Premier IFC: Aghada hope football win provides hurling boost

While it didn’t end with ultimate success, Aghada’s McCarthy Insurance Group Premier IFC campaign ended with a success – one they hope might have a knock-on hurling effect.

Going into Saturday’s clash with Ilen Rovers in Brinny, both Aghada and their opponents had yet to claim a point, losing to Aghabullogue and Uibh Laoire, who were qualified with a game to spare.

Avoiding defeat and a possible relegation play-off was the objective and the East Cork side achieved that, with Aaron Berry scoring three goals in a 5-11 to 1-10 triumph.

With Aghada already consigned to the relegation match at intermediate A hurling level, the aim was to avoid an unwanted double, according to manager Mick Kiely.

“It was a tough game from the point of view of a relegation semi-final, which it really was,” he said.

“The hurlers were beaten last week and they’re in a relegation final, the same group of lads but they’re a special group of lads.

“We thought that they shouldn’t have been in that position but unfortunately that’s where we found ourselves and we had to battle it out, especially against Ilen Rovers.

“We’ve seen them play a few times and they’re a very physical team and they were just down from senior A last year. We knew what we’d get out of them.

“We always believed that these boys could click and it was only a matter of when. They did that.”

An early goal from Tim Hartnett put Aghada 1-6 to 0-2 in front and Berry netted twice before half-time – one a penalty – as they retired with a healthy 3-8 to 0-4 lead. However, in the second half, Ilen responded and Simon O’Shea’s goal was part of an unanswered 1-3, though the lead was never less than eight points.

“They were kicking some long balls in there and they got a bit of joy out of that,” Kiely said.

“You’d be expecting always that a team is going to come at you. They’ll always get a purple patch and it’s about how you weather that storm in the end.

“They had that ten minutes or so but then we went up and Jamie O’Hanlon got a goal and we got a point after that and settled things down again.”

After O’Hanlon netted just after coming on, Berry completed his hat-trick, ensuring that Aghada took third place. It ended the football year on a positive note, though the previous defeats carried some regrets.

“In both games there we were a point up with about ten minutes to go,” Kiely said.

“We made a few mistakes in the Aghabullogue game, they got three points on the bounce, and against Iveleary then Chris Óg [Jones] got a great goal that day and things went against us, you know? But look, we have no excuses, we’ve to get back on the horse again next year and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.

“There’s 12 or 13 of this team started for Agahda in the [East Cork] U21 A, they beat Glenville there two weeks ago inside in Cobh. So like, there is a young team there, without a shadow of a doubt.”

Balancing that youth is 44-year-old Pearse O’Neill, bringing levels of commitment that ensure nobody else can coast.

“He brings up the age alright!” Kiely laughed.

“He plays as good as any 30-year-old man. He creates an example, and Pearse is down training the U8s, the U9s, he’s helping out below in the pitch; he’s a great club guy, he’s a great guy in general, you know? And he looks after himself really, really well.”

Now, the hope for Kiely and the rest of the club is that the momentum from this win can help in next week’s hurling clash against Cloughduv.

“A lot of it, everything is about confidence,” he said.

“ After tonight, they’ve a bit of confidence. I hope to God they go out against Cloughduv now next weekend and get a result and get back and challenge for the intermediate A again next year.”