Sport

Ballygunner upset

Ballygunner defeated prematch favourites Blackrock of Cork in an absorbing semi-final before an attendance of 6,000 at Welsh …

Mon Nov 15 1999 - 00:00

Ballygunner defeated prematch favourites Blackrock of Cork in an absorbing semi-final before an attendance of 6,000 at Welsh Park yesterday. Magnificent defensive displays by Stephen Frampton and Fergal Hartley and some great point-scoring by Paul Flynn and Tony Carroll were the main planks of Ballygunner's victory although it has to be said that luck was also on their side at times.

First Blackrock lost their captain, full back Noel Keane, with an eye injury after only six minutes. Then midway through the second half, a bullet of a shot from Alan Cummins crashed back off the crossbar and finally, two minutes into injury-time, Alan Browne missed a glorious chance of equalising when he drove wide from just 10 metres. Despite that, however, Ballygunner fully deserved their victory.

Their fighting qualities were most in evidence during injury-time in the first half when they shot no fewer than four unanswered points to give themselves a 0-10 to 1-4 interval advantage. That was after a Sean Coakley goal, followed by a Barry Hennebry point, gave Blackrock the lead for the only time in the match.

Then when the visitors applied the pressure early in the second half and knocked over two quick points, the Ballygunner again showed their metal by hitting three points to Blackrock's two before the end of the third quarter. A marvellous Flynn point from a 90-metre free after 56 minutes seemed to indicate that it was to be Ballygunner's day and that was verified when Browne missed in the dying seconds.

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BALLYGUNNER: R Whitty, N O'Donnell, N Warren, R O'Sullivan, S Frampton, F Hartley, A Kirwan, T Fives, S Lyons, P Power, M Mahony (0-2), T Carroll (0-4), B O'Sullivan (0-1), P Flynn (0-9, 5 frees), D O'Sullivan (0-1). Sub: L Whitty for Power.

BLACKROCK: T Barry, W Sherlock, N Keane, J Browne, A Ryan, J Cashman (0-1, free), F Ryan, A Cummins, M Harrington, B Hennebry (0-2), L Meaney, A Coughlan (0-3, 2 frees), B O'Keeffe, A Browne (0-5, 3 frees, 1 `65'), S Coakley (1-0). Subs: G Murphy for Keane, J Smith for Meaney, N O'Leary for Coakley. Referee: W Barrett (Tipperary).