Douglas minor hurlers back in hunt after big win over Aghada

Douglas 4-21 Aghada 0-14 

Top-class displays from Ronan Dooley and Mark O’Brien ensured Douglas had few problems in disposing of Aghada in the Premier 1 MHC.

Dooley finished with 2-5 despite coming off injured with 14 minutes remaining with O’Brien chipping with 1-8.

By virtue of the Glen defeating Ballincollig in the other game, three teams finish with two wins each. Scoring difference doesn't apply so one team will come out of the hat with a place in the semi-finals while the other two will meet in a playoff on September 4.

The home side played against the strong wind and they went behind in the second minute when James Hurley split the posts following a free. He added a second from play a minute and Aghada stretched their lead to three following another placed ball.

Douglas opened their account in the fifth minute when O’Dooley struck over a classy point. Ten minutes into the game Douglas trailed 0-4 to 0-1 but they responded in style with a classy goal.

Dooley made a darting run before playing a perfect pass to Tom Lucas who had no problem finding the back of the net. It got worse for Aghada in the 13th minute when a serious burst of pace from Mark O’Brien saw him billow the back of the net.

Credit to Aghada they responded in style and when Hurley registered his fifth point in the 20th minute it brought the minimum between the teams. The home side have lots of class players, none more than Dooley whose pace laid the foundation for him to drill an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net.

Dooley added a second goal in the closing minutes as his team stayed in control and it looked bleak for Aghada at the break when they trailed 4-6 to 0-8 with the home side having a very strong wind for the restart. It was a case of going through the motions in the second half as this was decided long before the sound of the final whistle.

There was minute's silence before the game in memory of the Douglas member John Kelly who passed away last week and whose son Michael is part of the minor squad who came on for the closing 10 minutes of this game.

Scorers for Douglas: R Dooley 2-5, M O’Brien 1-8 (0-4 f), T Lucas 1-0, J Mulcahy 0-3, C Hallahan 0-2, D Taaffe, W Banks, D O’Connell 0-1 each.

Aghada: J Hurley 0-9 (0-5 f), T Condon 0-2, J Devoy 0-2, T Walsh 0-1.

DOUGLAS: N Duane; B O’Hehir, L Kelleher, J Mouret; D McPhaidin, D Reddington, C O’Donoghue; O Haynes-Barry, S Sheedy; M O’Brien, C Hallahan, R Dooley; D Taaffe, W Banks, T Lucas.

Subs: Jack O’Brien for S Sheedy (h-t), S O’Sullivan for D McPhaidin (37), J Golden for C O’Donoghue (44), F Gallagher for R Dooley (inj 46), D O’Connell for D Taaffe (50), M Kelly for N Dunne (54).

AGHADA: J O’Donnell; A Murphy, R Devoy, E Crowley; J Motherway, S O’Callaghan, D Wallace; C O’Donoghue, R Dean; T Condon, H Mulcahy, I Oosthuizen; J Devoy, S Corkery, J Hurley.

Subs: T Walsh for S O’Callaghan (20), C Walsh for S Corkery (38), C Crowley for T Condon (inj 45).

Referee: Mark Maher (St Finbarr’s).