Douglas come good late on to defeat Goleen and capture Junior B county
Douglas' joint captains Odhran Mulrooney and Conor O'Donoghue raise the Jim Cronin Cup after defeating Goleen in the County JBFC final at Páirc Uí Rinn. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
DOUGLAS have been crowned Bon Secours Hospital County JBFC winners following victory over Goleen at a cold but dry Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday evening.
Douglas trailed by four points with 10 minutes remaining but came good late on to win the game. It’s Goleen’s fourth county final defeat at this level.
In front of a large and vocal crowd, with the majority supporting the team in black and gold, it was Douglas' third team who started brightly and were rewarded with a point after two minutes from midfielder Gearóid O’Sullivan. A youthful Douglas side pushed two points clear after five minutes when Evan Collins converted a relatively easy free as Goleen took their time to settle into the encounter.
The West Cork side got their first score after six minutes, a super Shane O’Leary point from an acute angle. The teams were level after nine minutes when Michael O’Reilly pointed from a free from close range. Scores were hard to come by with a combination of both defences on top and wrong options.
Goleen had their noses in front for the first time just before the first quarter, another super point as Darren O’Donovan split the posts, 0-3 to 0-2 after 14 minutes. There was a lull in the scoring, as a stalemate developed before Goleen opened up a two-point gap when O’Reilly raised a white flag with seven minutes to the break.
The city side got their first score in 22 minutes and it was a much-needed one when Steven O’Sullivan scored a scruffy goal from close range after Daniel McCarthy did brilliantly in the build-up, 1-2 to 0-4 with three minutes to the break. Goleen literally went down the other end of the pitch to raise a green flag of their own when O’Reilly fisted the ball into the net, an easy finish. There were no further scores in the opening 30 minutes as Goleen led 1-4 to 1-2 at half-time.
On the resumption, it was Douglas who started the quicker, but registered two wides in the first two minutes of the new half before Collins split the posts. Douglas then suffered a sucker punch when their opposition billowed the back of the net after 33 minutes through O’Donovan following a driving run from the latter.
The sides traded white flags with Goleen holding a 2-5 to 1-4 advantage after 37 minutes. The score of the game arrived 10 minutes into the second half when the impressive O’Donovan landed a point with the outside of his boot from long-range, a sublime score. An Eoin O’Flynn free and a Collins effort left just three points between the sides with 11 minutes remaining.
An O’Reilly point from a near impossible angle gave Goleen a four-point buffer before Douglas’ Cathal Deasy pointed and a Collins free left just two points in it with six minutes to go. It was all Douglas now and a free from sub Harry Quilligan brought the margin down to a point. And it was level after 59 minutes when O’Flynn bisected the posts.
A boomer from Collins nudged Douglas ahead in injury time before O’Flynn put the icing on the cake with a point as Douglas claimed the silverware.
E Collins 0-5 (0-2 f), S O’Sullivan 1-0, E O’Flynn 0-3 (0-1 f), H Quilligan 0-2 (0-1 f), G O’Sullivan, C Deasy 0-1 each.
M O’Reilly 1-4 (0-2 f), D O’Donovan 1-2, S O’Leary 0-1.
P McCarthy; S O’Rourke, C O’Donoghue (joint-capt) D Sheehan; C Myers, D Curtin, D O’Callaghan; O Mulrooney (joint-capt), G O’Sullivan; E O’Flynn, M Dolan, C Deasy; D McCarthy, E Collins, S O’Sullivan.
H Quilligan for M Dolan (29), C Donlon for C O’Donoghue, E McAuliffe for D McCarthy (both 36), M Howell for D Curtin (42), S O’Leary for S O’Sullivan (46).
R Kennedy: E Healy, J O’Driscoll, M Sheehan; P Reidy (capt), P Collins, P Sheehan; M Sheehan, T Cullinane; A Sheehan, D O’Driscoll, J Coughlan; S O’Leary, D O’Donovan, M O’Reilly.
T Reidy for P Collins (49), P O’Regan for T Cullinane (53), M O’Driscoll for J Coughlan (60).
Arthur Murphy (Killeagh).
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