Douglas finish well to deny Ballincollig County MFC title
Douglas 2-11 Ballincollig 1-10
DOUGLAS made a great comeback to defeat Ballincollig in the Rebel Og Central Premier 1 MFC final at Pairc UI Rinn on Friday night.
Douglas entered this game as favourites. Ballincollig started well. Good play by Darragh O’Mahony led to an early goal by Steve Willis. Darragh Dorgan followed with a pointed free. Further Ballincollig pressure led to a fine Evan Cooke point in the 9th minute. Ballincollig added another point after 13 minutes.
Douglas won a lot of possession in midfield where Niall Hartnett was impressive. Liam O’Connell added a Ballincollig point who were now 1-4 to 0-0 clear. Douglas lost their centre back Adam Dunphy through injury with the game being held up for over 5 minutes. In the 27th minute Douglas had their opening score a point by Luke O’Keeffe. Good play by Niall Hartnett and Joseph Harte led to an injury time point by Aaron Sheehy. Deep in injury time Douglas had a point and Aaron Sheehy with a late goal had the lead down to 3 points 1-5 ro 1-2. Douglas had another Aaron Sheehy point before the break 1-5 to 1-3 at the interval.
Early in the second half Douglas with two points forced level 1-5 each.
Ballincollig took the lead when Darragh O’Mahony kicked a massive point. Darragh Dorgan with a point opened up a two point lead. Diarmuid McCarthy got one back for Douglas before Darragh Dorgan made it 1-8 to 1-6 in favour of Ballincollig.
Josh Ambrose with a very good point seemed to have set Ballincollig on their way as they led 1-9 to 1-6. Alan O’Hare pointed a Douglas free. Entering the final quarter Ballincollig regained the three-point lead when Darragh Dorgan pointed a free 1-10 to 1-7.
Douglas made a remarkable recovery. They gained supremacy in the half back line and they held Ballincollig scoreless for the rest of the game. A free by Joseph Harte led to a point by Alan O’Hare. The winners edged in front when good play by Eoghan Nash and Diarmuid McCarthy led to a goal by David Kelly 2-9 to 1-10.
In the 55th and 57th minutes Adam Cantwell had two great points as Douglas emerged winners by a four point margin.
After the game Michael O”Mahony Chairman Rebel Og Central Board presented the Cup to the winning captain Niall Hartnett. It was their first win since 2014. DOUGLAS: C O’Leary, C Donlon, C Buckley, S Geaney, D Harte, A Dunphy, J Harte, E Nash, N Hartnett, L O’Keeffe 0-1, F Sheehan, S Ahern 0-1, D McCarthy 0-1, A Cotter, A Sheehy 1-3. Subs: D Kelly 1-0 for A Dunphy, A Cantwell 0-2 for A Cotter, A O’Hare 0-3 (2f) for L O’Keeffe, C McGrath for F Sheehan, C O’ Dubhghaill for S Ahern, C Deasy for D McCarthy
BALLINCOLLIG: C Walsh, C Twomey, S O’Donoghue, M Bourke, C O’Leary, J O’Connor, L O’Connell 0-1, S Dore, E Cooke 0-1, J Cotter, S Willis 1-0, P O’Keeffe 0-1, J Ambrose 0-1, D Dorgan 0-5 (3f), D O’Mahony 0-1. Subs: H Aherne for J Cotter, M Oldham for M Bourke, R Forde for P O’Keeffe, D Ryan for S Dore (inj), D Ebili for D O’Mahony.
REFEREE: Alan Long (Argideen Rangers)