Brilliant Moynihan goal seals Boherbue's passage into county football final
Boherbue's Bryan Herlihy has his shot blocked by Passage's Eoghan Murphy, during the Bon Secours JAFC clash at Mallow. Picture: David Keane.
Boherbue 1-13 Passage 0-11
BOHERBUE are the first side into the delayed 2020 Junior A Football Championship final after seeing off Passage by five points at a sun-drenched Mallow GAA Complex on Saturday evening.
After playing with the breeze in the opening 30 the Duhallow side pushed on in the second thanks in large part to a superb goal from half-time substitute Richard Moynihan.
The introduction of the centre-forward paid dividends moments after his entry into the game with a well-worked point before he finished to the net moments later – that two-minute spell would ultimately decide this one.
For their part, Passage were well in this game for long spells and led by two against the wind as the first half came to a halt however they struggled with the pace of the second period continuing to run the ball when perhaps some long-range passes may have been the order of the day.
For the victors, Moynihan was key, as was full-forward Denis McCarthy, corner-forward Bryan Herlihy and midfielder Andrew O’Connor. At the back, the north Cork men were also impressive with Daniel Buckley and Michael Murphy doing well.
Passage also had a host of talent on the pitch with Graham Carroll, Shane Howard and Sean Harrington doing well in the middle third. Up front Niall McCarthy did well as did corner-back Ronan Cooney.
Boherbue were first out of the traps with a point from O’Connor however Passage were quick to bring parity to proceedings with a score from Cathal McCarthy – the first of six occasions in the opening 30 that these sides would be level.
Denis McCarthy was the main scoring threat for the Duhallow men landing four frees in the opening 30, six overall, in a shift that ended prematurely with a second yellow two minutes before the finish.
Passage also had a player seeing red with Niall McCarthy seeing his game end on 50 minutes.
The boys in green were up for the battle holding their own in the main battlegrounds as a physically impressive Passage side looked to dominate the high and breaking balls: 0-8 to 0-6 at the break.
The victors dominated the third quarter winning it 1-6 to 0-1 – a period of dominance that put the result almost beyond doubt but credit to the vanquished side, they battled on, all the way to the finish, scoring twice more to keep this one alive all the way to the final whistle.
Boherbue will have plenty of time to consider their tactics for the showpiece game as they await the winners of Kilmacabea and Iveleary from the second semi – that game will need to wait until after Cork’s senior footballers exit the All-Ireland series due to Damien Gore’s involvement.
