06/09/2026
On Saturday Sept 5th at 6.15pm , Clonakilty Hurlers played their final group match in the Carbery GAA Jnr A Hurling Championship v Bandon in Dunmanway in wet conditions. This was a must win game for Clon to progress to the quarterfinals. Clon started brightly and Brian White was on the scoreboard with a pt after 30 seconds. Within a minute Brian had another pt after a great pass by Eoghan Deasy. Unfortunately Bandon got a soft goal in the 2nd minute. Immediately afterwards Fionn McCarthy almost replied with a goal but the flick went barely wide. Bandon scored a pt in minute 4 to leave the score 0.2 to 1.1. In minute 5, Clon had to make an enforced change. Eoin Ryan pulled up with a groin strain to be replaced by Sean McEvoy making a welcome return to the Clon hurling team. Kevin Cormican set up David Lowney for a nice pt but Bandon replied straight from the puck out. 0.3 to 1.2 now. David L scored a beauty after a fine catch and run a minute later. Mark White made a crucial save from a near certain goal chance for Bandon and Clon scored a pt from a free by Brian after a foul on Matt Murphy from the resulting clearance. Level after 11 mins. Bandon scored another goal 2 mins later but a lovely Sean McEvoy score and a Brian free left the minimum between the teams again by the 18th min. However Bandon scored the next 2 points. 0.7 to 2.4 after 22mins. Chris Kenneally was fouled and Brian scored the free. 0.8 to 2.4 after 24 mins. Oisin Hassett came on for Kevin Cormican after 25 mins. Bandon then scored a pt but Matt Murphy replied after great interplay between Eoin McCormack and Jack. Clon were well in the game now but unfortunately just as they looked as they were going to kick on, Clon hit 3 poor wides and Bandon then hit a purple patch. They scored 1.3 without reply in the last 5 minutes of the half. David L broke through in the last minute of the half but his shot was saved. Brian scored the resulting 65 to leave the halftime score at 0.10 to 3.8 to Bandon. Things looked grim for Clon. Brian White was injured and had to come off at ht and was replaced by David O’Sullivan. Shane Deasy also came on for Fionn McCarthy. It was a Clon team with a different attitude that came out strongly at the start of the 2nd half. The work rate around the middle improved dramatically. It took a while for Clon to get on the scoreboard but quick fire points in min 35 by Chris and a free by Jack on 36 had Clon back within 5 pts. In the 37th minute, Oisin Hassett scored a beauty after great work by Cillian White. Clon’s backline including Cian O’Donovan, Niall Barrett, Shane Deasy, Ciaran Crowley and David O’Sullivan were totally dominant at this stage of proceedings. Bandon did finally rally and scored 2 of the next 3 pts. Sandwiched in between was one of the scores of the day by young Cillian White. After 42 mins it was 0.14 to 3.10 to Bandon. Tim McCarthy, recently recovered from injury came on for Matt in the 43rd min. Clon, driven on by the outstanding Eoin McCormack launched attack after attack for the remainder of the game. David Lowney scored 2 wonderful points in the next 5 mins. Gap now down to 3. Clon missed a few chances but they never gave up and a lovely pt by Tim was followed by another from the duracell battery Chris. 5 to go. 1 point down. However the Bandon keeper made a great save to keep out a flick by Tim on 57 mins. Bandon got a free on the 58th minute to pull 2 clear again. Try and try as Clon did they just couldn’t get the goal they needed. The ref blew up the contest and Clon were left to rue the day. A brilliant 2nd half performance of pure grit and determination and no little skill in testing conditions just came up short. Final score Clon 0.18 Bandon 3.11. This group of players gave so much to Clon this year and brought silverware back to the Club by winning the League in an unbeaten campaign. Disappointingly the Championship didn’t work out as they would have liked. The Club owes a debt to the players and the excellent management team of Seamus, Brian, Liam and Sean. They were ably assisted by Conan and Eve. Scorers on the night were:
B White 0.6 (2f and 1 65), D Lowney 0.4, C. Kenneally 0.2, S McEvoy, M Murphy, J O’Mahony, O Hassett, C White and T McCarthy 0.1 each. 9 different scorers.
Team was M White, N Barrett, C O’Donovan, C. Crowley, E McCormack, E Deasy, C. White, J O’Mahony, D Lowney, E Ryan, C Kenneally, B White, K Cormican, F McCarthy, M Murphy. Subs that played were S McEvoy, D O’Sullivan, S. Deasy, O Hassett and T McCarthy.
