Douglas hurlers move joint top of Division 1 League with victory over Fr O’Neill’s
Liam Kelleher of Douglas reaches out for the sliothar ahead of John Millerick of Fr O'Neill's during their Red FM SHL match at Aghavine. Picture: Howard Crowdy
Douglas made it back-to-back victories and moved to the summit of the Red FM Division 1 Hurling League, with a hard-fought four-point victory over bottom-placed Fr O’Neill’s at Aghavine on Friday night.
Coming into the evening with three wins from their opening four games, Douglas knew another strong display would see them leapfrog St Finbarr’s and move level on points with Midleton at the top of the standings.
The form guide has been less kind towards Fr O’Neill’s, who propped up the table coming into the round five meeting. Yet to register a point this campaign, the East Cork outfit began with intent, and picked up the opening score of the meeting two minutes in when Kevin O’Sullivan notched the first of his nine scores.
A much-changed Douglas, missing the quality of Shane Kingston, hit back immediately and in style, with Charlie Lucas and Joseph Harte scoring in quick succession to put the visitors ahead.
Fr O’Neill’s were without their own Cork stars as Declan Dalton and Ger Millerick were unavailable though Paudie O'Sullivan was in goal, but that didn’t dampen their spirits, and they soon found themselves back level after nine minutes, with Mark O’Keeffe driving his effort between the posts.
The scores kept coming as Douglas rattled off seven without reply between the 11th and 21st minutes to take some control of proceedings. Two white flags in a minute, courtesy of Mark O’Brien and Sean O’Leary, got the Southsiders in the groove before efforts from Andy O’Connell, another from Charlie Lucas, one from Mark O’Brien, and two from Cillian O’Donovan pushed Douglas further ahead.
Douglas were dealt a blow when influential corner-forward Brian Turnbull limped off in the 21st minute with what looked to be a hamstring issue. Also missing the evergreen Alan Cadogan, Douglas struggled to build on their momentum, adding two further scores before the half was out. Mark O’Brien grabbed himself another in the 29th minute, while Mark Howell got his name on the scoresheet in stoppage time.
The end of the first half belonged to Fr O’Neill’s. Kevin O’Sullivan added an extra three points to his tally between the 22nd and 26th minutes, while Mark O’Keeffe and John Millerick also chipped in. Having looked in bother 10 minutes earlier, the hosts had managed to cut the lead back to a modest four points, leaving the score at 0-7 to 0-11 in favour of Douglas going into half-time.
The entertainment continued into the second half. Douglas struck through O’Brien in the first minute after the restart, but their opponents from Ballymacoda came roaring back, racking up five scores in six minutes to level affairs as John Millerick, O’Sullivan, and O’Keeffe all played their part in dragging the hosts back into contention.
Level after 39 minutes, the opponents continued to go blow for blow. John Millerick, Kevin O’Sullivan, and Rob Cullinane continued to add points for Fr O’Neill’s over the next eleven minutes, while Cillian O’Donovan, with two, and O’Brien added more scores for Douglas.
Heading into the final 10 minutes level at 15 points apiece, it was anyone’s guess as to who would go on and win. Fr O’Neill’s players contributed so much to the cause, but Douglas’ quality began to shine through. Four scores on the trot, three of which came from the hurley of O’Brien and one from substitute Conor O’Donovan, put Ken St Ledger’s men in firm control, as they looked set to move level on points with Midleton at the summit.
Despite the best efforts of Kevin O’Sullivan, who rounded off a fine individual display with two further scores in additional time, it was too little too late for the struggling Fr O’Neill’s. Cian Baldwin and a final white flag from O’Brien rounded off the scoring for the high-flying Douglas, and condemned Fr O’Neill’s to a fifth successive defeat.
No goals but a thoroughly entertaining evening of hurling. Fr O’Neill’s can take pride in their performance, while Douglas’ hopes of achieving league success will only grow.
K O’Sullivan 0-9 (7f), J Millerick 0-4, M O’Keeffe 0-3, R Cullinane 0-1.
M O’Brien 0-9 (3f), Cillian O’Donovan 0-4 (1f), C Lucas 0-2, J Harte, S O’Leary, A O’Connell, M Howell, Conor O’Donovan, C Baldwin 0-1 each.
P O’Sullivan; C Lowney, D Harrington, O Steele; D O’Neill, T Millerick, R Kenneally; K O’Sullivan, D Sexton; M O’Keeffe, J Hankard, J Finn; J Millerick, R Cullinane, P Hassett.
D Maher; L Kelleher, B O’Neill, E O’Flynn; C Kingston, M Howell, Cillian O’Donovan; S O’Leary, J O’Brien; D Coleman, M O'Brien, A O’Connell; B Turnbull, J Harte, C Lucas.
Conor O’Donovan for B Turnbull (21 inj), C Baldwin for J O’Brien (50).
Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).
App?
