Mallow in flying form
AFTER a hard fought 3-3 draw at home to Watergrasshill on Wednesday night, when Jerry Collins, Cormac Dilworth and Daniel Smith got on the score sheet, Mallow faced Rockmount in an early kick off Saturday morning at St Gobnait’s Park in the Cork Schoolboys League Under-13 Premier Division.
Mallow started on the front foot and were strong in the tackle and first to the ball in all areas of the pitch. The early pressure paid off when Jamie O’Neill crossed to the far post and Donnachadh Barrett was on hand to finish.
Ten minutes later an O’Neill free from the opposite wing saw Billy O’Keeffe put Mallow two goals to the good with a fine finish.
Mallow played good passing football and the back line of Cory Buckley, Alan O’Connell, Billy O’Keeffe and Niall Burke were well on top. The work rate of Jerry Collins and Cormac Dilworth allowed Mallow to push forward relentlessly and a Jerry Collins through ball found Daniel Smith who finished to the corner of the net to give Mallow a 3-0 halftime lead.
Mallow started the second half well with Cormac O’Sullivan and Louis Hanover pushing forward on the wings and Donnchadh Barrett driving forward from midfield seeking a fourth goal. Shane Cronin came on up front and Kevin Kilmartin replaced Denis Mulcahy in goal. Mulcahy had a fine game dealing well with numerous Rockmount strikes and being quick off his line.
The Mallow pressure paid off when Jamie O’Neill was fouled for a penalty and Donnachadh Barrett finished what he started, placing the ball in the corner of the Rockmount net.
The Mallow Squad was Denis Mulcahy, Cory Buckley, Alan O’Connell, Billy O’Keeffe, Niall Burke, Jamie O’Neill, Jerry Collins, Donnchadh Barrett, Louis Hanover, Daniel Smith, Cormac O’Sullivan, Cormac Dilworth, Shane Cronin and Kevin Kilmartin.
Mallow United Under 14s A got off to a great start to the season with a 5-0 win away to Youghal on Tuesday last in Division 3 of the Cork Schoolboys League.
Mallow dominated the match from the start with the Youghal goalkeeper forced to make a string of excellent saves to keep out the Mallow offensive.
Striker Ronan O’Sullivan opened the scoring with a quality finish half-way through the first half and then got his second with a fine header. James Lysaght added the third with a curling shot to make it 3-0 at the half way mark.
In the second half Ben O’Connor made it 4-0, finding the back of the net after a superb run into the box. Cathal Sheehan got the fifth, finishing off a penetrating run and cross by Ultan Cottey.
It was a great team performance, with hard work from start to finish by the Mallow squad who were Josh Harkin, Oisin Cottey, Robert Merrick, Sean O’Mahony, Ultan Cottey, Sean Crowley, Niall Murray, Ronan O’Sullivan, Sean O’Riordan, Ben O’Connor, Ben Hurley Wilkinson, Kalvin Cambridge, James Lysaght and Cathal Sheehan.
In what was a thrilling encounter in Cobh on Sunday afternoon in the Cork Youth League Under 17 Division 1, Mallow started brightly with a well taken goal by Gavin Carey following a brilliant cross from Dean Twomey.
Two more chances fell to Josh Wilkinson and Carey but Mallow could not capitalise before Springfield got back on level terms. Two minutes later Mallow fell further behind to a splendid free kick. Springfield continued to press and were rewarded with a third just before half time.
The introduction of Sean McDonald and Jack O Callaghan after the break turned the tide back in Mallow’s favour as both players assisted in the recovery spell which led to the two Mallow goals from Dean Twomey and Jonah Delaney. The goals brought the score to 3-3 which was a fair result.