MACROOM 1-13

ILEN ROVERS 1-11

MATTHEW HURLEY REPORTS

TENSION filled the air in this Cork Premier IFC relegation play-off in Dunmanway but at the end of the battle, Aidan O’Mahony’s Macroom survived.

Free-falling Ilen Rovers, who suffered their third relegation in four championship seasons, played their part in a thrilling encounter, but their best wasn’t good enough to avoid slipping into the fourth tier in Cork club football.

‘We knew today was going to be a titanic battle because you had two teams and neither wanted to go down. I know this is the lads second year being in a relegation (play-off). Sometimes, if you come back a second time, you mightn’t have the temperment for it but they were fantastic today. They fought until the very end,’ a relieved Aidan O’Mahony said.

This was a contest that involved grit and determination. Both sides battled in a gripping encounter.

‘There was no way they were going to let themselves go down to intermediate A,’ O’Mahony added.

‘You have to give credit to Ilen Rovers, they never gave up. We went up five or six points and they came back at us. They got the goal but in fairness to our lads in the finish, you can just see them running. They just kept going and when the final whistle went, there was a bit of relief there but that’s a relegation battle, it’s never going to be one sided.’

It was the Carbery club that started stronger as Micheal Sheehy converted a mark after just 40 seconds. Alan Quinn has been Macroom’s marksman all championship and he hit two on the spin to give the Muskerry side the lead before a double from Ilen’s Dermot Hegarty swung the pendulum.

Dan MacEoin hit a peach of a score to nudge Rovers two up but points from Johnny Murphy and Quinn had Macroom level.

The impressive Sheehy put Ilen back in pole position but the Muskerry side responded in the best way possible in their next attack. Their marauding corner back Murphy played in a pinpoint pass that deceived the Ilen defence, finding Eolan O’Leary who buried it. Macroom led 1-4 to 0-5 inside 23 minutes.

Macroom's Eolan O’Leary is challenged by Ilen Rovers' Shane Carey.

The significance of that goal was that Ilen never levelled this play-off again.

MacEoin pointed another before Dylan Twomey of Macroom and Jack Collins of Ilen traded scores before the short whistle, 1-5 to 0-7.

‘We felt we probably should have put more on the scoreboard. Then in the second half we said that we’d target the first ten minutes. I think our defence today was absolutely fantastic to a man,’ O’Mahony explained.

In a devastating 20-minute spell, Macroom outscored Rovers by 0-6 to 0-1.

O’Leary struck over from close range before Quinn and Tony Dineen made it 1-8 to 0-7. Conor O’Driscoll converted Ilen’s first score of the second half but Murphy, Quinn and Don Creedon looked to have sealed the Muskerry side’s survival.

Ilen, to their credit, didn’t give up.

Sheehy and MacEoin (2) kept them in contention before the goal they desperately needed arrived on 57 minutes. Hegarty hit a high ball into the square and substitute Emmett Hourihane put enough pressure on Brendan O’Connell to force it over the line.

One point between them, this game was truly in the melting pot. There was one more attempt in this enthralling game. Unfortunately for Ilen, it fell to Macroom’s Jack O’Riordan who smartly put the ball over the bar. The final whistle blew with Ilen players sinking to the floor, as reality set in: another relegation.

Our Star: Dermot Hegarty and Micheal Sheehy fought hard for Ilen but Johnny Murphy of Macroom got 0-2 and assisted their goal from corner back.

Scorers

Macroom: Alan Quinn 0-6 (5f); Eolan O’Leary 1-1; Johnny Murphy 0-2; Tony Dineen, Dylan Twomey, Don Creedon, Jack O’Riordan 0-1 each.

Ilen Rovers: Dan MacEoin 0-4 (2f); Micheal Sheehy 0-3 (1m); Emmett Hourihane 1-0; Dermot Hegarty 0-2; Jack Collins, Conor O’Driscoll 0-1 each.

Macroom: Brendan O’Connell; Ciarán Condon, Rory Buckley, Johnny Murphy; Cormac Buckley, Mark Corrigan, Jack O’Riordan; Fintan Goold, Sean Kiely; Don Creedon, Alan Quinn, Mark Hunt; Eolan O’Leary, Dylan Twomey, Tony Dineen.

Subs: Eoin O’Mahony for D Twomey (40), Shane Meaney for J O’Riordan (60).

Ilen Rovers: Damien O’Sullivan; Barry Collins, Sean Minihane, Jack Collins; Conor Harrington, Shane Carey, Denis O’Driscoll; Conor O’Driscoll, Dermot Hegarty; Peter O’Driscoll, Aaron O’Sullivan, Ciaran Dwyer; Joseph Hickey, Dan McEoin, Micheal Sheehy.

Subs: Simon O’Shea for S Minihane (10, inj), Emmett Hourihane for S O’Shea (ht, inj), Kevin O’Driscoll for C Harrington (34), Peadar O’Driscoll for J Hickey (46), Davy Ryan for A O’Sullivan (54).

Referee: James Regan (Lough Rovers).