Douglas trump Bishopstown in extra time in U21 A football cracker
Douglas players Adam Young and David Buckley tackle Odhran Foley, Bishopstown in the PharmaCare City Division U21 A football championship semi-final at Ballinlough, Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan
A brilliant battle in Ballinlough on Sunday morning saw Douglas knock out reigning champions Bishopstown in the PharmaCare U21 A Football Championship semi-final.
Time was running out for Bishopstown and Douglas led by three. The Town hadn’t recovered from a tough second quarter.
That was until the 54th minute, when Gary Holland kicked a sublime two-pointer, offering a glimmer of hope.
Douglas’ Sean O’Leary got what appeared to be the insurance score. That was until the final minute of the 60 – when Kieran McFadden added a third orange flag for the reigning champions.
Extra-time would follow.
Again, the Town’s two-point prowess would come to the fore, as Conor Dunne landed his second orange flagged free.
But Douglas would finish the last 90 seconds with a bang Eoin O’Flynn’s free preceded a crucial goal from substitute Cormac Reddington. Suddenly they went from two behind to two ahead.
10 minutes of football to go. Darragh O’Donovan hit one back for Bishopstown. O’Flynn cancelled it out for Douglas.
Four minutes left. Dunne forced a turnover and released a powerful shot at goal. James O’Flaherty made his third save of the day, and it went over the bar. One point in it.
Turnover. Douglas break.
A beautiful move orchestrated by Rob Hanley and O’Flynn with their clever one-two move seeing Hanley palm it in to leave four points in it. Their sole two-pointer from Jack Cunnigham increased the lead to six, and Foley’s final score was a mere consolation.
A physically demanding battle, but a brilliant game of football all the way through.
With Bishopstown leading by four points to nil after 11 minutes and finishing the first period with no wides – you would expect them to be in front at the halfway mark.
Yet somehow the reigning champions were behind.
An unsuspecting but impressive turnaround saw Douglas crawl back into contention, largely thanks to Eoin O’Flynn, who was ever so threatening in transition.
An excellent strike from McCarthy to give Bishopstown a four-point buffer was followed up by Douglas’ first point of the game, as Harry Quilligan kicked over a free.
Within 10 minutes of their opening point, Douglas had cut the gap to the minimum, as O’Flynn got each of their three scores, two frees and one superb score from play that left the umpire unsure which colour flag to raise.
By the 27th minute Adam Young levelled it for the first time – but Douglas really should have had a green flag after a scramble on the Bishopstown goalline.
That wasn’t the only lucky star used by the Town. Three big bright orange flags in the second half would be key.
They would need those orange flags as Douglas’ start to the second half was relentless. Having closed out the half with a free from O’Flynn, they fired four in front when Colm MacPhaidin buried their first goal from close range.
Bishopstown’s first two-pointer made a dent to the Douglas advantage. A 39th minute free from Dunne left it 1-7 to 0-9.
Despite impressive performances from Darragh O’Donovan and Odhran Foley, they couldn’t get any closer. Douglas stretched their lead back out to three.
Holland’s two-pointer would change the game, and spark Bishopstown’s comeback – although Douglas would still prevail.
E O’Flynn 0-7 (5f), C MacPhaidin, C Reddington, R Hanley 1-0 each, J Cunningham 0-3 (1 2pt), A Young 0-2, S O’Leary, H Quilligan 0-1 each.
C Dunne 0-9 (4 f, 2 2ptf), G Holland (1 2pt), K McFadden (1 2pt) 0-3 each, O Foley, B McCarthy, D O’Donovan 0-1 each.
J O’Flaherty; L Fogarty, J O’Callaghan Maher, C MacPhaidin; O Barry, D Buckley (c), D O’Callaghan; J Burke, D Reddington; A Young, S O’Leary, R Hanley; E O’Flynn, J Cunningham, H Quilligan.
C O’Keeffe for Qulligan (44), J Hartnett for D Reddington (47), C Reddington for Barry (50), S Allman Walsh for Cunningham, S O’Rourke for MacPhaidin (both 58), Quilligan for O’Keeffe (74).
S Cronin; H Wixted, P Casey, M Sheridan; D O’Donovan, D Cuthbert, O Foley; K Murphy, B McCarthy; C Daly, K McFadden, M Scally; B Cahill, C Dunne (c), G Holland.
S Sheridan for Scally, J Tompkins for Daly (both 44), C McGrath for Cahill (47), C Vaughan for Casey (69), D Griffin for Cuthbert (75).
Mark Maher (St Finbarr’s)
App?
