Division 2 FL: Three-goal Carrigaline see off Ballincollig in opening round
Ballincollig's Rob Noonan gets his handpass off to Donnacha Desmond under pressure from Niall Coakley, Carrigaline, during their McCarthy Insurance Group Division 2 Football League game at Carrigaline.
The club season is back, and Carrigaline have kick-started the new campaign with a solid win at home over Ballincollig in the McCarthy Insurance Group Division 2 Football League.
Both sides had their purple periods, but were it not for Ballincollig’s final quarter burst the hosts’ control would have been more obvious on the scoreboard on Saturday.
Michael Meaney’s side had put in the work early in the first half to go in front – 2-9 to 0-4 at the break – and they put the game to bed in the 38th minute when Kevin O’Reilly raised their third green flag.
O’Reilly was very impressive. He ended last season’s league campaign with 2-17 and finished with 1-4 here, while brothers Niall and Brian Coakley combined for 1-8 overall.
O’Reilly’s goal – a composed finish beyond Chris Walsh – arrived after Niall Coakley’s lofting delivery, and it put them 3-10 to 0-7 in front.
It was from here Ballincollig began to pick off scores, as they profited from the introduction of half-time substitute Dara Dorgan, and he clipped their second two-pointer with 20 minutes to go.
They would put together an impressive run of 1-4 unanswered in the final quarter – each score from a different man – with the goal finished by Kevin O’Leary to the bottom corner, following Cian Ahern’s pass with four minutes to go.
The major reduced arrears to five points, but Carrigaline would end their 16-minute spell without a score from an O’Reilly free, and Niall Coakley’s added time white flag left the margin at seven by the finish.
Aspects of the contest will have pleased both sides. Carrigaline were impressively sharp for a February outing. They hit just one wide all game, though they did register five short attempts.
Ballincollig strung the ball around nicely in the middle third but struggled to put together scoring chances in the first half, and were punished for the seven wides they struck across the hour.
They were hit for 1-4 unanswered from throw-in, Brian Coakley clipping a two-point free and then nailing a goal from his brother’s pass after five minutes.
O’Reilly and Mossy Vaughan tacked on points, and while Ballincollig hit the next two scores, they couldn’t find any rhythm. Carrigaline made the visitors pay with a second goal, O’Reilly working it through Darragh King before Billy Pope’s close-range finish left the lead at nine with 23 minutes played.
The outcome looked likely to be going the hosts way from there, even if Ballincollig gave them something to think about in the closing stages.
K O’Reilly 1-4 (0-1 f), B Coakley 1-3 (1 tpf), N Coakley 0-5 (0-2 f), B Pope 1-0, T Vaughan, N O’Keeffe 0-1 each.
P O’Neill 0-4 (1 tp), K O’Leary 1-0, D Dorgan (1 tp), C Ahern 0-3 each, C Dalton, S Dore, P Kelly 0-1 each.
S Mellett; D King, C O’Herlihy, F O’Connell; K Kavanagh, K McCarthy, J McCarthy; C Barry, P Mellett; N Coakley, B Coakley, B Pope; K O’Reilly, N O’Keeffe, T Vaughan.
R Kenneally for King (HT), C Kearney for O’Connell (40), R Delaney for Pope, S Andrews for Vaughan (both 46), D Greene for O’Keeffe (59).
C Walsh; S Murphy, L Jennings, S O’Donoghue; K O’Leary, C Dalton, D Desmond; S Dore, P O’Neill; T O’Connell, C Ahern, D O’Mahony; R Noonan, P Kelly, J Murray.
D Dorgan for Noonan (HT), C O’Connor for Murray (42), C Power for O'Donoghue, A Rose for Kelly (both 47), Noonan for O’Leary (58).
A O’Connor (Ballygarvan)
App?
