Premier SFC: Imokilly in fine form as they enjoy winning start

Imokilly 0-16

MTU Cork 0-5

A nine-point haul from the excellent Daniel Murnane under-pinned an impressive return to football championship action for Imokilly as they saw off MTU Cork at Carrigtwohill on Tuesday night.

It was a first outing in the Premier SFC for the east Cork division since 2023 – a year where they beat Muskerry – but a well-stocked squad, featuring nine different clubs among the starting 15, had far too much for a college side competing first time since 2022.

Imokilly had the upper hand for the bulk of proceedings and, but for some sloppy first-half shooting, they would have amassed a big early lead. As it was, they had the first three points and almost added a goal as Ciarán O’Leary was denied by a Seán Kingston save before sending the rebound into the side-netting.

When Cillian Twohig converted a long-range free for MTU on 27 minutes, they trailed by just two, 0-4 to 0-2, but O’Leary was to the fore as Imokilly finished the half well – twice he was involved in excellent Murnane points and got one of his own after a one-two with Diarmuid Phelan.

A 0-7 to 0-2 interval advantage was able to increase on the resumption as MTU were without Daire Murphy, who had received a black card just before the whistle, and the hard-working Kyle O’Shea had a great point before two more from Murnane, with Daire Joyce influential at midfield.

It was 0-11 to 0-2 when O’Shea set up Tadhg O’Donovan and the lead stretched to 11 points after Carrigtwohill native Murnane continued to display his local knowledge as he landed a two-point free.

Though MTU did have points from Mark O’Donovan and Twohig – either side of a Phelan goal chance taken off the line Fionn Corcoran at the other end, albeit with a strong penalty shout in the lead-up – but a fightback was never on the cards.

Murnane ended ten scoreless minutes for Imokilly with a settling free and they had late points from subs Seán McSharry and Seán Cummins to win by 11.

Scorers for Imokilly: D Murnane 0-9 (1 2ptf, 0-3 f), K O’Shea 0-2, D Kearney, C O’Leary, T O’Donovan, S McSharry, S Cummins 0-1 each.

MTU Cork: C Twohig 0-3 (0-2 f), S O’Sullivan (0-1 f), M O’Donovan 0-1 each

IMOKILLY: C Whyte (Castlemartyr); D Healy (Dungourney), A Mulcahy (Midleton), B Ryan (Glenville); K O’Shea (Aghada), A Murphy (Glenville), S de Búrca (Carrigtwohill); M O’Rourke (Cobh), D Joyce (Castlemartyr); T Hartnett (Aghada), D Phelan (Aghada), D Kearney (Cobh); C O’Leary (Glenville), D Murnane (Carrigtwohill), T O’Donovan (Carraig na bhFear).

Subs: J Horgan (Carrigtwohill) for Murphy (15, injured), C Hegarty (Aghada) for Kearney, E McGrath (Midleton) for O'Rourke, S McSharry (Midleton) for O'Leary (all 39), S Cummins (Cobh) for O'Donovan (48).

MTU CORK: S Kingston (Tadhg Mac Cárthaighs); F Corcoran (Valentia, Kerry), C Holland (Mitchelstown), C Crowley (Templenoe, Kerry); C O’Shea (St Mary’s), D Murphy (Listry, Kerry), C Fitzpatrick (Kinsale); B Comerford (Grangemockler, Tipperary), J Sexton (Macroom); S O’Sullivan (St Kieran’s), M O’Donovan (Kiladangan), R Deasy (Ballymartle); J Bailey (Kilmeen), C Twohig (Kilmeen), T Buckley (Barryroe).

Subs: D McHugh (Gracefield, Kildare) for Buckley (44). 

Referee: B Crowley (Castlehaven).