Kilmacabea 1-9
Inniscarra 2-9
MARTIN WALSH REPORTS
RECOVERING from the concession of two goals inside the opening 11 minutes, Carbery champions Kilmacabea hauled themselves back into contention in this county junior A football semi-final at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday against an Inniscarra team that was in unchartered territory having won their first divisional title since 1989.
With great determination and some fine inter-linking football, the Kilmacs had gained parity by half time. A heavy downpour during the second half saw Inniscarra cope better with the conditions, but Donie O’Donovan’s charges were back level again on 43 minutes and again with just five minutes remaining.
However, three points from the boot of substitute Liam O’Connor pushed Inniscarra into the final where they will play Ballygarvan.
‘We did very well in the first half, but they took us for two goals,’ Kilmacabea manager Donie O’Donovan explained.
‘We went in level at half time and were still in a good position. Conditions deteriorated a lot in the second half. But overall Inniscarra were probably just that bit slicker than us, they were able to get their scores, just that bit cuter.
‘We were working really hard inside to get scores, they blocked it up well at the back and hit us on the counter and they kicked some good scores. Liam O'Connor came on for them and kicked four points, maybe that was the difference.’
Colin McCarthy, with a point from a free after Owen Tobin was fouled, opened the scoring after three minutes. Within the same time-frame and following some methodical playmaking by his team-mates, the experienced Dan O’Connell found the net for Inniscarra.
Kilmacabea’s response came within a minute when a fine cross-field ball from captain Diarmuid O’Callaghan found Damien Gore, who scored a splendid point for Kilmacabea.
Some good inter-linking play by the fast-moving Kilmacs yielded a point from Colin McCarthy on nine minutes but the West Cork side were rocked by a second Inniscarra goal on 11 minutes. Finding acres of space, Inniscarra half-back Jack O’Dwyer was almost unchallenged as he broke through the Kilmacabea cover, his well-placed shot finding the corner of the net with a great individual goal.
Without any major sense of panic, Kilmacabea responded with a point from Eamonn Shanahan following a pass from Gore, who himself raised another white flag with a classy effort laid on by Owen Tobin. From a mark, O’Connell pushed Inniscarra ahead by a point on 20 minutes but a Colin McCarthy point from a free sent both sides to the dressing rooms level, Kilmacabea 0-7 Inniscarra 2-1.
Kilmacabea captain Diarmuid O’Callaghan focuses on the ball as Inniscarra’s Frank Horgan eyes up the situation. (Photo: Martin Walsh)***
Cork hurler Sean O’Donoghue came much more into the game in the second half and orchestrated much of the proceedings. With two points (one from a free), he pushed
his side two ahead with Sean Dineen adding another on 38 minutes to put ‘Scarra three clear.
As Inniscarra dictated proceedings, a much-needed Kilmacabea goal arrived on 43 minutes when Shanahan and Gore combined to tee up Liam McCarthy, who dispatched a clinical finish to the Inniscarra net. Parity once again, 1-7 to 2-4.
A brace of points from Inniscarra’s Liam O’Connor, who was introduced on 38 minutes, were negated by a Colin McCarthy (free) and Ian Jennings on 52 minutes. Parity yet again.
A second yellow card for Kilmacabea’s Eamonn Shanahan (53 minutes) and Inniscarra’s Sean Sheehan four minutes later, reduced both sides to 14 men before O’Connor’s three late points and some great defensive work closed out the game for Inniscarra.
‘We probably panicked a bit, probably playing here, we had chances with frees and different things, but, generally, they were keeping us at bay there at the end when we were chasing the game in the second half,’ Donie O’Donovan said.
‘Early on (first half), we scored some great points, we hit the post as well and things like that, but they were always just that small bit ahead of us. We got the goal but they came back straight away and answered that.’
Naturally disappointed, he added, ‘Sure, we were here (in Páirc Uí Rinn for a county final) six years ago and it only seems like yesterday. It's very hard to get back here, then you get here and it doesn't work out for you, it's disappointing. It's still hard to get out of West Cork, and to win games it's eight or nine games to get up here. It’s a hard championship to win, simple as that.’
O’Donovan was also magnanimous about his opponents.
‘In terms of conditioning they seemed that bit physically stronger than us, some of our younger lads are that bit lighter. If Inniscarra could go on and win it, it might give us a bit of a lift, so maybe we are not that too far away,’ he said.
As Carbery champions, O’Donovan concluded, ‘There will be plenty of teams trying to knock us off our perch in West Cork, that’s for sure, but in the cold light of day when we look back on this season, we haven’t had a bad year at all.’
Scorers
Kilmacabea: C McCarthy 0-5 (4f); L McCarthy 1-0; D Gore 0-2; I Jennings, E Shanahan 0-1 each.
Inniscarra: D O’Connell 1-1 (1m); L O’Connor 0-4 (1f, 1m); J O’Dwyer 1-0; S O’Donoghue 0-2 (1f); D O’Keeffe, S Dineen 0-1 each.
Kilmacabea: K McCarthy; L Tobin, D Whooley, D Tobin; O Tobin, D O’Callaghan (c), R Hourihane; M Collins, I Jennings; D McCarthy, C McCarthy, J Collins; E Shanahan, D Gore, L McCarthy.
Subs: D O’Donovan for L Tobin (39), C Sweetnam for L McCarthy (56).
Inniscarra: D Kelleher; D Keane, L Ryan, J O’Callaghan (c); D O’Keeffe, C Dineen, J O’Dwyer; S Sheehan, D Coughlan; F Horgan, S Dineen, S O’Donoghue; T Lyons, D O’Connell, D O’Sullivan.
Subs: L O’Connor for D O’Sullivan (38), M McLoughlin for D O’Keeffe (53), J O’Sullivan for J O’Callaghan (64).
Referee: Cormac Dineen (Douglas).
