Ballincollig 4-13 Carrigaline 3-6

BALLINCOLLIG were crowned Carrigaline Court Hotel Premier 1 U16 football champions at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday.

They were deserving winners, which makes up somewhat for their loss to the Barrs in the hurling decider.

They put up a very impressive tally in the end but with five minutes to go there was only two points in it, due to missed chances and defensive mistakes. In the first half, they gave away three goals, Carrigaline’s only scores.

The Village were playing the better football, but on another day those errors could have cost them. They also went for goal rather than tapping over points.

To their credit they never let it get to them, regrouped at half-time and outscored Carrigaline 3-8 to 0-6 in the second half.

Key to this was the outstanding Liam O’Connell at centre-back, along with Dillon Horgan, Sean Dore and Dylan Ebili. The introduction of James Dwyer, after 20 minutes, was another key part of their victory. 

Just three minutes in and the first of those mistakes saw Paul Harding goal for Carrigaline before Mark O’Keeffe pointed at the other end.

Then, 12 minutes in, Shane McSweeney pounced for Carrigaline’s second goal. However, Ballincollig kept their heads with tough midfielder Dore hitting two points, along with one from Darragh O’Mahony, making it 0-4 to 2-0.

A great move, involving Ryan O’Neill and Harry Ahearne set up Cian O’Driscoll for Ballincollig’s first goal, but again they let Carrigaline in at the other end through Charlie O’Brien: 3-0 to 1-5 at half-time.

Early points from O’Connell, Dwyer and O’Mahony deservedly nudged Ballincollig in front, with McCarthy and Danny Kelly replying for Carrigaline.

Ballincollig struck for a crucial second goal from Ebili with 48 minutes gone, while O’Connell added two points to increase their lead. Yet when Kelly and McCarthy responded for Carrigaline, it was 3-6 to 2-11 with five minutes to go.

Ballincollig finished strongly, the excellent O’Connell pointing before Dwyer buried a goal to seal the win.

Sub Steve Murray was clinical on his introduction as he slipped one ball over the ball and another to the back of the net to put the icing on a deserved win for the Village.

Scorers for Ballincollig: J Dwyer, S Murray 1-1 each, C O’Driscoll, D Ebili 1-0 each, L O’Connell 0-4, D O’Mahony 0-3, S Dore 0-2, M O’Keeffe, T O’Connell 0-1 each.

Carrigaline: P Harding, S McSweeney, C O’Brien 1-0 each, R McCarthy (0-2 f), D Kelly 0-3 each.

BALLINCOLLIG: C Sheehan; D Ward, D O’Sullivan, O Buckley; R O’Neill, L O’Connell, D Horgan; S Dore, H Ahearne; D O’Mahony, B Keating, D Ebili; D Keohane, C O’Driscoll, M O’Keeffe.

Subs: J Dwyer for D Keohane, S Murray for Cian O’Driscoll, Conor O’Driscoll for O Buckley.

CARRIGALINE: K Barry Dorney; N O’Keeffe, E O’Leary, D Allen; R Kenneally, F O’Connell, C Crotty; R McCarthy, L Davies; D Kelly, P Harding, S Byrne; C O’Brien, C Dungan, S McSweeney.

Subs: T O’Connor for E O’Leary, B Kelleher for C Crotty, J Coleman for S McSweeney.

Referee: Cormac Dineen (Douglas).