Cork SHC Final/ Erin's Own 1-11 Newtownshandrum 1-7:Erin's Own created their own slice of history by successfully defending their Cork senior hurling championship crown for the first time at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.
It was their third success, adding to victories of 1992 and 2006, but Newtown's lacklustre display must rank one of their worst in recent years and they never looked like a side who were raging hot favourites to lift their fourth title.
Newtown's gamble of starting Cork senior Jerry O'Connor backfired very early on as he succumbed to the hamstring injury which cast doubt on his participation. Lining out at midfield, O'Connor lasted just 11 minutes before he limped off.
The north Cork side struggled to a 0-4 to 0-3 interval lead at the end of a tedious opening half, during which the teams were level three times, but it was the defensive approach by both teams which provided the main talking point.
Erin's Own's best hope of retaining their title was on winning a low-scoring game and they set up their side to frustrate Newtown's running style, withdrawing players from their attack to flood midfield.
A crowd of 13,339 waited for fireworks on the resumption, but sadly the fare continued to be low-key and void of atmosphere, though Erin's Own's bright start to the second half ultimately laid the foundations for victory.
They returned fully charged and set about laying claim to the title by scoring three unanswered points inside the opening four minutes, with Mark O'Connor scoring twice either side of Eoghan Murphy's first from a free.
This enabled Erin's Own enjoy the lead for the first time, a role they wouldn't relinquish and one that was embellished by Colm Coakley's opportunist goal after 41 minutes.
Newtown's prospects weren't helped by a weak attack, underlined by the statistic that Ben O'Connor accounted for all his side's second-half scoring - 1-3 - all from frees.
Erin's Own added to Coakley's goal with three Murphy frees and you sensed it was going to their day when midfielder Seán Kelly pointed gloriously from the right touchline to open up a 1-10 to 0-6 advantage.
Newtown rallied to place some semblance of respectability on the scoreboard, but O'Connor's goal from a close-range free came in the fourth minute of injury-time, too late to affect the outcome.
ERIN'S OWN: S Bowen; P Fenton, P Fitzgerald, S Murphy; S Cronin, P Kelly, B Clifford; C O'Connor, K Murphy (capt, 0-1); S Kelly (0-1), R Carroll, M Murphy; E Murphy (0-5, frees), M O'Connor (0-2), C Coakley (1-2). Sub: I Quinlan for Carroll (28 mins).
NEWTOWNSHANDRUM: P Morrissey; J O'Mahony, B Mulcahy, D Gleeson; PJ Copse, P Mulcahy, P Noonan, captain; AT O'Brien (0-1), Jerry O'Connor; J Bowles, B O'Connor (1-3, frees), JP King; C Naughton (0-1), R Clifford, John O'Connor (0-1). Subs: S Riordan (0-1)for Jerry O'Connor (inj, 11 mins), M Bowles for John O'Connor (36 mins), J Herlihy for O'Brien (38 mins), S Moran for King (47 mins), G O'Mahony for Clifford (51 mins).
Referee: D Kirwan(Cork).
