St Brendan’s College 2-18
Clonakilty CC 1-11
SEÁN HOLLAND REPORTS
THERE was disappointment for Clonakilty Community College as they were defeated by St Brendan’s College in the Corn Uí Mhuirí quarter-final on Tuesday.
The West Cork school faced a physically dominant side in the Killarney school who will be the team to beat going forward in the competition. Clonakilty manager Diarmuid O’Donovan had no qualms with the result and commended his team’s efforts.
‘Disappointing to lose obviously because the lads have put in a super effort over the last few weeks. We had met up six or seven times over the Christmas holidays, so I have to commend them on that,’ O’Donovan said.
‘We were beaten by the better team on the day, so we’ve no complaints there. These lads will be back, only four of the outfield team are gone next year so there’s plenty to build on. We’ve the Simcox Cup semi-final to look forward to now so the year isn’t over yet,’ he added.
The game started at a fast pace with impressive full forward Alex Hennigan opening the scoring for St Brendan’s. Darragh Gough replied for Clon instantly with a well-taken score from distance. Oisín Fleming put the Kerry school back in front again but Olan O’Donovan replied within a minute with a fine point from a marked ball.
St Brendan’s made it 0-3 to 0-2 with a free from Henningan. They added to the lead after a Clon kickout hadn’t gone the required distance, forcing the referee to throw up the ball on the 13-metre line, which was won and kicked instantly over the crossbar by midfielder Jamie Moynihan, son of the Kerry great Seamus.
Clon pulled it back level with two placed balls from O’Donovan and Gough, but this was as close as Clon got for the rest of the contest as St Brendan’s midfield started to take over. Moynihan put the Kerry school ahead again, and then came the key moment of the game.
The resulting long kickout was well won by wing back Luke O’Neill, his 50-metre solo run ended up with a fist pass to Moynihan who rattled the Clon net. It was Moynihan to the fore again one minute later with a fabulous left-footed effort from 40 metres out. A free from Callum Cronin soon after made it 1-7 to 0-4.
A fine score from Clonakilty wing-back Dylan Harrington put an end to the five-minute St Brendan’s onslaught. It didn’t do much to deter St Brendan's dominance as they closed out the half with four more points. Clon responded with two, one each from their main scoring threats, O’Donovan and Gough. It left the Kerry side ahead by double scores at the interval, 1-11 to 0-7.
St Brendan's started the second half the brighter side with points from Hennigan (2) and Jimmy Kelleher. O’Donovan replied with Clon’s first score of the half with a rasper of a shot that just grazed over the crossbar. Padraig O’Donoghue pointed for the Kerry school but Clon refused to yield. A flurry of scores in a five-minute period started with a well-taken goal by O’Donovan and was added to by a Timothy Cullinane free and a superb solo effort by Gough. It left the score 1-15 to 1-10 going into the final quarter but St Brendan’s then found an extra gear.
Another couple of points by the imperious Moynihan as well as an O'Donoghue effort put it out of reach for Clon whose sole and final response came from the hard-working Gough.
The final nail in the Clonakilty coffin came in injury time when Hennigan goaled expertly in added time to leave the final score 2-18 to 1-11 and send the Kerry school into the final four.
Scorers
St Brendan’s College: J Moynihan 1-6; A Hennigan 1-5 (2f); P O’Donoghue 0-3; R Hartnett, C Cronin (f), O Fleming, M Lynch 0-1 each.
Clonakilty CC: O O’Donovan 1-4 (1f, 1m); D Gough 0-5 (1f); T Cullinane (f), D Harrington 0-1 each.
St Brendan’s College: Shay O’Meara; Luke Daly, Dara Stack, Maidhcí Lynch (captain); Luke O’Neill, Keelan O’Shea, Adam Byrne; Jamie Moynihan, Oran O’Neill; Jimmy Kelleher, Callum Cronin, Oisín Fleming; Pádraig O’Donoghue, Alex Hennigan, Robbie Harnett.
Subs: Ted O’Gorman for Kelleher (44), Joey McCarthy for Harnett (50), Josh Bowler for Fleming, Brian O’Connor for O’Neill (both 54), Aidan Cronin for O’Donoghue (56).
Clonakilty CC: Donnacha Walsh (Clonakilty); Oran Blackburn (Clonakilty), Shane O’Regan (Clonakilty), Kevin Hennessy (Argideen Rangers); Daniel Moloney (Barryroe), Eoin Cullinane (St Mary’s), Dylan Harrington (Clonakilty); Cillian Twohig (Kilmeen), Desmond Kenneally (Clonakilty); Luke Murphy (Barryroe), Timothy Cullinane (Owen Gaels), Oisin Harrington (Kilmeen); Darragh Gough (Clonakilty, captain), Olan O’Donovan (Barryroe), Seán Whelton (St James).
Sub: Matt Murphy (Clonakilty) for Whelton (ht).
Referee: Denis Hickey (Millstreet).
