AGHINAGH and Inniscarra have qualified for the Ross Oil Mid Cork Junior Football Championship final as a result of semi-final wins over Donoughmore and Éire Óg respectively on Sunday afternoon.
Aghinagh won their only Mid Cork A championship title in 2021, Inniscarra their only Mid Cork A football title in 1989.
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Aghinagh 1-14
Donoughmore 1-10
Aghinagh were trailing Donoughmore by four points, 1-8 to 0-7, at the three-quarter mark in this semi final at a very damp Coachford venue on Sunday afternoon, but they produced a strong finish against a young tiring Donoughmore side.
A well-worked goal in the 50th minute, taken in style by Liam Twohig, had given them a two-point lead and they cemented their victory with four late points which Donoughmore just could not match.
Aghinagh were rocked by a Donoughmore goal by Darragh O’Shea in the very first minute. Declan Keating added a point from a free. Nine minutes elapsed before Aghinagh had their opening score, a point from a Liam Twohig free. Points followed in quick succession from Shane Corkery, Twohig and Micheál Horgan to level the scores by the 16th minute.
The sides twice traded points to still be level in the 26th minute but Donoughmore then got two unanswered points, Keating and Gavin O’Sullivan the scorers, and led by 1-5 to 0-6 at the break.
Donoughmore stretched the lead to 1-8 to 0-7 by the 44th minute, but the trend of the game changed after Liam Twohig pointed an Aghinagh free in the 48th minute. Quick-fire scores from Twohig again and Con Buckley had the lead down to one. The Aghinagh goal followed in the 50th minute and it was a super score, TJ Buckley coming down the left wing before parting to Con Buckley who released the ball for the incoming Liam Twohig to collect in full flight and send a rocket to the net. It put Aghinagh in the lead for the first time, 1-10 to 1-8.
The Aghinagh challenge was now irrepressible. Despite Gavin O’Sullivan getting a point back for Donoughmore, Dara McCarthy scored two in a row, before Con Buckley and Declan Ambrose points sealed Aghinagh’s win.
Scorers
Aghinagh: L Twohig 1-6 (5f); C Buckley 0-2; Dara McCarthy 0-2 (1m); S Corkery, M Horgan, TJ Buckley, D Ambrose 0-1 each.
Donoughmore: D Keating 0-6 (3f); D O’Shea 1-0; G O’Sullivan 0-3 (1f, 1 45); C O’Callaghan 0-1.
Aghinagh: Kevin Cotter; Olan Cummins, Donagh O’Riordan, Aodh Twomey; TJ Buckley, Luke O’Leary, Declan Ambrose; Shane Corkery, Thomas Morgans; Mathew McCarthy, Con Buckley, Micheál Horgan; William Coakley, Liam Twohig, Seán Kelleher.
Subs: Eoghan McCarthy for S Kelleher (ht), Gearóid O’Sullivan for M Horgan (41), Dara McCarthy for W Coakley (51), David Kelleher for M McCarthy (58).
Donoughmore: Kevin O’Riordan; Frankie Honohan, Mark Foley, Seán Broderick; Kevin O’Connell, Daniel Forde, Paul Crowle;: Donnchadh Morrissey, Seán O’Hanlon; Darragh O’Shea, Colm O’Callaghan, Adam Dinan; David McDonnell, Declan Keating, Gavin O’Sullivan.
Subs: Darragh Lawton for C O’Callaghan (55), David O’Connell for A Dinan (55), Cian Buckley for S O’Hanlon (56).
Referee: Brendan Barry-Murphy (Aghabullogue).
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Inniscarra 1-7
Éire Óg 0-7
A 59th-minute goal from long-serving Dan O’Connell, created by Cork hurling captain Seán O’Donoghue, gave Inniscarra victory over Éire Óg in their semi-final at Ballincollig on Sunday. The winners will now battle with Aghinagh at Grenagh in a novel final pairing on October 27th.
This semi-final was a very tight affair with defences dominating. Liam O’Connor opened the scoring for ‘Scarra with a first-minute point, Liam Sheehan levelled from a free. Wwhn Seán O’Donoghue, possibly the best footballer on the field, put his side back in front, Liam Sheehan again equalised from a free and then put Éire Óg in front in the 23rd minute, only for Seán O’Donoghue to equalise from play a minute later . The sides were level at the interval at 0-3 each after an uninspiring opening half.
Inniscarra took the lead in the 35th minute through a Dylan O’Sullivan pointed free, but Éire Óg hit back with two more points from Liam Sheehan free kicks and substitute Brian Thompson added one from play to leave the Ovens side leading by 0-6 to 0-4 in the 42nd minute.
As the final quarter commenced, Dylan O’Sullivan kicked over for Inniscarra and Seán O’Donoghue brought them level at 0-6 each in the 51st minute. The Cork hurling captain then put ‘Scarra in front in the 55th minute but another great clubman, Éire Óg’s Kevin Hallissey, levelled the scores with a point three minutes later.
The final score of the game followed – Mark McLaughlin won a kick-out, fed the ball into the corner where Sean O’Donoghue took possession, advanced and floated a ball across the face of the goal where big Dan O’Connell palmed it home in classic fashion.
Scorers
Inniscarra: S O’Donoghue 0-4; D O’Connell 1-0; D O'Sullivan 0-2 (1f); L O’Connor 0-1.
Éire Óg: L Sheehan 0-5 (5f); K Hallissey, B Thompson 0-1 each.
Inniscarra: Dominick Kelleher; David Keane, John O’Callaghan, Jack O’Sullivan; Liam Ryan, Jack O’Dwyer, Tadgh Lyons; David Coughlan, Cameron Lynch; Frank Horgan, Shay Dineen, Sean O’Donoghue; Liam O’Connor, Jack Hayes, Dylan O’Sullivan.
Subs: Dan O’Connell, Mark McLoughlin, Seán Sheehan.
Éire Óg: Eoin Kelleher; Cillian Murphy, John Kelleher, Kevin Cooper; Denny Murphy, Matt Brady, Eoin O’Shea; Mark Kelleher, Oisín O’Shea; David Kirwan, Michael Murphy, Kevin Hallissey; Liam Sheehan, Johnny Galvin, David Casey.
Subs: Brian Thompson, Colm Quigley, Sam O’Driscoll, Keith Riordan.
Referee: Pat O’Leary (Kilmurry).
