Aug 4 (2 days ago)

Ballincollig Credit Union

Mid Cork Junior A Hurling Championship 

Quarter Finals:

Eire Og   3 - 8     Inniscarra   3 - 6

Cloughduv   2 - 11     Blarney   0 - 5

Eire Og   3 - 8     Inniscarra   3 - 6

It was dark and misty at Ballincollig for this evening meeting of Eire Og and Inniscarra in the quarter final of the Mid Cork championship  The hurling was moderate, particularly in the first half, but the game finished well with the lead changing on a few occasions and the issue being uncertain to the final whistle kept the attendance entertained. 

Defences dominated in the low scoring first half. 

Ace free taker Brian Kirwan pointed in the 7^th minute for Eire Og but Inniscarra hit back with points from Kieran Rice and early substitute Padraig Murphy.  Brian D'Arcy O'Sullivan equalised for Eire Og in the 13^th minute and ten minutes elapsed without a score until Ronan Sills crashed in an Eire Og goal to break the stalemate.  Brian Kirwan subsequently pointed a free and a ‘65' and Eire Og led by 1-4 to 0-2 at the break.

The third quarter opened with an Inniscarra goal after two minutes but Eire Og responded with points from John O'Connor and another Kirwan free. Eire Og seemed to be in control but a point apiece from Paul Farmer and Sean Holland either side of the three quarter mark kept Inniscarra in contention and when Sean Holland lashed a great drive to the Eire Og net in the 47^th minute it meant that Inniscarra were in front by the minimum margin, 2-4 to 1-6. John O'Connor availed of an opportunity created for him by Ronan Sillls and crashed the sliotar to the Inniscarra net to restore the lead to his side, Padraig Murphy had a point for Inniscarra in reply and in the 54^th minute Paul Farmer hit over an equaliser, 2-6 each.  Aidan O'Connor put Eire Og back in front with a really massive point and then Eoin Lyons lobbed in a high ball and in the ensuing scramble in the Inniscarra goalmouth it appeared to be John O'Connor who got the vital touch to force the ball over the line.  Brian Kirwan then pointed a ‘65' but just as it appeared that Eire Og could relax Alan Sheehan made a strong run for Inniscarra and finished with a fierce drive to the Eire Og net.  The final four minutes were to be scoreless but each side had scoring opportunities denied by great defending and so at the Eire Og were still two points in front. Eire Og: John Barry: Sean O'Connor, Edward Long, Aidan Twomey: Kieran O'Sullivan, Andrew Herlihy, Aidan O'Connor: Ronan Dennehy, John O'Connor: Daniel O'Shea, Brian D'Arcy O'Sullivan, James Carr: John Malone, Ronan Sills, Brian Kirwan. Subs: Vincent Fahy, Eoin Lyons, Denis O'Keeffe and Fintan Brennan.  Inniscarra: John O'Keeffe: James O'Driscoll, Colm Holland, Conor O'Mahony: John O'Brien, Tyrone O'Regan, Donal O'Callaghan; Tommy Buckley, Padraig O'Callaghan: Kieran Rice, Alan Sheehan, Jamie Barry: Stephen O'Sullivan, Sean Holland, Dominick Kelleher. Subs: Padraig Murphy, Paul Farmer, Michael Ryan and George O'Mahony.  Referee: Mr Willie Barrett, Aghabullogue.  

Cloughduv   2 - 11     Blarney   0 - 5

Cloughduv completely outclassed Blarney and booked their place in the semi-final of the Ballincollig Credit Union JAHC, after a disappointing game that was played in beautiful sunshine at Ovens. The winners dominated the opening half and led by 1-9 to 0-1 at the break.  A better second half performance from Blarney restored some pride. 

Cloughduv dominated the opening exchanges and Darragh Ring was denied a goal in the opening minute by a brilliant save from Blarney goalkeeper Richard O'Shea. Sean O'Connor had the opening score of the game with an excellent point and further points from James McCarthy and the outstanding Andrew Cronin ensured Cloughduv enjoyed an early three-point lead.  The Blarney defence were under siege in the opening quarter as Sean O'Connor (another star performer) and Darragh Ring added further points for Cloughduv.  Blarney registered their opening score following a long distance free from Eoghan Murphy in the 16^th minute. Cloughduv continued to drive forward and Andrew Cronin's clearance set up a goal for Donal Corkery in the 21^stminute. Points from Brian Ahern and Andrew Cronin ensured that Cloughduv held a commanding lead at the break of 1-9 to 0-1 and the champions were clearly the better team.

To their credit Blarney were a lot more competitive in the second half as they tried to salvage some pride. Jack O'Regan, Keith Costelloe and Ray Deasy converted chances for Blarney in the third quarter but Cloughduv scored their second goal after team captain Brian Ahern finished to the net.

Cloughduv: Colm Ryan; Barry Walsh, Ger Ahern, Mark Verling; Denis O' Sullivan, Andrew Cronin, Liam Long; Con Dunne, Stephen Down; Sean O'Connor, Brian Ahern, James McCarthy; Darragh Ring , Tom O'Mahony, Donal Corkery. Subs:William Ahern, Darren Kelly and Gerry Lucey.

Blarney: Richard O'Shea; Stephen O'Brien, Julian O'Donoghue, David Walsh; Conor O'Reilly, David Walsh, Daniel Cronin; Eoghan Murphy, Sean Harrington; Craig Sykes, Jack O'Regan, Raymond Deasy; Keith Costelloe, Pat O'Sullivan, Raymond O'Donovan. Subs: David Cremin, Darragh O'Brien, Mark Lee, John D Good.  Referee: Mr. Peter Downey, Inniscarra.

Ross Oil Ltd.

Mid Cork Junior ‘A' Football Championship

Quarter Final:

Kilmurry   0 - 12     Aghinagh   0 - 8

The semi final line up for the Mid Cork football championship is now complete after the victory of Kilmurry over Aghinagh at Inchigeela.  Kilmurry did not establish their superiority over the underdogs until the final quarter and Aghinagh kept them under pressure to the final whistle.  That said, the Kilmurry victory was deserved as they had the better balanced team.  Aghinagh will take heart from this year's championship campaign and the development of their young players.

Kilmurry were expected to win this game handily but they were worried by two points for Aghinagh from Donal Corkery in the opening four minutes, both well-worked scores.  William Buckley had Kilmurry's opening score in the 9^th minute and hit an equaliser a minute later and James Kelleher then kicked Kilmurry into the lead in the 12^th minute.  In the 21^st minute Declan Ambrose kicked an equaliser for Aghinagh from a difficult angle but Dominick Creedon put Kilmurry back in front within minutes. Aghinagh again equalised this time with a superb point from young Donagh McCarthy in the 27^thminute and William Ambrose put them into a short lived lead a minute later.  Just before the half time whistle, James Kelleher kicked an equaliser for Kilmurry and the teams were level at 0-5 each at the break.

Aghinagh started the second half well and Donal Corkery curled in a superb long range shot in the 36^thminute to put Aghinagh ahead once more.  Dominick Creeedon equalised two minutes later and two points from William Buckley, one of the best Kilmurry performers on the day, had his side leading by 0-8 to 0-6 by the 42^nd minute and Kilmurry were beginning to take control.  James Kelleher's point at the three quarter stage opened up a three point gap and Greg Barrett added a further point within minutes to ease the situation further for Kilmurry.  Kelleher had another point in the 52^nd minute but Aghinagh were battling on and points from Barry O'Leary and Declan Ambrose reduced the deficit to three points as the game went into injury time.  A late Kilmurry point from William Buckley then settled the issue removing any doubt about the outcome.  Kilmurry: Pat O'Callaghan: William Barrett, Kevin Barrett, Eoin Barrett: Liam Long, David O'Leary, Ian Murphy: James White, Eoin Creedon: Dominick Creedon, David O'Halloran, Stephen Down: James Kelleher, Greg Barrett, William Buckley. Subs: Jonathan Buckley, Alan O'Sullivan.   

Aghinagh: Paul O'Sullivan: Paudie O'Sullivan, Seamus O'Leary, Jeremiah Kelleher: Trevor Burns, Dave Barry, Donagh McCarthy: Con Lehane, James Ambrose: Sean Horgan, Donal Corkery, Declan Ambrose: Barry O'Leary, William Ambrose, Jeremiah Corkery. Subs: Sean Kelleher, William Coakley, Paudie Twohig, Ross Crowley, Alan Hourihan.  Referee: Mr John Ryan, Macroom.