Premier SFC: Valleys strike at the death to overcome Douglas

Valley Rovers 0-10 Douglas 1-6

THREE unanswered points at the death gave Valley Rovers victory over Douglas in their Bons Secours Hospital Cork Premier SFC clash at a squally Ballygarvan on Friday night.

While the Innishannon side had led, 0-4 to 0-3, after a strong finish to a first half that left a lot to be desired in terms of output, that was but a fleeting experience as Douglas struck for a goal through Andrew Cotter in the opening minute of the second half.

Despite missing Cork players Kevin Flahive, Nathan Walsh, Brian Hartnett and Seán Powter, the city side were able to stay in front for much of what remained but couldn’t put the game to bed. Valleys refused to give in, unbowed by a flurry of wides, and they were ultimately rewarded as Eoghan Delaney brought them to within a point in the 51st minute before Darragh O’Shea levelled and then slotted home the winner. With a clash against Mallow to come in three weeks, Valleys will now look to build on this as they seek to at least match last year’s quarter-final appearance.

They will certainly have room in which to improve as the final wides tally was 12, with seven of those in the opening half in which they played a lot of football but failed to score until the 23rd minute. Valleys were fortunate that, while Douglas worked hard defensively, they too lacked an early cutting edge but settled with points from Kevin Hayes Curtin and Tomás Sheehy.

Those scores could have been outweighed by a Ciarán McCarthy goal on 20 minutes but, having been set up by Adam Walsh Murphy, he couldn’t keep his shot on target. Nevertheless, they were off the mark through William Hurley and though Daragh Kelly put Douglas 0-3 to 0-1 ahead after Niall Hartnett forced a good turnover in midfield, Valleys foreshadowed the ending of the second half as they reeled off three points on the trot – Eoin O’Reilly, sub John Cottrell with a free and McCarthy – to go in leading.

That advantage was to dissipate on the resumption, though. Hartnett ran from deep and went for goal but, while goalkeeper Cormac Desmond did well to keep that out, his pocket was picked by Cotter, who slotted to the net from close range. When Alan O’Hare followed that with a free, it was 1-5 to 0-5 but again Valleys had a trio of points in riposte.

With Darragh Murphy, the oil in their engine, gaining the upper hand at midfield with Kevin Canty, they pressured Douglas and wing-back Jacob O’Driscoll laid on a good point for Eoghan Delaney before a Murphy mark led to another McCarthy point. When Fiachra Lynch – well marshalled by his namesake Brian in the Douglas defence – nailed a free after missing two in the first half, they were level with 20 minutes left.

Once more, Douglas had a kick in them. Sheehy scored an exquisite point from a tight angle on the left and that was followed by O’Hare’s second but, despite 16 minutes remaining, Douglas were not to score again.

Valleys stayed composed and Delaney’s second point came after good link-up play from Johnny Kiely, O’Driscoll and Canty; then Murphy and Lynch combined for O’Shea’s first after he had been switched from centre-back to centre-forward following the introduction of David Lynch.

Six minutes were left after that levelling score and, while a draw wouldn’t have been a bad outcome – after all, Valleys were suckered by a late Douglas point at the same stage last September – Rovers went for more. Canty showed his experience to hold possession at midfield before feeding sub Cian O’Keeffe, who slalomed through the Douglas cover and laid off to O’Shea, who did the rest.

Douglas did have late chances as sub Conor Russell shot wide and Sheehy dropped one short and they must now regroup before meeting Ballincollig.

Scorers for Valley Rovers: D O’Shea, C McCarthy, E Delaney 0-2 each, W Hurley, E O’Reilly, J Cottrell (0-1f), F Lynch (0-1f) 0-1 each.

Douglas: A Cotter 1-0, A O’Hare (0-1f), T Sheehy 0-2 each, K Hayes Curtin, D Kelly 0-1 each.

VALLEY ROVERS: C Desmond; D Muckian, T O’Brien, J Kiely; J O’Driscoll, D O’Shea, A Walsh Murphy; D Murphy, K Canty; A Kenneally, E O’Reilly, W Hurley; E Delaney, C McCarthy, F Lynch.

Subs: J Cottrell for Kenneally (28, injured), D Lynch for Cottrell (51), C O’Keeffe for Walsh Murphy (53, injured).

DOUGLAS: B Boyle; B Lynch, D Harte, K Hayes Curtin; J Harte, S Wilson, L McGrath; N Hartnett, K Shanahan; A Cantwell, D Kelly, S Aherne; A O’Hare, T Sheehy, A Cotter.

Subs: O Kelly for Harte (35), D Sheehan for Cotter (38), M Dolan for O’Hare (46), C Russell for Kelly (54), E O’Sullivan for Shanahan (54).

Referee: C Lane (Lyre).