Ballincollig complete U15 championship double with hard fought win over Glanmire
Ballincollig celebrate their U15 Premier 1 double after beating Glanmire at Bishopstown. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
A week on from their outstanding win over Sarsfields in the P1 U15 hurling decider, Ballincollig have secured the double with victory over Glanmire.
Their P1 U15 Football Championship title win certainly wasn’t as surprising or as dominant as the hurling counterpart, but Ballincollig were full value for their victory in Bishopstown on Saturday as they defeated many of the same players from the win over Sars.
While Glanmire were first to split the posts with 35 seconds elapsed, within six minutes of that initial strike Ballincollig had taken the lead, and would hold it until the final whistle.
It wasn’t always comfortable though – with Glanmire hanging on, just 1-5 to 0-3 behind with the final 10 minutes to play.
They had remained competitive in the second half but when Aaron O’Sullivan was dealt a second yellow card with 53 minutes gone, it became too great an ask.
Points from Joe Miskella and Ben Farrell edged Ballincollig seven clear with only four to go, ensuring it would not go down to the wire.
Glanmire’s Eoin Considine went for goal from a close range free with 90 seconds to go and while his strike was powerful, it was too high and went between the posts.
Miskella, who had put in a storming performance for Ballincollig – restored the seven point lead deep in added time with an effort from play.
He wasn’t the only one to stand out for the Village though, as they claimed their fourth football county title in a row.
Eanna Lynch and Daithí Murphy were outstanding in the wing back positions for Ballincollig, moving the ball well and creating space for their forwards. As they ventured up the field James Harrington did a stellar job in covering the empty space.
The trio were integral to the win, and made the difference alongside Miskella.
While scores were sparse in the early stages the Village received a big boost when Jack Costello set up Bobby Power, and the centre forward’s placed his turning strike brilliantly into the corner of the net after seven minutes.
An unstoppable effort.
That was it until the 16th minute, when Murphy set up Lynch for a point, before an outrageous effort from Miskella moments later sailed between the uprights.
Tom Huggins ended a 25 minute scoreless spell for Glanmire on 26, but they weren’t able to build on it and so the score remained 1-3 to 0-2 for the rest of the half.
Both sides would remain scoreless until the 41st minute of the second period, when Costello kicked over a neat team move for the eventual winners – moving them five points clear.
At the beginning of the final quarter Donagh Healy converted a free for the Glanmire, but the Muskerry side responded immediately through Miskella’s own placed ball.
They couldn’t get the gap to within a goal, and the dismissal of O’Sullivan late on was the killer blow. Not only were they down to 14, they had lost a key defender.
Both Considine and Tom Huggins had done well defensively, but anytime Considine kicked the ball into space, Glanmire’s forwards were unable to take their scoring opportunities.
A man short to go with the five point deficit – it was only going to go one way, and Ballincollig finished strong.
J Miskella 0-5 (0-3 f), B Power 1-0, E Lynch, J Costello, B Farrell 0-1 each.
E Considine 0-2 (0-1 f), D Healy (f), T Huggins 0-1 each.
D McCarthy; S Richmond, L Higgins, P Skehan; E Lynch, J Harrington, D Murphy; J Miskella, E Ó hUrnaí; S O’Brien, B Power, C McCarthy; E Stack, J Costello, C McDonnell (c).
F Lordan for Power (10-HT temp), J O’Sullivan for O’Brien (42), A Jowefowski for McDonnell (44), B Farrell for Stack (55).
J Daly; A Soltani, A O’Sullivan, S Carey; F O’Sullivan, T Huggins, E O’Donovan; E Dawson, E Considine; C Reddy, M Sullivan, A McCarthy; M Mulkerrins, D Healy (c), L Wills.
C McCarthy for Wills (24), C McDonald for Reddy (47), S Liesk for A McCarthy (59).
Luke McCarthy
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