Clonakilty 1-18
Éire Óg 1-8
TOM LYONS REPORTS
CLONAKILTY made a winning return to Division 1 of the McCarthy Insurance Group county football league in Ahamilla on Sunday morning with a comprehensive win over Éire Óg.
Having won Division 2 last season, Clon welcomed back Darragh Ó Sé for this game and the West Kerry ace showed his worth with a blistering four points in the opening four minutes, two from frees and a superb two-pointer from play. Although confined to a single point for the remainder of the game, Ó Sé, when he gets really fit, will be a tremendous asset to Clon again this season.
The home side, missing about five regulars including county player Maurice Shanley, also welcomed Dan Dara of Armagh, who had a steady outing at corner back, and Luke Griffin at corner forward, who got his name on the score sheet.
Clon’s bright start was maintained all through the first half, with the aid of a slight breeze, and their lead of ten points at the break, including a cracking goal in the 22nd minute from Conor Daly, was well-deserved.
Clonakilty's Dara Ó Sé breaks from Éire Óg's Ronan O'Toole.
When they increased the lead to 11 on the restart, it looked all over but it was then we saw the best of this Éire Óg side. A goal by their top forward Brian Hurley, followed by a fine two-pointer in the 47th minute, had the lead down to four. But that was the summit for the visitors as they weren’t to score again, with Clon finishing in style, kicking six points without reply.
In Ó Sé, Daly and Gough, Clon had three class scoring forwards. Add in the hard work of Ross Mannix, Luke Griffin and Seán White and this attack could cause a lot of problems for teams this season. Thomas Clancy marshalled a solid defence with good assistance from Dan Peat, Chris Kenneally and David O’Sullivan, while Ben Ridgeway worked hard at midfield. In Mark White, they have the best attacking goalkeeper in Cork although his collision with the goalpost when attempting to stop the Éire Óg goal was a scary moment.
Éire Óg’s two big midfielders, Ronan O’Toole and Jack Murphy, caused Clon a lot of problems with their hard running while Brian Hurley was a real livewire in attack, getting good assistance from Rian O’Flynn and Donncha Kelly.
‘Happy with a lot of that but not with all of it,’ said a satisfied Clonakilty mentor Eoin Ryan.
‘A nice first half but a bit of a calamity there at the start of the second half when Mark nearly knocked the goalpost. There was a bit of panic then for a while, but we settled down again, got our act together and finished strongly with six points in a row.
‘It’s great to have Dara back, and all the new lads, we need to strengthen our panel. Hopefully, we’ll see Liam (O’Donovan) back in a couple of weeks.’
Clonakilty's Brian White gets to grips with Éire Óg's Eoin O'Shea.
Following Clon’s flying start with four points from Ó Sé, Éire Óg had their opening score from Brian Hurley in the fifth minute. Clon responded with two points from the impressive Conor Daly to lead by 0-6 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter.
Éire Óg began the second quarter with a point from a free by veteran Daniel Goulding for a Clon three-back offence but Ó Sé and Cork U20 forward Darragh Gough answered with points from play before Brian White, Clon, and Donncha Kelly, Éire Óg, received black cards in the 22nd minute, causing some confusion over the three-back rule. A minute later Clon broke through for a vital goal when Daly cut through to rocket his shot off the underneath of the crossbar. Points from Luke Griffin and Darragh Gough, with a single reply from Rian O’Flynn, had Clon in front by 1-10 to 0-3 at the break.
When Conor Daly increased the lead on the restart, Éire Óg were in serious trouble but they responded with a fine comeback, spearheaded by Brian Hurley. A point by Hurley, followed by a goal in the 33rd minute when his shot from an angle from 35 metres dipped into the top corner of the net, plus two points from O’Flynn, sandwiching a Clon point from Darragh Gough, had the lead down to six points at the end of the third quarter. When Hurley kicked his side’s only two-pointer in the 47th minute the lead was cut to four.
Darragh Gough showed his class in the closing stages when he kicked two valuable points for Clon to wrestle back control for his side. It was all Clon subsequently as they held Éire Óg scoreless while kicking four more points. Daly accounted for three, two from 13-metre frees for indiscipline, and sub Fergal Murphy, added his name to the scoresheet.
Scorers
Clonakilty: Conor Daly 1-6 (2f); Darragh Ó Sé 0-5 (1 2pt); Darragh Gough 0-5; Luke Griffin, Fergal Murphy 0-1 each.
Éire Óg: Brian Hurley 1-4 (1 2pt); Rian O’Flynn 0-3; Daniel Goulding 0-1f.
Clonakilty: Mark White; David O’Sullivan, Dan Peet, Daniel Dara; Chris Kenneally, Thomas Clancy, Jack O’Mahony; Brian White, Ben Ridgeway; Seán White, Darragh Ó Sé, Ross Mannix; Luke Griffin, Conor Daly, Darragh Gough.
Subs: Killian White for M White (blood sub, 33-40), Fergal Murphy for L Griffin (43).
Éire Óg: Eoin Kelleher; Michael Corkery, Conor McGoldrick, Matt Brady; Mark Griffin, Hugh Murphy, Daire McCarthy; Jack Murphy, Ronan O’Toole; Rian O’Flynn, Joe Cooper, Donncha Kelly; Daniel Goulding, Eoin O’Shea, Brian Hurley.
Subs: Jerome Kelleher for D Goulding (ht), David Kirwan for E O’Shea (42), Brian Thompson for J Cooper (44), Oisín O’Shea for R O’Flynn (57), Adam McCarthy for J Murphy (57).
Referee: Liam O’Shea (Carbery Rangers).
