Business League: Doolan's Cow milk Shield win over Satellite Taxis

Satellite Taxis 1 Doolan’s Cow 3

DOOLAN’S COW put the painful memory of their previous two final defeats to Satellite behind them by coming from behind to win their third Sports Gear Direct Shield final in six years at Turner’s Cross.

Satellite got a penalty in the second minute when Doolan’s Stephen O’Leary tripped Shane Dorgan inside the area. Satellite’s all-time leading scorer, Breff McCarthy, sent James Murphy the wrong way from the penalty.

With the match played at a ferocious pace and both teams going at each other on the flanks, Doolan’s equalised on the stroke of half-time, when Aaron Hennessy’s powerful header from Jamie Murphy’s corner took a deflection past Aaron Spriggs.

After Murphy volleyed into the side netting and Satellite’s Kian Fitzgerald headed narrowly wide, Hennessy’s delightful pass played in Tony O’Reilly in the 55th minute. O’Reilly’s low shot was parried by Spriggs, only for the inrushing James Cotter to sweep the ball into the back of the net to score his 100th competitive goal.

The high tempo continued in the second half, with Spriggs beating Cotter on the edge, while at the other end Damien O’Mahony’s free-kick struck the outside of the post.

The holders wrapped up a memorable win with five minutes remaining when Jamie Murphy finished off a move in which goalkeeper Spriggs was extended on a number of occasions. That was the decisive third goal and Murphy’s second in consecutive finals.

Aaron Hennessy was a worthy trophy recipient for a jubilant Doolan’s, whose victory was described by Wayne Kavanagh as “one of the Cow’s sweetest in the club’s 13-year history”.

Satellite boss, Ray Halissey, was bitterly disappointed afterwards, saying, “We got off to a great start, but couldn’t keep the momentum going. James Walsh’s lob, with eight minutes left, could have made it 2-2, but credt Doolan’s for finishing off the tie with the third.” 

Referee Brendan Dowling used his experience to control a competitive contest, with assistants Gordon O’Leary and Grahame Duffy supportive.

SATELLITE TAXIS: Aaron Spriggs: Shane Doody, Alex McCarthy; John Murphy, Greg Browne; Emmett O’Neill (Brian Wyse), James Walsh, Shane Dorgan (c); Bref McCarthy, Damien O’Mahony, Kian Fitzgerald.

DOOLAN’S COW: James Murphy: Stephen O’Leary (Keith McCarthy), Ian McCarthy; Brian Harris, James O’Shea; Darren Geraghty (Tony O’Reilly), David O’Sullivan (Liam Horgan), Stephen McCarthy; James Cotter, Jamie Murphy (c), Aaron Hennessy.

Referee: Brendan Dowling. Assists: Gordon O’Leary, Grahame Duffy.

Sports Gear Direct Premier Division

Jason O’Neill Electrical 0 UCC United 4

UCC went two up early, through Mo El Shouky and Dave Foley, and cemented a fifth straight win, with further second-half goals from Gokhan Dumplinar and Jack Murphy.

Marlboro Trust 8 Harp Celtic 3

Trust maintained their push for a fifth championship by putting eight past a weakened Celtic, courtesy of Kevin O’Sullivan (4), Colin Hewitt, and Pedro Pinto, who scored two apiece.

District 11 2 Healy O’Connor Solicitors 2

Goals for District, by Finbarr Dean and Eddie Walsh, were matched by Healy’s’ Shane Healy and Mark Sullivan.

Sports Gear Direct First Division

Jay Bazz 3 VIP Barbers 1

Jazz Bazz jumped two places to sixth following a 3-1 win over struggling VIP Barbers. Jamie O’Driscoll (2) and Callum Condon registered the goals for the winners.

Cork Hospitals 1 Trend Micro 2

The teams drew 1-1 in their first league meeting back in early September, but a late Marcos Aurelio first-half winner sealed Trend’s fourth win of the campaign at the Farm.

Earlier in the contest, Trend’s Jose Guerra and Hospitals’ Alan Cooper exchanged goals. Dave Synott and Sean Kent were best for the hosts.

Suro Cars 5 Finbarr Galvin’s Derrow Rovers 3

Suro Cars’ surge up the table continued with a 5-3 win over Derrow Rovs. A Gearoid Collins first-half hat-trick, along with a fourth from Gary McGill, put the hosts 4-1 up at the interval, Roy O’Driscoll netting for the visitors.

It was a tighter affair in the second half, with Derrow shading proceedings with goals from Kyle Buttimer and Rory Galvin, one better than McGill’s second for Suro.

Longboats 3 Telus International 2

Longboats closed the gap on third-place Brew Boys, reducing it to three points, by winning their five-goal tussle with Telus.

Paul Fenn, Matt Bond, and John McCarthy put the hosts three up, only for a Telus fightback to yield late two goals from Eoin Hayes and Fintan Cadogan.

Co Council 2 Brew Boys 2

Council and high-flying Brew Boys shared the points in a ferocious encounter at the Regional Park. After Kieran O’Regan opened the scoring for Council in the first half, the visitors struck back to score twice within four minutes of the second half, through Gavin Quirke and Jamie Noonan. Despite missing a penalty, Tony Byrd’s charges took the game to their lofty opponents to equalise when Kevin Murphy drove a free-kick low into the bottom corner.