Premier 1 MFC: Ballincollig up the gears in second half to easily see off Éire Óg
Ballincollig's Alex Rose breaks from Éire Óg's Colm Sheehan during the Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC semi-final at the Mardyke. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Reigning champions Ballincollig produced a strong second half display to comfortably defeat neighbours Éire Óg in the Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC semi-final at rain-soaked Mardyke on Thursday night.
This was a typical local derby contest that drew a large crowd considering the heavy rain. It was an entertaining last four encounter. It wasn’t the highest quality, but for sheer honesty and endeavour, it certainly delivered.
Con O’Connell’s team had too much quality for their rivals as the game wore on helped by a Cian O’Connor goal early in the second half. It gave Ballincollig the belief to kick on as at the time it looked like Éire Óg were going to reel them in.
The Village will now meet Glanmire in the decider after the latter overcame Douglas.
In very poor weather conditions, Ballincollig hit the front through a Danny Miskella point from a free after two minutes.
Micheál Sheehan replied two minutes later for Éire Óg, but they wouldn’t score again for another 21 minutes. There were mistakes on both sides, understandable given the conditions with wayward shooting a factor.
Ballincollig did put five points on the bounce. Danny Miskella with three points, one of which was a free, along with O’Connor and Kevin O’Leary, 0-6 to 0-1 after 16 minutes.
The scoreline was slightly misleading with Éire Óg not making the most of promising positions while also shading possession.
A Cian O’Flynn white flag was timely for Éire Óg, but a Danny Miskella free kept that buffer for his side.
The team in red and yellow finished the half better though, as a pair of Cathal Murphy white flags left his team three points adrift at half-time, 0-7 to 0-4.
An Ethan Hyde converted free was the perfect start for Éire Óg on the resumption to keep his team in touch.
There was a feeling though that Ballincollig were playing within themselves. The teams traded points before a crucial score after 39 minutes.
Cian Ahern gave a great pass to O’Connor and the latter finished beautifully into the roof of the net, 1-8 to 0-6. It sucked the life out of Éire Óg.
Ballincollig remained in control. They landed two of the next four points to lead 1-10 to 0-8 after 45 minutes.
Peter Rose received a black card two minutes later for Ballincollig as they were reduced to 14 players for 10 minutes. It didn’t have any impact on the game.
A Brian Cronin point was a settler for the Collig before they put the game to bed after 50 minutes when Luke O’Mahony finished to the net from close range, 2-11 to 0-8.
Cronin got his second point before Éire Óg landed a two-pointer through Eoghan Hogan, 2-12 to 0-10 with four minutes to go.
Seanie Hurley bisected the posts for the Ovens team, but Ballincollig finished with a flourish.
Cronin kicked another point before centre-back O’Connor netted his second goal deep in added time to crown an excellent second 30 minutes from the Village.
C O’Connor 2-1, D Miskella 0-6 (0-3 f), B Cronin 0-3, L O’Mahony 1-0, K O’Leary 0-2, J Miskella 0-1.
S Murphy (0-2 f), E Hyde (0-2 f), E Hogan (1 2pt), C Murphy 0-2 each, M Sheehan, C O’Flynn, S Hurley 0-1 each.
M Murray: E Donovan, P Rose, D Crowley; J Ryan, C O'Connor, A Rose; K O'Leary, B Cronin; M Delaney, C Ahern, F Jozefowski; D Miskella, L O’Mahony, J Miskella.
D Murray for M Delaney (58), P McCarthy for C Ahern, D Brown for F Jozefowski (both 62).
C O’Leary; M O'Riordan, E Hogan, J O'Connell; C O'Flynn, M Sheehan, D Strand; K Beechinor, C Sheehan; D Sheehan, S Murphy, E Hyde; S Hurley, R Coakley, C Murphy.
J O’Sullivan for R Coakley (45), L McLaughlin for D Strand (47).
Brian Crowley (Castlehaven).
App?
