Cork SHL: Fr O'Neill's edge out Glen Rovers with bench press key in second half
John Mellerick, Fr O'Neill's wins a great ball from Mark Dooley, Glen Rovers in their RedFM SHL Division 1 match at Aghavine. Picture Dan Linehan
Fr O’Neill’s got the better of Glen Rovers in Aghavine on Sunday morning as four points from the bench in the second half helped O’Neill’s to a three point victory in the RedFM Division 1 Hurling League.
With only a quarter of an hour to go it still could have gone either way – as a brilliant run and handpass from Lee Quilligan saw the Glen forward serve Eoin O’Leary with a golden opportunity, and he made no mistake to level it for the visitors with a green flag after 43 minutes, 1-12 to 2-9.
Two minutes after conceding the goal O’Neill’s introduced Tadhg O’Donoghue Brosnan.
Two minutes on again he had raised two white flags.
He would add a third in the 52nd minute, and in the interim another Fr O’Neill’s sub in Padraig McMahon added another score, after O’Donoghue Brosnan played the long pass in that would see Michael Wall set up McMahon for the point.
The bench press coupled with impressive link up play from Wall saw O’Neill’s move 1-16 to 2-9 clear, while Dean Brosnan landed Rovers’ first score since the 43rd minute goal with a free on 53 minutes. He landed one more from play but missed two frees late on to take their wide count to 19 on the day – undoubtedly the cause of defeat.
It was an encouraging performance from O’Neill’s who moved the ball brilliantly through, while Daniel Harrington was an imposing figure at centre-back and arguably their best performer.
O’Neill’s started the stronger of the two sides but the swirling wind meant it at was always going to be a battle of scoring efficiency.
The Glen hit five of their 19 wides in the first 10 minutes, and by the time they got their first score through Eoin O’Leary in minute 15, they trailed 0-5 to 0-1.
O’Neill’s managed two of those five in the first 10 minutes before Peter Hassett, John Millerick and Kevin O’Sullivan (free) all found the target in a three minute spell to finish out the first quarter.
Rovers were sloppy at times and Adam O’Driscoll got caught with a backwards pass as O’Sullivan intercepted for Fr O’Neill’s before providing the assist for Wall’s score.
The following puckout saw Cathal Hickey hit it straight to Conor O’Leary, but he made up for the error with a good stretching save to deny the O’Neill’s forward in the 19th minute.
O’Sullivan scored the resulting 65 but Dean Brosnan sparked Rovers into gear with two white flags in the space of a minute, before O’Driscoll assisted Luke Horgan for a brilliant goal, 0-8 to 1-3 after 21 minutes.
First starts were given to minor graduates Conor McCarthy and Diarmuid Wall who showed flashes of their potential – particularly the latter – whose 25th minute point brought the gap down to the minimum.
An O’Leary free levelled it for the Glen, but O’Neill’s finished the half with 1-2 unanswered, O’Sullivan and Joe Millerick raising white flags before John Millerick’s goal chance was stopped inches from going over, but Conor O’Leary was on hand to sneak it beyond the line amidst the scramble.
That left it 1-11 to 1-6 in favour of O’Neill’s. Glen Rovers would come back to draw level a second time but O’Donoghue Brosnan’s cameo ensured it would be to no avail.
Impressive again on his second senior appearance for the Ballymacoda/Ladysbridge side, his three points late on ensured they pulled clear.
K O’Sullivan 0-7 (0-2 f, 0-1 65), C O’Leary 1-0, T O’Donoghue Brosnan 0-3, John Millerick 0-2, P McMahon, P Hassett, M Wall, D Harrington, Joe Millerick 0-1 each.
E O’Leary 1-6 (0-3 f), D Brosnan 0-4 (0-1 f), L Horgan 1-0, D Wall 0-1.
C Sloane; M Millerick, E Motherway, J Barry; M O’Keeffe, D Harrington (c), C O’Connor; Joe Millerick, John Millerick; R Cullinane, K O’Sullivan, P Hassett; C O’Leary, M Wall, B Dunne.
P McMahon for Hassett (42), T O’Donoghue Brosnan for O’Leary (45), D O’Neill for Motherway (48).
C Hickey; A Lynch, E Varian, Z Lynch; D Coughlan, B Moylan, D Noonan; A O’Driscoll, C McCarthy; M Dooley, D Brosnan (c), L Horgan; L Quilligan, E O’Leary, D Wall.
J Brosnan for Dooley, F O’Driscoll for Coughlan (both 44), C Healy for Horgan (52).
Cathal McAllister (Aghada)
App?
