne, J Molloy, J Scannell, S McCarthy, G Lardner, N Collins, A Creed, C Hurley, D Dawson, D O’Callaghan, D Lardner and S O’Keeffe(Capt).