Premier 1 MFC: Ballincollig inspired by Joe Miskella who kicked 2-6 destroy Bishopstown

Ballincollig 5-17 (5-1-15) 

Bishopstown 0-2 (0-1-0) 

Ballincollig totally eclipsed Bishopstown in their Cork ETB Premier 1 FC clash with Cork Minor football star Joe Miskella giving a man of the match display finishing with an impressive tally of 2-6 on Wednesday night.

To be fair, Ballincollig were awesome against their out of sorts opponents but with Nemo defeating Carrigaline in the other group game, it means it’s a three-way tie at the top of the table that will see one team qualify and the other two out of the hat playing off for the other semi-final slot.

It was evident Ballincollig were going for the jugular from the throw in with Miskella opening their account with a superb point in the fourth minute.

The relentless pressure continued and a minute later Fionn Lordan got on the end of some sloppy Bishopstown defending to guide the ball to the empty net.

The Town continued to turn the ball over and Ballincollig were in no mood to mess about and when captain Luke O’Mahony was put through on goal in the 12th minute his shot flew over the bar when hitting the back of the net looked an easier option.

Finally, after 17 minutes the Bishopstown drought ended with a magnificent two pointer from the boot of Alex Collins.

The home side responded three minutes later when Miskella broke through their static defence and unleashed an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net.

The Town simply couldn’t get possession and with five minutes remaining to the interval they were further punished with a classy Luke O’Mahony goal whose shot gave the goalkeeper no chance of stopping.

The sound of the half time whistle was a welcome one for Bishopstown as they had a mountain to climb in the second half when trailing 3-8 to 0-2.

On the restart consecutive points from substitute Liam O’Brien and Miskella seemed to knock the wind completely out of their opponents as they lacked the required fire in the belly to get back in this game.

The Village outfit could afford to give fringe players some game time and Daithi Murphy only took six minutes to show his kicking skills with a classy point.

Bishopstown were totally outclassed and failed to score for the entire half as Ballincollig inspired by the brilliance of Miskella were simply at another level.

Scorers for Ballincollig: J Miskella 2-6 (0-2f), L O’Mahony 1-4 (1-2pt), F Lordan 1-1, S Twomey 1-0, L O’Brien 0-2, B Cronin 0-2, S O’Brien, D Murphy (0-1 each).

Bishopstown: A Collins 0-2 (1-2pt).

Ballincollig: D McCarthy; D Crowley, J Ryan, C O’Regan; E Stack, J Costello, E Lynch; B Cronin, C Cogan; A Jozefoswki, J Miskella, S O’Brien; F Lordan, L O’Mahony, B Power.

Subs: L O’Brien for S O’Brien (inj h-t), D Murphy for E Stack (41), S Twomey for B Power (41), E O Hurnai for A Jozefoswki (48), L Higgins for J Costello (50).

Bishopstown: D Wiseman, C Reed, R Twomey, J Burke; S Young, B Moloney, A O’Callaghan; A Cuthbert, C Kelly; J O’Callaghan, S Herrick, A Collins; R Lenihan, D Murray, C Clarke.

Subs: E O’Brien for J O’Callaghan (h-t), M Coleman for D Murray (h-t), C O’Grady for C Reed (48), R Casey for R Linehan (50), J Culloty for C Kelly (55).

Referee: Brendan Barry Murphy (Aghabullogue).