SAHC: Good start paves way for Carrigtwohill victory over Mallow

Carrigtwohill 2-20

Mallow 2-9 

Carrigtwohill led from pillar to post as they outclassed Mallow at Church Road in Sunday’s Co-op SuperStores Cork SAHC Group C clash.

With Cloyne having beaten Fermoy on Saturday night, the result means that next weekend’s East Cork derby will offer the carrot of almost guaranteed qualification for the knockout stages and Carrig will be heading into that with some momentum.

Frank Flannery’s side, playing with the wind in the first half, had an ideal start as Seán Walsh netted a first-minute goal and they held a 1-9 to 0-6 half-time advantage.

While the tally of ten wides in that opening period might have been a worry, Carrig arguably performed better against the breeze on the resumption. Mallow were unable to open their second-half account until the 46th minute, by which stage Carrig’s tally had reached 1-15. When Liam Gosnell struck for their second goal soon after that, any doubts about the outcome were fully extinguished, though Mallow’s Seán Hayes did score two late goals from dead balls.

Walsh finished with 1-9, 1-4 of that from play, and he was a real livewire in the Carrig attack. The opening goal came with barely 25 seconds on the clock as a turnover out the field allowed Tomás Hogan to send a good ball to Walsh in space and produced a great finish.

Walsh, midfielder Pádraig Hogan and Liam O’Sullivan had further points as Cian O’Riordan impressed for Carrig, though they had five wides by the tenth minute.

Those looked like they might be costly as Mallow came back with two Mark Tobin frees and a Hayes score to reduce the deficit to just the goal but Carrig powered on again. Gonsell, direct from an arrowed puckout by Shane Devlin, and O’Riordan – following a Mallow puckout – had points as they stayed well on top and teenage wing-back Daniel Murnane landed a good score as the half came to a close.

With the wind so strong, a six-point advantage was not as commanding as Carrig would have liked, but they came out for the second half in determined fashion and set about strengthening their grip on the game.

Walsh brought his tally to six with a pair of frees before James Mulcahy set up Pádraig Hogan for his second. In contrast to the first half, it was Mallow’s turn to fire cheap wides, while sub Denis Hayes did have a goal chance only for a great block by Carrig defender Aaron Walsh Barry.

Even after Tobin ended Mallow’s scoring drought, Carrig continued to keep their tally ticking over. They were 1-16 to 0-7 ahead by the 48th minute after another good O’Riordan point and the second goal came when Walsh Barry found Gosnell in space and he in turn set up James Mulcahy. Padge Buckley saved well from him but Carrig kept the play alive and Gosnell made no mistake with the second opportunity.

By the 57th minute, they were 2-19 to 0-9 to the good and strolling towards victory when Mallow had a free brought forward twice for dissent. Seán Hayes drilled the ball beyond the blue and gold men on the line and then on 59 they were awarded a penalty as Hayes was deemed to have been pushed as Ronan Sheehan sent a ball goalwards.

With just Devlin on the line this time, the result was the same, but the overall result was never in doubt.

Scorers for Carrigtwohill: S Walsh 1-9 (0-5f), L Gosnell 1-1, P Hogan 0-3, C O’Riordan, L O’Sullivan 0-2 each, J Mulcahy, D Murnane, C Barry 0-1 each.

Mallow: S Hayes 2-1 (1-0 penalty, 1-0f), M Tobin 0-7f, R Sheehan 0-1.

CARRIGTWOHILL: S Devlin; P O’Sullivan, S de Búrca, A Walsh Barry; B Twomey, J Horgan, D Murnane; J McCarthy, P Hogan; C O’Riordan, L O’Sullivan, T Hogan; S Walsh, L Gosnell, J Mulcahy.

Sub: C Barry for T Hogan (41).

MALLOW: P Buckley; S Copps, B Kingston, J Healy; P Healy, N O’Riordan, D Moynihan; S Buckley, R Sheehan; M Tobin, K Sheehan, P Lyons; D Sheehan, S Hayes, F O’Neill.

Subs: D Hayes for K Sheehan (half-time), B Murphy for Buckley (38), S Leneghan for O’Neill (41).

Referee: P Lyons (Bishopstown).