O’Donovan’s goal seals the deal for Belgooly
- Tara Maher
- Oct 28
- 2 min read
It was experience that triumphed youth at the procure.ie South East Hurling Final as Belgooly got the better of Kinsale in a thrilling final.
Playing an open, attacking brand of hurling, Belgooly surged into a commanding lead before half-time, while Kinsale were largely reliant on frees from the accurate Michael Murphy.
Ryan Long opened the scoring for Belgooly inside two minutes, before Murphy got Kinsale off the mark with a pointed free in the fifth minute. Belgooly then seized control as Conor O’Donovan struck twice, followed by points from Gearóid O’Riordan, Jamie Dwyer, and Eoin O’Donovan. Barry Dwyer added Belgooly’s first free to make it 0-7 to 0-1.
Kinsale’s James Murphy responded with their first score from play, but Belgooly remained on top. Eddie Corkery and Kinsale’s Conor McCarthy traded points before Ryan Long extended the lead. However, a series of fouls allowed Murphy to punish Belgooly from placed balls, converting three frees to narrow the gap to three.
Belgooly hit back strongly, Barry Dwyer added two points including a free and Mark Kenny chipped in another to restore a six-point cushion at 0-12 to 0-6. Kinsale rallied with four points to Belgooly’s three, including two from Murphy including one free and scores from James Murphy and Timmy Broderick. Belgooly’s replies came via Eoin O’Donovan, Jamie Dwyer, and Conor O’Donovan.
The key moment came on the stroke of half-time when Tom O’Donovan’s long-range effort, launched from a puck-out, found the net to give Belgooly a commanding 1-15 to 0-10 advantage at the break.
The second half proved more evenly balanced. Murphy continued to shine for Kinsale, notching three points including another free, while O’Riordan, Dwyer, and O’Donovan kept Belgooly comfortably in front. As the clock ran down, Murphy added three more for Kinsale — two from placed balls — but Barry Dwyer matched him with a pair of frees.
Late points from Eric Lynch and Conor O’Donovan sealed the win for Belgooly, who led by ten as Murphy struck a consolation goal from a 20-metre free deep into stoppage time.
Belgooly were crowned champions at full-time with captain Eoin O’Donovan claiming the man of the match award.
They now face Muskerry champions Ballinora in the County Championship.
Scorers for Belgooly: B Dwyer 0-5 (0-4 f), C O’Sullivan 0-4, G O’Riordan, J Dwyer, E O’Donovan 0-3 each, T O’Donovan 1-0, R Long 0-2, E Corkery, M Kenny, E Lynch, K Fitzgerald 0-1 each.
Kinsale: M Murphy 1-12 (1-8 f), J Murphy 0-3, C McCarthy, T Broderick 0-1 each.
BELGOOLY: R Dwyer; J O’Sullivan, T O’Donovan, N O’Sullivan; R Reynolds, G O’Riordan, C O’Sullivan; S Kiely, C O’Donovan; E Corkery, E O’Donovan, B Dwyer; R Long, M Kenny, J Dwyer.
Subs: K Fitzgerald for Kenny (39), E Lynch for Corkery (51), Corkery for B Dwyer (60).
KINSALE: T O’Callaghan; S Aherne, N McCarthy, B Coughlan; K O’Rourke, K O’Callaghan, D Nolan; D O’Leary, J Murphy; C McCarthy, B O’Neill, G Kearney; N Ryan, M Murphy, T Broderick.
Subs: C Fitzpatrick for Broderick (46), C Fitzpatrick for Coughlan (48), D Coughlan for Ryan (53, inj), H Sheehan for Nolan (58, inj).
Referee: Brian Sweeney (Shamrocks).
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When a team wins a regional championship, the instinct is to assume they’ll steamroll everyone after that. But emotionally high wins can be a trap for bettors — next match can actually dip because guys are drained, a little satisfied, maybe not fully locked in. Instead of just betting them to dominate again, I’ll sometimes look at cautious totals, like under on opponent scoring or even a tight handicap. That’s the kind of market I check through the 1xbet app because it lets you bet the ‘post-celebration slowdown’ instead of paying for yesterday’s headline.