Premier SHC: Imokilly far too strong for Douglas

Imokilly 1-29

Douglas 1-16

Imokilly’s progress to a Co-op SuperStores Cork Premier SHC semi-final was serene on Sunday evening.

The East Cork divisional side had 13 points to spare on Douglas as they advanced to a last-four meeting with Sarsfields that is brimming with potential.

There was a sense of inevitability from a long way out, with Imokilly having amassed a 0-10 to 0-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. By half-time, they were 0-15 to 0-7 in front, 14 of those points from play and seven different players having registered.

While Shane Kingston did score a Douglas goal early in the second half, that came after Imokilly had had the first three points of the second period and the strike was followed by three more white flags for the striped ide as their grip on the game never weakened to any substantial degree.

What makes the victory all the more impressive is that it was achieved without captain John Cronin or Ciarán Joyce, but there remains a strong depth to their squad and they were able to boast seven different players scoring twice or more from play.

Douglas did score two of the game’s first five points but thereafter Imokilly were in control and a run of scores from Diarmuid Healy, Séamus Harnedy, Mike Kelly and Bill Cooper gave them a lead of 0-7 to 0-2.

Diarmuid Healy and Seán Desmond prospered as Imokilly found space in attack, and at the back, Ciarán O’Brien and Dáire O’Leary were immense presences, with the latter getting in an important block on Brian Hartnett as the half came to a close. A goal then, when they trailed by 0-15 to 0-6, might have reignited the Douglas challenge.

Conor Kingston did have a point for them in injury time but two Kelly frees and a Jack Leahy point moved Imokilly 0-18 to 0-7 in front early in the second half. After Kingston’s fourth point, nice interplay from his brother Conor and Cian Baldwin gave the Cork star a chance and he cleverly finished past Eoin Davis.

It was not the catalyst for a full-blown revival though, as Imokilly scored seven of the next eight points to lead by 0-25 to 1-10 by the three-quarter stage. Kingston did continue to carry the fight but Imokilly never let up and they had a late goal from the outstanding Desmond.

Scorers for Imokilly: S Desmond 1-6, M Kelly 0-7 (0-4f), D Healy 0-4, S Harnedy, J Leahy 0-3 each, B Cooper, Barry Lawton 0-2 each, W Leahy, S Hegarty 0-1 each.

Douglas: S Kingston 1-10 (0-5f, 0-1 65), C Kingston, A Cadogan 0-2 each, E Dolan, C Lucas 0-1 each.

IMOKILLY: E Davis (St Catherine’s); C O’Brien (St Ita’s), T Wilk (Cobh), M Russell (Aghada); D O’Leary (Watergrasshill), Brian Lawton (Castlemartyr), J McCarthy (Dungourney); B Cooper (Youghal), S Hegarty (Dungourney); D Healy (Lisgoold), S Harnedy (St Ita’s), Barry Lawton (Castlemartyr); M Kelly (Castlemartyr), J Leahy (Dungourney), S Desmond (Watergrasshill).

Subs: W Leahy (Aghada) for Barry Lawton (52), J Stack (Castlemartyr) for Harnedy (57), K Wallace (St Catherine’s) for Kelly, D Mangan (St Catherine’s) for Leahy, B Mulcahy (St Catherine’s) for Desmond (all 60).

DOUGLAS: D Maher; D Murphy, B O’Neill, E Cadogan; C O’Donovan, M Harrington, M Howell; C Baldwin, S Moylan; E Dolan, A Cadogan, C Kingston; B Hartnett, S Kingston, S Bourke.
Subs: S Donegan for Dolan (half-time), C Lucas for Bourke, K McSweeney for Baldwin (both 37), B O’Connor for C Kingston (47), C O’Donovan for Hartnett (53).

Referee: S Scanlon (Newcestown).