Ballincollig big winners over brave Kiskeam
COUNTY PREMIER IHC ROUND 3
Fr O’Neills 5-14 Fermoy 2-13
THIS County Premier IHC Round 3 game at Ballynoe on Sunday was very keenly contested in the first half. Billy Dunne opened the scoring for the winners in the second minute with Declan Dalton landing a free soon after.
Fermoy opened their account in the sixth minute when Tomas Clancy placed Jack Scannell who pointed. Two minutes later Shane Aherne placed Padraigh de Roiste for the equaliser.
In the 10th minute O’Neills had their first goal when Liam O’Driscoll and Billy Dunne worked well for Paudie McMahon who netted. Good play by Tomas Millerick led to a point by Billy Dunne. Liam Coleman replied for Fermoy.
At the end of the first quarter Fermoy were back in the hunt when Padraigh de Roiste worked hard for Tomas Clancy who goaled 1-3 each. Fermoy had a few wides.
They edged ahead in the 21st minute with a great point by Kieran Morrisson. Further Fermoy pressure yielded a point by Jack Hutchings. Fermoy moved three points clear when Brian O’Sullivan pointed from long range.
The Imokilly side improved as the half went on. Paudie McMahon placed Jason Hankard for a point with Billy Dunne working well for Robert Cullinane who left just a point between the 1-6 to 1- 5. By the 25th minute Fermoy had eight wides while O’Neills had just two in this period.
O’Neills were gifted a goal when Paudie McMahon struck from long range and his effort seemed to be going wide. It veered in at the last moment and edged the winners 2-5 to 1-6 ahead.
In injury time Shane Aherne and Liam Coleman (free) had the sides level 2-5 to 1-8. Deep in injury time Shane Aherne placed Tomas Clancy for a point that had Fermoy ahead at the break 1-9 to 2-5.
Fr O’Neills had the aid of the stiff breeze on the changeover. Declan Dalton pointed a long range free and the same player was fouled in the 33rd minute and pointed another free.
Good play by a dominant East Cork side saw John Barry and Joe Millerick work well for Billy Dunne who goaled as O’Neills moved 3-7 to 1-9 ahead.
Fermoy had a point by Shane Aherne with Brian O’Sullivan soloing through and pointing 3-7 to 1-11. O’Neills had their fourth goal when Tomas Millerick placed Declan Dalton who blasted to the net opening up a five-point lead, 4-7 to 1-11.
From here on O’Neills were very prominent. Their half backs were in great form and they also did well in midfield. Good play by Jason Hankard led to a point by Kevin O’Sullivan.
Fermoy’s Padraigh de Roiste was denied by Colin Sloane from close range. The winners had their fifth goal in the 40th minute when Mark O’Keeffe soloed through 5-9 to 1-11.
Declan Dalton pointed a free and a ‘65 as they moved 5-11 to 1-11 clear entering the final quarter. Liam Coleman pointed a Fermoy free. Billy Dunne replied for the winners 5-12 to 1-12.
Mark O’Keeffe pointed with Brian O’Sullivan pointing a long range free for Fermoy Fermoy had a goal by Jack Hutchings in the closing moments. In injury time Declan Dalton pointed a free as the winners had 10 points to spare in the end.
They now face Watergrasshill in the quarter-final this Sunday. Over the course of the game Fermoy had 15 wides while O’Neills were off target on just four occasions.
FR O’NEILLS: C Sloane, M Millerick, A Kenneally, J Barry, G Millerick, D Harrington, T Millerick. J Millerick, K O’Sullivan 0-1, M O’Keeffe 1-1, D Dalton 1-7 (5f, 1 ‘65’), R Cullinane 0-1, L O’Driscoll, P McMahon 2-0, B Dunne 1-3 Subs: J Hankard 0-1 for L O’Driscoll (inj), A Kenneally for J Millerick, P Butler for T Millerick
FERMOY: C Quinn, P Clancy, R O’Callaghan, E Clancy, J Scannell 0-1, D O’Carroll, A Creed, M Brennan, T Clancy 1-1, B O’Sullivan 0-3 (1f), S Aherne 0-2, J Hutchings 1-1, K Morrisson 0-2, P De Roiste 0-1, L Coleman 0-3 (1f) Subs: S Shanahan for P Clancy, P Murphy for J Scannell, J Daly for E Clancy, J Molloy for K Morrisson, P Shanahan for L Coleman.
REFEREE: Ian McCarthy (Bandon)
Ballincollig 0-17 Kiskeam 1-9
IT is the end of the road for Kiskeam’s Senior Football stars after the north Cork bowed out at the hands of Ballincollig in Ballyclough last weekend.
The Duhallow side were unable to put a halt to Ballincollig’s recent run of good form however they did manage to put it up to the Muskerry men for most of the allotted 60 minutes.
In front of an impressive crowd at the north Cork venue the boys in green racked up a credible 17 points, however, thanks to some fine stops from Kiskeam keeper Anthony Casey and some poor finishing from the victors Ballincollig were unable to add goals when the opportunities arrived.
Led up front by Cian Dorgan, Ballincollig looked a threat throughout as Dorgan’s nine point haul, along with his colleagues, Darren Murphy (five) and Garry Comerford (two) kept Kiskeam’s defenders under pressure throughout.
Ballincollig manager Tom Dorgan was delighted with the win, acknowledged that it has been a big week for his side and paid respect to the challenge that Kiskeam brought to the table.
“We are just delighted now to be in the quarter final. It was a real war of attrition there, a real tough game. Kiskeam really put it up to us, especially in the first half when they were really hard to break down the way they set up with their extra men in the back but once we had a bit of patience and composure we were able to push on.
“In the second half we had some really bad wides, but once we settled down a bit we played some good football.”
Dorgan can now look to the future and a big day with another powerful suburban side.
“We now will look to a quarter-final against Douglas will be a real tough test for us. They are similar to us that their hurlers have been beaten so they have a clear run at this.
“They have a serious outfit if they can get all their lads together. They have had time to practice and no doubt they were here to watch us today so they will have their homework done so another big day for us awaits.”
Ballincollig dominated the opening 10 minutes in both the possession and scoring stakes with a triple (two from play and one free) from Dorgan.
The North Cork side did manage to trouble the scoreboard on 10 minutes, with a free from wing forward Adrian Carroll, but the men in black were struggling to keep pace.
Casey kept Kiskeam in touch with a brilliant save from Dorgan but a tasty score from Comerford pushed Collig back into a three point lead as the game entered the second quarter.
Kiskeam looked in trouble at this juncture and spent most of the early time and efforts chasing shadows as Ballincollig managed to retain possession, looking for the perfect opportunity from which to launch attacks.
Every team is likely to have some period of dominance and this one was no different as Kiskeam grabbed hold of the fixture from the 19th to the 25th minutes outscoring their opponents by 1-3 to no score.
Firstly, Seán O’Sullivan hit the mark to cut the gap to two before Comerford hit the Kiskeam upright – a minute later Ballincollig’s net minder Jack Gibbons was taking the ball from his own net after a brilliant finish from Michael Herlihy.
Another point followed from Gene Casey and after holding up to 80% of the possession, Ballincollig found themselves trailing by three, 1-4 to 0-4. Ballincollig rallied and scores from Dorgan and Herlihy brought them back to within one as the sides headed for the dressing rooms. 1-5 to 0-7.
Ballincollig needed a good start if they were to see off a resilient Kiskeam and they got just what the needed thanks to three quick points from Murphy – reclaiming the lead – a lead they wouldn’t lose again.
Scores from Dorgan, Murphy and Seán Kiely pushed Ballincollig clear in the closing stages and despite Kiskeam sticking to their task they just didn’t have the attackers on the day to pull this one from the fire.
Kiskeam improved this season from last and should take solace from the way they saw off Mallow and round one and stayed with Ballincollig in Round 3 however there is plenty work to do for a side looking to stay in touch with the bigger sides in the grade.
BALLINCOLLIG: J Gibbons; N Galvin, L Jennings, K Coleman; K Browne, C O’Connell, C Kiely; S Kiely 0-1, P O’Neill; JP Murphy, P Kelly, C Moore; G Comerford 0-2 (1f), C Dorgan 0-9 (2f), D Murphy 0-5 Subs: L Fahy for K Browne (half time), R Noonan for C Moore (58), S O’Neill for K Coleman (61)(bc)
KISKEAM: A Casey; D Linehan, DJ Casey, J O’Connor; M Casey, AJ O’Connor 0-1, K O’Connor; T Dennehy, S Meehan; D Fitzgerald, S O’Sullivan 0-4 (1f), A Carroll 0-1; D Scannell, G Casey 0-2 (1f), M Herlihy 1-0 Subs: T O’Sullivan for D Fitzgerald (51), S Carroll for D Linehan (51), R Carroll for G Casey (52)(bc), M Casey 0-1 for D Scannell (53), P O’Leary for DJ Casey (56)
REFEREE: J Bermingham (Bride Rovers)