Glen Rovers lay down marker by hitting Killeagh for three goals without injured Patrick Horgan
Glen Rovers' Steven Lynam hammers the ball to the Killeagh net, during their Senior AHC clash at Carrigtwohill. Picture: David Keane.
Glen Rovers got their bid to return to the top flight off to a winning start as they defeated Killeagh in their Co-op Superstores SAHC clash at Carrigtwohill.
Last season the famed Blackpool side lost out to Kanturk in their relegation battle and now find themselves playing at Senior A level.
The big news ahead of the game was the fact that their star player, Patrick Horgan, wasn’t fit enough to start. However, that didn’t bother the city side who took the lead in the first minute and never lost it again from there to the finish, despite an early second-half red card.
They were rock solid at the back with the Downey brothers, Eoin and Rob, anchoring their defence, along with David Dooling.
Gearoid Mulcahy and David Noonan worked hard in midfield and up front the likes of Steven Lynam, Dean Brosnan and Simon Kennefick made life difficult for the Killeagh defence.
Brosnan opened the scoring for the Glen after 15 seconds with Lynam adding a second from a free.
But by the time we got to the fourth minute Killeagh were back on level terms, thanks to points from David Buckley and Dylan McCarthy, to make it 0-2 apiece, with both impressing for their side.
McCarthy pointed from a free to put the East Cork side in front, before Brian Moylan equalised for the Glen.
Evan Lane put Killeagh back in front with Lynam equalising from another free.
From the restart, the Glen took the lead when Simon Kennefick intercepted a puck-out to raise the first green flag after 11 minutes.
McCarthy and Lane replied for Killeagh, before Lynam, Brosnan and Kennefick all pointed to make it 1-7 to 0-6 in the Glen’s favour after 20 minutes.
David Buckley replied for Killeagh before the Glen took a firm grip on proceedings when Eoin O’Leary and Kennefick combined to set up Lynam for their second goal.
Killeagh hit back with McCarthy on target twice, one from a free, to make it 2-7 to 0-9 after 26 minutes.
Again the Glen responded with Lynam hitting two more, after an impressive first half from the corner forward.
McCarthy pointed from another free for Killeagh as the city side led by 2-9 to 0-10 at half-time.
Brosnan repeated his first-half feat at the start of the second half when he split the posts again just 15 seconds in.
McCarthy hit back from a free and with 36 minutes gone the Glen were down to 14 when David Noonan got a straight red card for a late tackle on Colm Leahy.
Eoin O’Leary extended the Glen’s lead with Rhys Dunne and Brosnan both on target, to make it 2-13 to 0-11 after 46 minutes.
Any chance of a Killeagh comeback was killed off after 52 minutes when a long ball in from Kennefick was flicked to the back of the net by Luke Horgan, not long on as a sub.
Kennefick and Moylan were among the scorers late on for the Glen as they ran out comfortable winners, despite being down to 14 men for most of the second half.
They now play Inniscarra in their second group game, with Killeagh facing Ballyhea.
S Lynam 1-5 (0-3 f), S Kennefick 1-2, L Horgan 1-0, D Brosnan 0-4, E O’Leary 0-3, M Dooley, B Moylan 0-2 each, R Dunne 0-1.
D McCarthy 0-9 (0-6 f, 0-1 65), D Buckley, E Lane 0-2 each, S Walsh (f), C Leahy 0-1 each.
C Hickey; E Varian, E Downey, L Coughlan; B Moylan, R Downey, D Dooling; G Mulcahy, D Noonan; R Dunne, D Brosnan, M Dooley; S Lynam, E O’Leary, S Kennefick.
L Horgan for G Mulcahy (49).
C Walsh; B Delaney, A Keniry, D Walsh; R Sinclair, R McCarthy, A Walsh; C Leahy, S Long; D McCarthy, C Leahy, A Leahy; D Buckley, G Leahy, E Lane.
S Walsh for A Walsh, (40 inj), R Long for E Lane (42), E Lane for G Leahy (44), S Smiddy for A Leahy (48),
Shane Scanlon (Newcestown).
App?
