Bursts of brilliance enough as Lehane leads Midleton past Newtownshandrum
No change in this relationship from last year's county quarter-final. Midleton remain more than a few steps ahead of Newtownshandrum. Midleton throw-in their 2025 summer with maximum points after what was a comfortable five-point win.
Midleton's display was sufficient but not hectic. They came in bursts of brilliance. They found a much greater frequency than their opponents but had a hard time sustaining such.
The greatest compliment that can be paid to last year's beaten county semi-finalists was that on the three second-half occasions Newtown closed to within four points, Midleton had an immediate answer.
On the last of those occasions entering the final quarter, Alex Quirke and Patrick White fired over in instant succession to shove the gap back out to six and remove the last bit of resistance from the North Cork challenge. A Conor Lehane pair followed the aforementioned pair for a Midleton four-in-a-row approaching the hour and an eight-point lead.
Tim O'Mahony's personal tally entering double-digits cut the final margin to five. Not a particularly close five, mind. Centre-back Cormac O'Brien was the sole player in green and gold to manage more than a solitary score from play.
Preceding all that was an opening half of little intensity. And little of a contest too. An arm's length was all the time between them. As it was at the break. 0-14 to 0-9 the interval difference.
Midleton hurried into a 0-7 to 0-2 advantage nine minutes in. That advantage would stretch to seven later in the half. And while the men from North Cork would narrow to four on the run into the break, there was a clear and definite gap between the sides not just on the scoreboard but in several facets of play. The scores, for one, certainly came easier to the men in black.
Lehane had a pair from play clipped by the sixth minute. Cormac Beausang won the opening minute free that Lehane converted. The latter finished with a first-half total of 0-6, split evenly between play and placed ball. The former sniped a first-half pair, one less than the hat-trick of white flags raised by David Cremin. And while Luke O'Farrell was absent from the opening half scoresheet, his assist count was strong and his offloading clever and snappy.
Their defence deserves mention too. Newtown's Eoin O'Mahony, Kieran O'Sullivan, and Tim O'Mahony were all blocked down when attempting white flags. Two of those blocks resulted in white flags at the opposite end of the field.
Midleton make the start they wanted, even if the performance left several rooms for improvement. For Newtown, they must mine points next time out in the much-anticipated local clash with Charleville.
Scorers for Midleton: C Lehane (0-9, 0-5 frees, 0-1 '65); D Cremin, C Beausang. A Quirke (0-3 each); P White (0-2); S O'Meara, T O'Connell, K McDermott, M Finn (0-1 each).
Scorers for Newtownshandrum: T O'Mahony (0-11, 0-10 frees); C O'Brien (0-2); R Troy, D O'Connor, E O'Mahony, R Geary, M Ryan, T O'Neill (0-1 each).
Midleton: B Saunderson; L Dineen, E Moloney, C Smyth; S O'Meara, T O'Connell, R O'Regan; A Quirke, M Finn; D Cremin, C Lehane, K McDermott; L O'Farrell, C Beausang, P White. Subs: A Daly for Quirke (6-13 mins, temporary); T O'Leary Hayes for McDermott (7 mins, inj); A Daly for Quirke (54).
Newtownshandrum: J Bowles; R Troy, P O'Sullivan, T McCarthy; C Twomey, C O'Brien, K O'Sullivan; B Collins, J Geary; T O'Mahony, R Troy, D O'Connor; E O'Mahony, C Griffin, R Geary. Subs: M Ryan for Geary (HT); T O'Neill for O'Connor (39); S Minhane for C Griffin (46); J Lane for Collins (54); D Ryan for O'Sullivan (61).
Referee: S Stokes.
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