MUSKERRY’S second team won their first ever Dennehy Cup by defeating Youghal in the final played at Highfield on Monday.
A large crowd witnessed a hard-fought battle between two very committed teams. Throughout the game both defences were on top and neither team looked as if they would cross their opponents’ line although Youghal did have Muskerry under constant pressure throughout the final quarter.
The East Cork club opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a penalty goal but the Muskerry scrum-half replied a double dose of penalties to give the Mid Cork team a 6-3 interval lead.

The second half was a dour affair with little or no try-scoring opportunity for either side. In the dying minutes, Youghal missed a drop goal and also went close from a couple of kickable penalties, which could have taken the game into extra time.

However, for the majority of the 80 minutes, Muskerry just about shaded it on the balance of play. The Mid Cork side’s pack was very well drilled and the Youghal defence had no answer to the rolling maul of the forwards. The Muskerry backs were content to let the forwards dictate play and were happy to kick to touch to allow the front eight to contest the line-outs.

Best for the winners included man of the match Willie Healy and Shane O’Connor. The victory also provided an early wedding present for veteran centre, Liam O’Connor, who gets married this week.
In accepting the cup on behalf of the winning team, captain Will O’Brien stated: “There was great belief in the camp at the start of the cup that we could win this, and there was never any moment when we doubted ourselves on the pitch.”

Muskerry — Barry Russell, Paul Herlihy, Liam O’Connor, James Elliott, Nick Cronin, Damian Curran, Ian O’Sullivan, Liam O’Sullivan, Will O’Brien, Andrew Dennehy, Shane O’Connor, James Williams, Cian Nugent, Shane Murphy, Willie Healy.
Subs: David Russell, John Elliott, Dave Walsh, Liam O’Connor