St Michael's second team edge out Aghinagh in lively Division 7 decider
Mikey O'Connell and Stephen Ahern, St Michael's, battling Micheal Horgan, Aghinagh, in the Cork Credit Unions Football League Division 7 final at Ovens. Picture: Jim Coughlan
ST MICHAEL’S second team edged out a gritty Aghinagh side to win the Cork Credit Unions Division 7 Football League title at Ovens on Saturday evening.
St Michael’s scored their three goals at crucial stages of this final which proved decisive in the end.
Aghinagh showed plenty of character in the second half. The Mid-Cork team were down by 11 points with 17 minutes remaining but rallied in the final quarter as their incredible fightback fell short in what was a very enjoyable game, particularly in the second half.
St Michael’s were the better team for the majority of the game as they got the first score after two minutes, Keith Hegarty set up Liam O’Sullivan and the latter popped the ball over the bar. Aghinagh struggled to get a foothold on the game and after losing possession in what was a good situation for them, St Michael’s went down the pitch and got a goal.
Great play by captain Paul Cronin opened up the Aghinagh defence and Cronin then gave a clever pass to Simon Falvey and the lively wing-forward unleashed an unstoppable shot into the back of the net. The Aghinagh goalkeeper Jason McCarthy didn’t stand a chance.
The Mahon club were purring and points from O’Sullivan and Falvey extended their advantage. Aghinagh were without star man Liam Twohig and they missed his presence up front. The Mid-Cork side did have a chance of a goal after 13 minutes in what was their first time in St Michael’s half.
Unfortunately for the team in blue and white, Noah O’Leary’s shot went narrowly wide from close-range. O’Sullivan pointed following a neat St Michael’s move as they led 1-4 to 0-0 after the first quarter.
Aghinagh registered their first score after 16 minutes when Gearoid O’Sullivan converted a free. That score ignited Aghinagh’s challenge as they put together three points on the trot as they used the ball much more economically compared to the first quarter.
But all of a sudden, St Michael’s hit 1-1 in a space of a minute, the green flag was a sucker punch for Aghinagh as Domhnall Cronin rounded the goalkeeper to score an easy goal, 2-5 to 0-4 after 25 minutes. Con Buckley had a chance of a goal but St Michael’s netminder Mikey O’Connell made a decent save. The sides exchanged the next four points as the team in green and gold led 2-7 to 0-6 at the interval.
On the resumption, O’Sullivan converted a close-range free for the winners before Con Buckley raised a white flag for Aghinagh when it could have very easily been a goal. The city team scored a third goal just as Aghinagh were getting a foothold, Cronin the goal scorer.
He then added a point before O’Sullivan scored 1-1 for Aghinagh. The goal coming from the penalty spot after TJ Buckley was fouled in the penalty area, 3-9 to 2-8 after 45 minutes. St Michael’s were then reduced to 14 players for 10 minutes after Emmett Sheehan received a black card.
Con Buckley clipped over a beauty as Aghinagh reduced the deficit to six points. Sheehan came back on with Aghinagh failing to make use of the extra man during the ten minutes despite plenty of possession. Aghinagh hit two of the three points in injury time to reduce the lead down to two points.
The Rusheen-based outfit tried desperately for a green flag but St Michael’s defended well as they won by two points in what was a very entertaining final played before a big and vocal crowd.
Liam O’Sullivan 0-6 (0-2 f), P Cronin 1-2, S Falvey 1-1, D Cremin 1-0, E Sheehan 0-1.
G O’Sullivan 1-5 (1-0 pen, 0-5 f), C Buckley 1-2, D Ambrose 0-2, TJ Buckley, D Corkery 0-1 each.
M O’Connell; F Leahy, A Nolan, S Ahern; J Lenihan, R Kavanagh, M Drummond; E Sheehan, T Grainger; S Falvey, P Cronin (c), L O’Herlihy; Liam O’Sullivan, K Hegarty, D Cremin.
S O’Sullivan for T Grainger, Lee O’Sullivan for L O’Herlihy (both 43), D Shovlin for P Cronin (62).
J McCarthy; D O’Riordan, D Barry (j-c), D Kelleher; TJ Buckley, A Twomey, D Ambrose; G O’Sullivan (j-c), M O’Brien; N O’Leary, C Buckley, V Moriarty; D McCarthy, M Horgan, S Kelleher.
W Coakley for V Moriarty, D O’Callaghan for N O’Leary (both h-t), E McCarthy for S Kelleher (45), O Cummins for M O’Brien (51), D Corkery for D McCarthy (57).
Stephen Murphy (Bandon).
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