Senior Hurling Championship

Relegation Playoff

Blackrock 3 - 13 Castlelyons 1 - 11.

Finally after three months or more, all Rockies could relax again following an eight point victory over a brave Castlelyons side in this tense relegation playoff match played at Fitzgerald Park in Fermoy on Sunday afternoon the 7th October 2007.

This was a day where the result meant everything as a win secured the Rockies senior status as the club celebrates its 125th year as a senior hurling club in 2008. Huge performances were needed and were provided by players such as Fergal Ryan, Alan Browne, Wayne Sherlock, Liam Meaney etc as a loss here would have meant a knockout game with neighbours Douglas to decide relegation.

Bad start.

The Rockies were slow out of the traps and were 1 - 3 to no score behind after 6 minutes. Castlelyons full forward Declan Wallace picked off a goal that the Rocky defence will want to forget, while 2 points from Timmy McCarthy, and another from Ciaran McGann put two clear goals between the sides.

Finally the Rockies got going and points from Joe Young, and three points each from Brian O'Keeffe and Alan Browne eventually brought the sides on level terms in the 28th minute. Timmy McCarthy had picked off a point from a free around the 20th minute. The sides were level again at 0 - 8 and 1 - 5 after Timmy McCarthy and Adrian Coughlan exchanged points in the 29th minute. However Eoin Fitzgerald and Timmy Mac added two further quick points to leave the East Cork side ahead by two points at the interval 1 - 7 to 0 - 8.

In the 33rd minute Alan Browne picked up a loose clearance and found the net, while McCarthy fired over another point to leave the sides level again. The tension was reflected in the poor hurling as both sides realized the implications of errors, so the exchanges were dour and tense.

Key moment.

In the 47th minute the key moment arrived. A clearance from a resurgent Fergal Ryan, found David Cashman whose perfect hand pass to Liam Meaney resulted in a bullet from close in to the right hand side of Brian Sheehan's goal. All over the field the Rockies seemed to up their performance and even though Timmy McCarthy again pulled one back, the Rockies were now full of confidence.

Wayne Sherlock put in clearance after clearance, while Garry Norberg and Fergal Ryan cut out all ball to the Castlelyons forwards. Kevin Murphy hurled well too and as John Browne began to dominate in the full back line scoring changes for the East Cork men were at a minimum.

The introduction of Barry Hennebry gave the Rockies additional firepower as Joe Young, Adrian Coughlan and Liam Meaney added points. Inside Alan Browne was winning good ball and when he struck a ground ball into the corner in the 56th minute, the game was over. Earlier Colin O'Leary had fired over a further point.

Relief at last!

The final whistle from Ken Healy, brought sheer relief rather than jubilation to the players as well as the very large Rocky support. Relegation matches are all about winning and this job of work was now complete for 2007. Both Blackrock adult teams had survived a dice with relegation in 2007; hopefully 2008 will bring the teams into contention for honours.

The general relief around Pairc Mac Gearailt afterwards was best summed up by stalwart Terry Hassett who announced that he "was now going to murder a couple of pints".

Rockies could finally relax after a summer of worry!

Blackrock.

Frank Barry; Chris Murphy, John Browne, Garry Norberg; Fergal Ryan, Wayne Sherlock, Kevin Murphy; Adrian Coughlan, Derek Gosnell; Colin O'Leary, Joe Young, Liam Meaney, Brian O'Keeffe, Alan Browne, David