Kilshanning seal PIFC top seed as Macroom left to battle relegation

Kilshannig 3-10 Macroom 1-8 

Kilshannig are through to the McCarthy Insurance PIFC semi-finals after battling past Macroom in Kanturk on Saturday evening.

Led by Cork senior Killian O’Hanlon, the North Cork side had to dig deep in the first half against a side battling to avoid the relegation playoff but were well worth the victory.

O'Hanlon was ably assisted by Darragh O’Sullivan, Eanna O’Hanlon and corner-forward Diarmuid O’Sullivan. In the scoring stakes his midfield partner Shane Murphy also did well against Cork All-Ireland winner Fintan Goold and Sean Kiely.

This game didn’t spark into life until the 20th minute.

Three points from Kilshannig and a brace from Macroom in that period – Kilshannig’s points all from Darragh O’Sullivan placed balls, had the Avondhu side up by one. Scores from Alan Quinn and Kiely showed the Muskerry outfit were up for the challenge, albeit in a game that failed to deliver to that point.

A piece of opportunism from Kilshannig corner-forward Diarmuid O’Sullivan bagged the first goal on 20 minutes but less than 60 seconds later a surging run from Kiely set up Don Creedon who made no mistake – game back in the mix and something to cheer about for both sets of supporters.

Two more pointed frees from Quinn gave Macroom the narrowest of halftime but the second half was going to be a challenge for the Muskerry side. (1-4 to 1-3).

Kilshannig looked to have started the second half with a bang however their goal was disallowed for a square ball – Macroom living on the edge early on – but they would concede soon after as Eanna O’Hanlon would hit 1-3 in a dominant spell.

Killian O’Hanlon would get his goal on 50 minutes – this one done from there.

Scorers for Kilshannig: E O’Hanlon 1-3; Darragh O’Sullivan 0-5 (0-4 f); K O’Hanlon 1-1; Diarmuid O’Sullivan 1-0; C O’Connell 0-1.

Macroom: A Quinn 0-5 (0-4 f), D Creedon 1-0; S Kiely 0-2; J Murphy 0-1.

KILSHANNIG: G Creedon; S O’Connell, E Burke, M Twomey; C Murphy, C O’Shea, E Healy; S Murphy, K O’Hanlon; C O’Connell, Daragh O’Sullivan, J O’Hanlon; Diarmuid O’Sullivan, A O’Connell, K Twomey. 

Subs: T Cunningham for A O’Connell (inj, 12), S O’Connell for K Twomey (inj, 27), B Curtin for C O’Shea (32), C O’Sullivan for J O’Hanlon (35), D Twomey for D O’Sullivan (50).

MACROOM: B O’Connell; J O’Riordan, R Buckley, D Creedon; J Murphy, M Corrigan, M Cronin; F Goold, S Kiely; C Buckley, C O’Sullivan, T Dineen; E O’Leary, A Quinn, D Twomey. 

Subs: C Condon for M Cronin (31), E O’Mahony for D Twomey (44), M Hunt for C O’Sullivan (44), P Lucey for T Dineen (55), S Meany for D Creedon (58).

Referee: J Kelleher (St Johns).