Plenty of excitement in final first round junior football championship game in Muskerry

-Donoughmore 2-13

Blarney 3-7

Last Friday evening at Carrigadrohid saw the final game in the first round of this season Ross Oil Muskerry junior football championship being decided and similar to all of the first round encounters it produced exciting fare. The participants in this leading Muskerry competition Donoughmore and Blarney would not at this stage be considered as leading contenders for the ultimate but they certainly produced an entertaining hours play in this recent encounter. It was attack, attack, attack right through the hour with both sides having their periods of dominance. Donoughmore were victorious in the finish mainly because of their better composure when they found themselves in scoring situations. Blarney can also point to a share of hard luck particularly in the second period when they struck the cross-bar from a penalty and another effort when a major seemed inevitable rebounded from the upright and was cleared. Donoughmore who captured their last junior title in 2010 have not figured prominently in the subsequent years so last week’s victory is a good boost to their morale. Blarney made a good start in the contest when a Keith Costello point from a free in the first minute was quickly followed by similar score from Mark O Leary from play. They found themselves in arrears in the fourth minute however when Kevin Kearney did well to get his fist to the football when Donoughmore mid fielder Conor O Rourke delivered from long range. The ball ended in the blarney net so an exciting contest was beginning to manifest itself. Blarney regained the lead in the 6^th minute when Cormac O Mahony moving forward with speed collected the football. Following Joe Jordan’s cross field delivery. He unleashed a powerful delivery so the green flag was raised and the men in red had regained the lead. Donoughmore were prompt with a reply however as their composed play led to them scoring six points without reply. Gearoid O Rourke was on target in the 8^th minute, Kevin Kearney converted a free in the 14^th and Tadg Collins then sent the football between the uprights. There was no stopping Donoughmore at that stage and their sharpshooter Kevin Kearney added three points to their tally before the interval. The score at the interval consequently read 1-6 to 1-2 so the eventual winners could feel reasonably comfortable. A John Chambers point in the 32^nd minute consolidated Donoughmore’s position but Blarney then produced a period of dominance. Joe Jordan raised a white flag to reduce the arrears in the 34^th minute and the sides were all square in the 38^th when Mark O Leary translated the ball to Keith Costello at the opportune time and the latter billowed the Donoughmore net. Kevin Kearney and Leon Cogan both pointed for Donoughmore as both sides pulled out all the stops in their efforts to gain the upper hand and those in attendance were on their toes when the sides entered the final quarter on level terms. Donoughmore improved their situation when a point from Conor O Rourke was followed by a major secured by Daire O Shea and they appeared to be well on the road to victory when points from Gearoid O Rourke and Kevin Kearney gave them an advantage of six eight minutes from full time. An exchange of points between Keith Costello and substitute Aidan O Shea still left that margin between the sides at the 56^th minute but Blarney refused to bow out tamely. A strong attack won them a penalty but Keith Costello’s effort unfortunately struck the cross-bar. They managed to stay on the offensive however and they secured their third major. John Daniel Good was the scorer so Donoughmore were hanging on during the time added on period and they managed to stay ahead. Blarney will have a second chance of advancing in the competition when they will have Clondrohid as opponents.

Scorers

Donoughmore

Kevin Kearney (1-6 0-3 frees)

Daire O Shea (1-0)

Gearoíd O Rourke (0-2)

Conor O Rourke (0-1)

John Chambers (0-1)

Leon Cogan (0-1)

Tadg Collins (0-1)

Aidan O Shea (0-1)

Teams

Donoughmore

Kevin O Riordan

Aidan Corkery

Paul Crowley

Dan M^cSweeney

John Chambers

Jamie Twomey

St John Forde

Tom Joe Barrett

Conor O Rourke

Leon Cogan

Tadg Collins

Daire O Shea

Stephen O Connor

Gearoíd O Rourke

Kevin Kearney

Subs

Stephen Looney for Dan M^csweeney ½ time

Aidan O Shea for Tadg Collins 45^th

Gerard Buckley for John Chambers 55^th black card

Blarney

Keith Costello 1-2

Cormac O Mahony 1-0

John Daniel Good 1-0

Mark O Leary 0-3

Joe Jordan 0-2

Blarney

Shane Jordan

Vince O Mahony

Stephen Sheedy

Michael John Shine

Peter Philpott

Cormac O Mahony

Sean Crowley

Conor Foley

Paul O Leary

Brian Hurley

Joe Jordan

Mark O Leary

Keith Costello

John Daniel Good

Ray Murphy

Subs

Ray O Donovan for Ray Murphy 2^nd injured

Dan M^cSweeney for Conor Foley 24^th injured

Scott Vickery for Sean Crowley 46^th

REF C Vaughan (Cill Na Martra)

Report by TAS