Premier SFC: Ballincollig grind out hard-fought win over Douglas
Ballincollig's Luke Fahy about to hand pass the ball as Kevin Shanahan of Douglas looks on. Picture: Howard Crowdy
Ballincollig have qualified for the knockout stages of the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC after grinding out a victory over Douglas at Ballygarvan on Sunday evening.
This contest was effectively a winner-takes-all encounter in the final outing for both in Group 3. The Village progressed to the business end for a fourth campaign on the trot courtesy of a fine team performance considering the difficult weather conditions.
They did trail by two points at half-time albeit having played against the wind. They were much more economical after the interval after only getting three scores from 20 attacks in the first half.
The Muskerry men were boosted by the availability of Liam O’Connell with the Aussie Rules star very effective even if he didn't score.
Podsie O’Mahony’s team will now face Duhallow in the quarter-finals.
Douglas were without Seán Powter for the majority of the contest as he was carrying an injury. He did come on late on, but he didn’t have enough time to make an impact.
The city team had a strong wind advantage in the opening 30 minutes, but were second best in the early stages even if it wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard.
A combination of Ballincollig wides and dropped shots was the story of an opening quarter that yielded no scores for both teams.
Harry Ahearne also had a goal opportunity, but it was straight at Douglas goalkeeper Andrew Cotter from close range.
Douglas got the first score of the game after 16 minutes when Shane Kingston kicked a two-pointer helped by the strong wind. It was followed by a Conor Russell 45.
Ballincollig got their first score after 24 minutes when Cian Dorgan converted a close range free.
Two minutes later, Dorgan slotted away a penalty into the back of the net after Ben O’Connell was pulled down in the square, 1-1 to 0-3.
A Luis Dwan-Fogarty two-pointer gave Douglas the lead again until a Dorgan free drew Ballincollig parity.
Another Shane Kingston two-pointer handed Douglas a 0-7 to 1-2 half-time advantage.
Ballincollig had a gale of a wind with them for the new half. Douglas were patient though as Russell pushed his team three points clear after 36 minutes.
A Luke Fahy white flag, just the Collig’s second scorer, was timely and it was followed by a Dorgan two-point free to tie up proceedings, 1-5 to 0-8.
The teams traded points as the teams remained deadlocked with a quarter of the game remaining.
Ben O’Connell and Seán O’Neill efforts gave Ballincollig a two-point buffer after 50 minutes.
They were in the ascendancy as the sides swapped white flags.
The Village were in control without ever pulling away. A JP Murphy point gave the eventual winners a 1-10 to 0-10 lead going into added time.
Brendan Powter did reduce the lead with a point as his brother Seán Powter came on, but it was too little too late for Douglas.
C Dorgan 1-6 (1-0 pen, 1 2pt f, 0-3 f), JP Murphy, L Fahy, B O’Connell, S O’Neill 0-1 each.
S Kingston 0-5 (2 2pt), L Dwan-Fogarty (1 2pt), C Russell (45) 0-2 each, S Coakley (f), B Powter 0-1 each.
J Gibbons; JP Murphy, L Jennings, S Murphy; L Fahy, F Down, D Desmond; S Dore, S Kiely; B O’Connell, L O’Connell, P O’Neill; H Ahearne, C Dorgan, D O’Mahony.
S O’Neill for H Ahearne (43), D O’Leary for B O’Connell (53), T O’Connell for D O’Mahony (63).
A Cotter; N Lynch, J O’Callaghan-Maher, D Ward; J Burke, D Buckley, S Aherne; K Shanahan, E Nash; P Lucey, L Dwan-Fogarty, A Cantwell; S Coakley, S Kingston, C Russell.
N Hartnett for E Nash (44), B Powter for C Russell (49), B Lynch for D Ward (52), S Powter for S Coakley (59).
Alan O’Connor (Ballygarvan).
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