Premier 1 MFC: Clonakilty off to fine start with win over Douglas

Clonakilty 1-14 (1-0-14)

Douglas 0-8 (0-1-6)

Clonakilty impressed on their return to the Premier 1 grade as they opened with a Cork ETB U18FC win at home to Douglas on Wednesday night.

Winners of the U16 Premier 2 title two years ago, the hosts had moved 0-3 to 0-2 in the early stages when Matthew Lyons gave them a cushion and they retained the lead thereafter. While Douglas did come back to within a point in the aftermath of the goal, by half-time Clon were 1-8 to 0-6 to the good and scored the first three points of the second half to solidify their supremacy.

Cork minor star Tom Whooley caught the eye with five points from play for the home side but it was very much a collective effort: Daniel Donovan’s four points included two 45s that were stroked over while Jack Byerley impressed with a trio of points and fine build-up play.

At midfield, Ewan Knowles was excellent but even his injury-enforced departure didn’t knock Clon out of their stride, with Éanna Déiseach coming to the fore in the closing stages.

In defence, captain Ben Coffey led impressively from centre-back while Clon needed James Costello and Eoghan Minihan to make important contributions, especially in the opening part of the game, when Douglas enjoyed a good share of possession but were unable to translate that into scores.

Clon had threatened a goal early as Byerley was denied by a Ryan Hourihane save but when Déiseach won a good ball in the air and fed Whooley, his strong run allowed for a lay-off to Lyons, who finished well.

Frees from Ben Herlihy and Thomas Murray (two-pointer) gave Douglas a response and Adam Kelly had a great run that almost ended in a goal but he shot narrowly wide.

Wing-back Fionn O’Donovan ensured that Clon stayed on top and further scores from Whooley and Donovan meant that they retired with a six-point advantage, though they did need Dylan Falvey to keep out James Naughton's shot after a lovely Douglas move coming up to the half-time break.

Donovan's run allowed Whooley to get his third point on the restart, followed by Byerley's third, and then Coffey's delivery led to another for Whooley as the lead became eight points.

With Diarmuid O'Donoghue to the fore as he moved forward from centre-back, Douglas did battle hard to regain a foothold but they found Falvey in good form - the goalkeeper saved from O'Donoghue and then Darragh O'Connor in quick succession. Then, after Whooley's fifth made it 1-13 to 0-8, Douglas fashioned another chance as Kelly and Murray combined to set up Tomás Reddington but his crashing effort came back off the angle of post and crossbar.

Lyons had the final say as Clon finished well - they will travel to face Na Piarsaigh next as Douglas look to regroup against Glanmire.

Scorers for Clonakilty: T Whooley 0-5, D Donovan 0-4 (0-2 45), M Lyons 1-1, J Byerley 0-3, É Déiseach 0-1.

Douglas: T Murray 0-4 (1 2ptf, 0-1 f), B Herlihy (0-1 f), T Reddington, A Kelly, D O’Donoghue 0-1 each.

CLONAKILTY: D Falvey; L Kelleher, J Costello, E Minihane; S O’Donovan, B Coffey, F O’Donovan; É Déiseach, E Knowles; MF Collins, D Donovan, C O’Gorman; J Byerley, T Whooley, M Lyons.

Subs: F O’Mahony for O’Gorman (48), B Bennett for Knowles (50, injured), L Rohan for O’Donovan (58), D Duggan for MF Collins (60+1).

DOUGLAS: R Hourihane; C McLoughlin, E Cronin, I Butler; C McAuliffe, D O’Donoghue, J Gordon; J Naughton, C Hallahan; D O’Connor, A Kelly, T Reddington; B Herlihy, C Fitzgerald, T Murray.

Subs: L O’Brien for Gordon, C Crowley for Fitzgerald (both 37), D O’Donovan for Hallahan, S Lenihan for Cronin (both 48).

Referee: J Kingston (Carbery Rangers).