Kilmacabea 0-14
Douglas 1-5
TOM LYONS REPORTS
JOB done, mission accomplished, Kilmacabea into the county semi-final.
Like the curate’s egg, when they were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad, they struggled.
Luckily, for most of this McCarthy Insurance junior A county quarter-final in Ahamilla on Sunday, the Kilmacs were very good, the best we’ve seen all season in the second quarter when the game was won and lost, but they had to put in a strong finish to finally kill off the challenge of a Douglas side that hung on but threatened more than they accomplished.
Credit to the Kilmac defence who had all the answers, bar one, when put under pressure, also the midfield pairing of Martin Collins and Ian Jennings and, in attack, the lethal talent of Damien Gore, the radar-like free-taking of Colin McCarthy and the work rate of Joe Collins and Donncha McCarthy.
‘We were very nervous and jittery early on because we didn’t know what to expect from Douglas and they were very big physically,’ said captain and man-of-the-match, centre back Diarmuid O’Callaghan.
‘We turned over a lot of ball, made some sloppy passes, and didn't settle in that first quarter but when we got the feel of it in the second quarter, we played very well, took some great points. The good thing was that we weren’t relying on Damien (Gore) for scores as a lot of the lads chipped in with points.
‘Maybe we got complacent when we went well ahead in the second half and their goal rattled us a little. The ground was very heavy and maybe we should have gone for a clinching goal, we’ll have to look at taking on the defence more to score goals.’
Kilmacabea’s Owen Tobin bursts out of defence as he shrugs off a tackle from Joe Hartnett, Douglas.
A nervy Kilmac, on a perfect afternoon for football but on a heavy pitch, were slow to settle in the first half as the bigger, stronger Douglas outfit dominated the opening quarter. Douglas had three points on the board from Billy Fraher, James Burke and Jack Cunningham, after Colin McCarthy (free) had opened the scoring with a Kilmac point. That was as good as it got for the city side, not to score again in the first half, as the Kilmacs took control in the second quarter.
It started with Martin Collins and Ian Jennings dominating midfield, and even though Damien Gore was tightly marked, he still managed to begin the revival with a point from a free and a super team score from play to level the scores. Martin Collins, from 40 metres with the outside of his boot, Ian Jennings, Donncha McCarthy (mark), Ruairí Hourihane, a fine solo run, and Joe Collins all raised white flags and it was the flying Kilmacs in front at the break by 0-8 to 0-3.
Points from Gore (mark and play) and Éamonn Shanahan had the lead up to eight points in the third quarter as Douglas were over-run and looked like being hammered. It didn’t happen as the pace of Kilmac’s running game dropped noticeably midway through the half and Douglas responded with the only goal of the game in the 45th minute, a superb combined effort finished off by Billy Fraher. A quick point from Gearóid O’Sullivan halved the lead to a vulnerable four points and, suddenly, there was some heart-fluttering in the Kilmac camp.
The closing ten minutes saw a decided shift again in momentum as the Kilmacs got their second wind and three pointed fine frees from Colin McCarthy sealed the issue, the only reply from Douglas being a Harry Quilligan pointed free.It finished 0-14 to 1-5.
‘We have Inniscarra now in the semi-final and they will be physically very strong, too. We have been very lucky with injuries, bar Niall Hayes, who has a long-term injury,’ added O’Callaghan. ‘It’s a cliché but it’s one game at a time. Pitches are heavy and we will need time to recover, I think we might have a couple of weeks now. There’s a great buzz and we hope to keep that going.’
Our Star: Marvellous all-round team performance from Kilmacabea but we plumbed for centre back Diarmuid O’Callaghan, whose defending, positional sense, forward surges and leadership were all topclass.
Scorers
Kilmacabea: Damien Gore (1f, 1m), Colin McCarthy (4f) 0-4 each; Ruairí Hourihane, Martin Collins, Ian Jennings, Donncha McCarthy (1m), Éamonn Shanahan, Joe Collins 0-1 each.
Douglas: Billy Fraher 1-1; James Burke, Gearóid O’Sullivan, Jack Cunningham, Harry Quilligan (1f) 0-1 each.
Kilmacabea: Karl McCarthy; Liam Tobin, Darren Whooley, Dara Tobin; Owen Tobin, Diarmuid O’Callaghan, Ruairí Hourihane; Martin Collins, Ian Jennings; Donncha McCarthy, Colin McCarthy, Joe Collins; Éamonn Shanahan, Damien Gore. Liam McCarthy.
Subs: Clive Sweetnam for D Tobin (45), Odhran Kerrisk for J Collins (56), James O’Sullivan for L McCarthy (62).
Douglas: Seán Barron; Niall Lynch, Ciarán Kenny, Luis Fogarty; Adam Young, James Burke, Donncha O’Callaghan; Gearóid O’Sullivan, Mark Howell; Fiachra Ó Luanaigh, Chris O’Keeffe, Colm MacPhaidín; Billy Fraher, Jack Cunningham, Harry Quilligan.
Subs: Odhran Mulrooney for C O’Keeffe (ht), David Sheehan for F Ó Luanaigh (38), Eoin O’Sullivan for B Fraher (50), Stephen Black for J Cunningham (50), Joe Hartnett for M Howell (53).
Referee: John Enright (Glengarriff).
