Cork ace Chris Óg Jones shows his class as Iveleary rally to beat Aghada
Diarmuid Phelan rises high is in the air during the PIFC clash between Iveleary and Aghada on Saturday in Ballyanly. Picture: Chani Anderson
A stunning second-half display from Cork football star Chris Óg Jones ensured Iveleary survived a scare from a battling Aghada side in a low-scoring McCarthy Insurance PIFC clash at Ballyanly on Saturday.
Hard to believe given the final score that with 12 minutes remaining, following a Cian Hegarty free, Aghada led by the minimum 0-7 to 0-6.
Suddenly in the space of six minutes, the class of Chris Óg Jones helped his side see off the resilient Aghada with a 1-4 tally in a nine-minute period that finally killed off their battling opponents.
The opening exchanges were all about Iveleary keeping possession but it was the underdogs Aghada that registered the opening point courtesy of a neat Diarmuid Byrne accurate shot. There is little doubt Iveleary didn’t expect the intensity that Aghada showed in the opening ten minutes but a minute later they levelled proceedings courtesy of a Sean O’Riordan white flag.
On the next possession, Aghada had a golden goal opportunity when Diarmuid Byrne was left clean through on goal but somehow he managed to blast the ball over the bar when hitting the net looked a far easier option.
Another opportunity went a-begging when Tim Hartnett had a thunderous shot saved by the same player but was then hauled down inside the square. Up stepped Aaron Berry for the penalty but this time his shot came back off the right post to safety.
A Brian Cronin point edged Iveleary ahead against the run of play but they did manage to dig out a goal chance with five minutes remaining to the short whistle but Ian Jones shot straight at the keeper.
As the half matured Aghada’s intensity dropped but with the scoring averages low for both sides Iveleary luckily went in at the break commanding a 0-3 to 0-2 lead.
Chris Óg Jones got Iveleary’s opening point from a placed ball in the 33rd minute but two minutes later Byrne brought the minimum between the teams with his third point of the game.
It was evident both teams were well set up with chances at both ends continuing to be sparse and midway through the half a stunning second point from Cian Hegarty tied the game at five points each.
The Aghada supporters were in rapture when Hegarty edged them ahead with 12 minutes remaining before Barry Murphy tied it for the fourth time.
Then Jones took over, which began with a monstrous point that would have graced any pitch in this country. The sealing goal with six minutes by Jones put the icing on the cake for Iveleary as Aghada’s first-half missed goal opportunities came back to haunt them.
C Óg Jones 1-6 (0-4 f), B Cronin 0-2, S O'Riordan I Jones, B Murphy 0-1 each.
C Hegarty 0-4 f, D Byrne 0-3 (0-1 f).
J Creedon; B Murphy, D O’Donovan, T Roberts; K Manning, D O’Riordan, K Jones; B O’Leary, C O’Leary; A O’Donovan, C Óg Jones, S O’Riordan; B Cronin, S Pickering, I Jones.
C Galvin for K Jones (40).
C O’Shea; S White, J Colbert, D Collins; A O’Connell, E Leahy, J O’Donoghue; D Phelan, P O’Neill; D Byrne, T Hartnett, C Hegarty; N Cunningham, A Berry, D Creedon.
R Murphy for S Whyte (40), J O’Hanlon for D Creedon (55).
Aidan Hyland (Kilworth).
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