Premier SFC: Slicker Carrigaline power past out of sorts Clonakilty
Clonakilty's Ross Mannix puts the pressure on Carrigaline's Niall Quirke. Picture: Denis Boyle
An outstanding performance from Carrigaline saw them easily dispatch Clonakilty in the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC at Charlie Hurley Park in Bandon on Sunday afternoon.
The Carrigdhoun men have now two wins from two games and have now qualified from Group 2 following St Finbarr's win over Carbery Rangers.
Last year’s SAFC winners conceded the first two points, but that would be the only time they would trail. They were more slicker and had the answers when questions were put to them. They led by three points at half-time and were eight points clear at one stage.
Clonakilty did lose their Cork senior footballer Maurice Shanley to injury with 11 minutes to go, but they can have no complaints here.
Clon, who were fancied to make an impression this year, are now out of the running to qualify and meet Carbery Rangers in their final group encounter in three weeks knowing a win is of huge importance to avoid a potential relegation play-off.
Carrigaline have a difficult assignment against St Finbarr’s, but they can go into that with the pressure off.
In what was a nervy start from both teams, Carrigaline, who had wind advantage, registered two early wides before Clonakilty’s Dara Ó Sé sliced his effort for a goal wide albeit it was a difficult chance.
A pair of close range Darragh Gough frees settled Clonakilty, but an Éanna Desmond effort and a super Brian O’Driscoll two-pointer underlined Carrigaline’s positive opening, 0-3 to 0-2 after nine minutes.
The sides traded white flags until O’Driscoll, who was covering an incredible amount of ground, fisted over a point for his team.
Patient play and also a neat team move resulted in Ó Sé kicking over a beauty to leave Clon a point behind, 0-5 to 0-4 with 13 minutes to the short whistle.
Conor Daly and Ben Ridgeway eked Clon in front, but they were playing well below their potential.
Desmond drew Carrigaline level until they had a goal opportunity after 25 minutes, but Callum Barrett’s powerful shot was straight at Clonakilty netminder Mark White.
Carrigaline did get their goal two minutes before the half-time break, Desmond pounced on a short kickout from Mark White as the forward laid the ball on a plate for Niall Coakley to finish the ball to the net, 1-6 to 0-6 at half-time.
Clonakilty were wind-assisted in the new half, and did get the first score courtesy of a Daly free, but Carrigaline pounced for their second goal after 33 minutes. A driving run from Barrett ended up with the wing-forward unleashing an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net, 2-6 to 0-7.
The momentum changed though for a short period when Clon scored 1-1 without reply when Daly got the scores, his point was from a free while Seán White set him up for the green flag, 2-6 to 1-8 after 38 minutes.
The teams swapped the next four white flags. A Ciarán Kearney effort though gave his team a two-point buffer as Clon lost Maurice Shanley due to injury, 2-9 to 1-10 after 49 minutes.
Ross Mannix did cut the gap to a point, but Carrigaline, who were the better team from the start, put their dominance on the scoreboard.
They hit 1-3 without reply with sub Ryan Delaney getting the goal two minutes from time, 3-12 to 1-11.
Clonakilty did land two of the last three points, but the game was up for them.
N Coakley 1-2 (0-1 f), B O'Driscoll (1 2pt), E Desmond 0-3 each, R Delaney, C Barrett 1-0 each, B Coakley 0-2 (0-1 f), K O’Reilly, J McCarthy, C Kearney 0-1 each.
C Daly 1-3 (0-2 f), D Gough (0-2 f), D Ó Sé 0-3 each, R Mannix 0-2, S White, B Ridgeway 0-1 each.
C Dungan; N Quirke, C O’Herlihy, D King; K Kavanagh, B O’Driscoll, J McCarthy; P Mellett, N O’Keeffe; K McCarthy, B Coakley, C Barrett; C Kearney, N Coakley, E Desmond.
K O’Reilly for N O’Keeffe (43), S Andrews for C Kearney (49), R Delaney for K McCarthy (57).
M White; C Kenneally, D Peet, D Darragh; D Lowney, T Clancy, J O’Mahony; B Ridgeway, M Shanley; S McEvoy, D Ó Sé, R Mannix; D Gough, C Daly, S White.
L Griffin for D Lowney (38), B White for S McEvoy (42), C Ryan for M Shanley (49, inj).
John Ryan (Macroom).
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