William Buckley got the winning point in injury-time as UCC dealt Cork an opening defeat in the Canon O’Brien Cup yesterday (Sunday).

It finished 2-18 to 2-17 at the Mardyke, where Ben O’Connor had his first outing as Rebels boss and fielded a new look side as his team prepare for the 2026 campaign.

Cian Darcy RATTLES the net for @OfficialCorkGAA 😮‍💨

What a goal from the @SarsfieldsCork forward🔥#ClubberTV pic.twitter.com/Bu7mIzUZZf

— Clubber (@clubber) December 28, 2025

Cork had held a 0-12 to 0-8 advantage at the halfway stage and Jack Cahalane and Cian Darcy would extend it with points after it after the change of ends.

It got better for the Leesiders when Darcy fired in the game’s first goal for them on 34 minutes, but UCC battled back and goaled themselves through a Ben Cunningham free before Buckley levelled matters.

UCC found the net again via Peter O’Shea on 45 minutes to make it 2-15 to 1-15 and pushed their lead to four ahead of a point off the bench by Declan Dalton being backed up by a Shane Kingston goal.

Ben Cunningham with a ROCKET of a 21 yard free for @ucc_gaa 🤯

Will he catch the eye of Ben O'Connor today?🤔#ClubberTV pic.twitter.com/3Jbopzbtl9

— Clubber (@clubber) December 28, 2025

As the game ticked into injury-time, Buckley would be the man to land what proved the winning score for the Cork students.

Cork are in line to meet Limerick in the Munster Hurling League this Saturday in Tulla (2pm), while UCC face MTU Cork in their Fitzgibbon Cup opener on January 8th.

New reign underway.@OfficialCorkGAA hurlers played their first game under new manager Ben O'Connor when they took on UCC in the Canon O'Brien Cup this afternoon.

📸 @PiarasPOM https://t.co/Nna5GNL8TK pic.twitter.com/VhpESfoS89

— sportsfile (@sportsfile) December 28, 2025

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