Premier minor hurling titles on line at Páirc Uí Rinn

It’s the turn of the minor hurlers this Monday as the Premier 1 and 2 championship finals take place at Páirc Ui Rinn.

First into action, at 6.30pm, are Bandon and St Finbarr’s in the Premier 2 decider. That will be followed by the clash of Midleton and Sarsfields in the Premier 1 final at 8pm.

The Barrs will be hoping to recover from their loss in the football equivalent, where they lost to Donoughmore in a top-class game.

To reach both finals is an achievement in itself, but they will be hoping to learn from last Monday and go one better this time.

To reach the final, they started with a loss to Éire Óg, before getting the better of Ibane Gaels and Valley Rovers.

They then took on Donoughmore in the quarter-final before facing Carrigtwohill in the semi, which they won by two points.

Like the football, the loss of Daniel Burke is a blow to them, and who will fill his full-back spot remains to be seen.

But in the likes of James Murray, Charlie Kelleher, Evan Malone, CJ Barrett, and James Martin, they have quality players all over the pitch.

Bandon started with a good win over Mallow and followed it up with another victory over Bishopstown.

They then lost to Blackrock but still qualified for the quarter-final. In that they faced the defending champions in Shandrum, a team never easy to beat.

But Bandon came out on top by 2-15 to 1-13 to then face Ibane Gaels in the semi-final and ran out winners by eight points to reach the final.

Richard Tarrant, Denis O’Mahony, Cormac O’Flynn, and Daniel Murphy are just some of the players they will look to on Monday night.

The Premier 1 final is an all East Cork affair, and Sarsfields will be considered slight favourites to come out on top.

They have been the form team all through the championship and didn’t have it easy to reach the final.

Along the way, they had to beat Ballincollig, Douglas, St Colman’s, and the defending champions, Glen Rovers, to reach the decider.

All would have been fancied as title contenders so to come through those games undefeated will give them plenty of confidence.

Tom Huggins, Cathal Galvin, Adan Dunlea, Rory Higgins, and Tom O’Flynn will be among those they will be looking to in what will be another tough encounter.

Midleton, for their part, had wins over St Colman’s, Youghal, Inniscarra, and Douglas to reach the final.

Like Sars, they have plenty of talented players and defensively they are rock solid, led by the likes of Matthew McSweeney, Rian O’Driscoll and Lochlann Stewart.

In front of them, they will look to the likes of Sean Crowley, Senan Carroll, Josh Foley, and Peter Barrett to take the title.

An impossible game to call, but Sars success at U16 level in 2024 and the fact they were in the minor final last year might just stand to them.

FIXTURES MONDAY, OCTOBER 6 Premier 1 MHC final: Midleton v Sarsfields, Páirc Ui Rinn, 8pm.

Premier 2 MHC final: Bandon v St Finbarr’s, Páirc Ui Rinn, 6.30pm.

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