St Dominic’s crowned U21 North Cork champions
St Dominic’s 2-12 Ballycastle Gaels 3-5
Two goals in as many minutes in the opening stages of the second half proved decisive as St Dominic’s defeated a gallant Ballycastle Gaels side in the O’Sullivan/Lewis Mitchelstown U21 CFC final at Kildorrery on Thursday last.
In a keenly contested encounter the issue was in the balance all through. The winners had some very good displays by Jamie Fogarty, Peter Condon, Cillian Lloyd, Marc Moloney, Jake Buckley, Fionn Desmond, Noah Butler, Aaron Noonan and ‘man of the match’ Darragh O’Brien, while for Ballycastle Gaels Jeff Gowen, Jack Relihan, Patrick Sheehan, Aidan O’Leary, Dan Roche, Gearoid Roche and Dylan Collins were equally as effective.
The opening stages saw St Dominic’s quick into the action with Darragh O’Brien kicking two great points by the fourth minute. The lead was short lived with Ballycastle Gaels wind assisted certainly creating their fair share of chances. In the sixth minute Dan Roche set up Dylan Collins for a well taken goal. Darragh O’Brien levelled matters with a free for the Glanworth/Shanballymore combination, but it was Ballycastle Gaels that struck for their second goal in the 12th minute when a quickly taken free by Dan Roche was gathered by Dylan Collins who offloaded to Tommy Barrett to score.
St Dominic’s regrouped well from this setback with Noah Butler and Darragh O’Brien featuring strongly in the half forward line and by the 22nd minute points by O’Brien (3) and Aaron Noonan helped get them back on level terms at 2-1 to 0-7 – the Ballycastle Gaels point by Dan Roche.
However, the remainder of the half saw Ballycastle Gaels set the running with Patrick Sheehan and Aidan O’Leary to the fore in the key midfield sector. Gearoid Roche added a point before a third goal on the stroke of the half-time whistle by Brian Lombard helped them hold a deserved 3-2 to 0-7 lead at the interval.
On the changeover, St Dominic’s aided by the wind, had a tonic start. In the 31st minute a free by Darragh O’Brien was broken down on the edge of the square with the alert Jordan O’Grady on hand to finish to the net from close range. Two minutes later a good movement involving Jake Buckley and Jordan O’Grady saw the ball break to Noah Butler who finished to the net from a very tight angle - 2-7 to 3-2.
In a thrilling half both teams had their moments. Patrick Sheehan reduced the margin to a point when he kicked over a fine point. Jake Buckley and Patrick Sheehan swapped point by the 40th minute as St Dominic’s held a slender lead. As the half went on St Dominic found scores easier to come by and a point each by Darragh O’Brien and Jake Buckley moved them three clear as the game headed into the last quarter.
Ballycastle Gaels refused to yield and came close to a fourth goal when Dylan Collins’s effort from a very tight angle struck the side netting. Brian Lombard with a point in the 48th minute closed the deficit to two points but this proved to be their last score with the winners adding two more points before the final whistle by Darragh O’Brien and Jake Buckley to run out close but deserving winners.
After the game, North Cork Board Chairman, Arthur O’Keeffe presented the cup to the victorious captain Aaron Noonan.
Scorers for St Dominic’s: Darragh O’Brien 0-8 (0-6f), Jake Buckley 0-3, Jordan O’Grady 1-0, Noah Butler 1-0, Aaron Noonan 0-1.
Ballycastle Gaels: Brian Lombard 1-1, Dylan Collins 1-0, Tommy Barrett 1-0, Patrick Sheehan 0-2, Dan Roche 0-1f, Gearoid Roche 0-1.
St Dominic’s: Shay Coleman, Shane Mullins, Peter Condon, Leon Fitzharris, Cillian Lloyd, Jamie Fogarty, Marc Moloney, Jake Buckley, Fionn Desmond, Noah Butler, Darragh O’Brien, Aaron Noonan, Cathal Barry, Harvey McGrath, Jordan O’Grady. Subs: Billy O’Grady for Jordan O’Grady (inj), Conor McDonald for Cathal Barry, Colm Clancy for Shane Mullins, Ian O’Dwyer for Noah Butler (inj).
Ballycastle Gaels: Ronan Woods, John Roche, Jeff Gowen, Mark Burdett, Colm Crowley, Jack Relihan, Sean Sugrue, Patrick Sheehan, Aidan O’Leary, Brian Lombard, Dan Roche, Gearoid Roche, Tommy Barrett, Dylan Collins, Daniel Cooney. Subs: Eoghan Sykes for Tommy Barrett, Ben McCarthy for Sean Sugrue.
Referee was John O’Brien (Ballygiblin).