Charleville grab second victory to reach knockout stages after tough test from Douglas
Charleville’s Jack Butler stretches to make a catch under pressure from Douglas’ Ronan Dooley. Picture: Chani Anderson
For the second successive year, Charleville have secured their progression to the knockout stages with a game to spare, weathering a dogged Douglas display for a five-point victory at Mallow.
Having survived three relegation play-offs in the previous four years since promotion, the North Cork town are now becoming a firm fixture at the business end of the championship.
They could even find themselves in the shake-up for a semi-final bye, although Newtownshandrum will have plenty to fight for in their local derby at Milford on September 6th.
Douglas have gone six games without a championship win since beating Bishopstown in August 2024.
With Sarsfields to come, they enter the final round concerned by the prospect of a relegation play-off. Equally, if they can spring a shock, they could advance instead of the reigning champions.
They must prepare for the prospect of going into that task without corner-back Donnacha Murphy, who received a straight red card for a wild swing in the 59th minute.
Coming off a landmark victory over Sars, Charleville made one change, introducing Cork U20 Zach Biggane.
Douglas showed three late switches from the side that drew with Newtown. Conor Kingston was detailed with marking Darragh Fitzgibbon, while Conor Lucas and the deep-lying Seán O’Leary stepped into their attack. Brian Turnbull was marked absent.
The city side restricted Charleville to one point in the opening 14 minutes while raising six of their own.
With their opponents dropping off the puck-out, goalkeeper Donal Maher was happy to hold the sliotar on his hurley or tap it off the ground to bait the forwards to press up.
Backed by a moderate wind, their early lead was built on long-range shooting. Shane Kingston slotted three frees from beyond his own 65. Wing-back Cillian O’Donovan banged over two from a similar distance.
Shane Kingston’s third free offered the best example of Douglas work rate as O’Donovan, Kingston, and Lucas pulled off hooks or blocks before Alan Cadogan, playing in midfield, won the free. Those blocks would continue even as the game turned against them.
That pressure also showed by forcing two technical fouls. Kingston punished both.
Fitzgibbon’s early free was Charleville’s only score until landing a huge settler in a crowd of bodies.
Andy O’Connell and Jack O’Brien contributed a nice pair for Douglas, but they would only add two more frees in the final 14 minutes of the half.
Trailing 0-7 to 0-2, Charleville began to grind their way back into range with Conor Buckley and Fitzgibbon points. Gareth Gleeson and Tim Hawe soon tagged on two more.
They clocked 10 wides by the break, but another pair through a Fitzgibbon free and Biggane cut the half-time deficit to one; 0-9 to 0-8.
Kingston’s sixth free doubled that advantage, but Charleville reeled off the next three to take their first lead. Biggane, Seán Bresnan, and David Forde got those scores, completing the set of six forwards registering from play. By comparison, O’Connell was the only Douglas forward to raise a flag from play at this juncture.
Forde could’ve had a goal too but for a fantastic block by Dan Harte.
Douglas would pull level three more times through Ronan Dooley, Shane Kingston, and Eoin O’Flynn to make it 0-13 apiece on 50 minutes.
Charleville would end with 18 wides to Douglas’s 11, but their bench would make the crucial difference with some accurate shooting.
Just as Douglas started, the men in red finished by firing six of the last seven points. Robert Carroll slotted two and Gavin Kelleher had another. Both won frees for Fitzgibbon to bring his tally to 0-7. The latter foul on Kelleher resulted in Murphy’s red.
Jake Madigan was the next sub to score, while the other man in, Darren Casey, chipped in with two assists in that final stretch.
D Fitzgibbon 0-7 (0-5 f), S Bresnan, Z Biggane, R Carroll 0-2 each, D Forde, G Gleeson, T Hawe, C Buckley, G Kelleher, J Madigan 0-1 each.
S Kingston 0-8 (0-7 f), Cillian O’Donovan 0-2, J O’Brien, R Dooley, E O’Flynn 0-1 each.
C Reynolds; D Butler, J Meade, F Cagney; J Buckley, A Dennehy, J O’Callaghan; C O’Carroll, S Bresnan; Z Biggane, D Forde, D Fitzgibbon; G Gleeson, T Hawe, C Buckley.
R Carroll for Gleeson (48), D Casey for Biggane (53), G Kelleher for Hawe (55), J Madigan for Bresnan (58).
D Maher; D Murphy, D Harte, L Kelleher; C Kingston, M Howell, Cillian O’Donovan; A Cadogan, J O’Brien; S Kingston, S O’Leary, A O’Connell; C Lucas, J Harte, R Dooley.
M O’Brien for O’Connell (42), E O’Flynn for J O’Brien (50), Conor O’Donovan for Lucas (55).
D Murphy (59).
C McAllister (Aghada).
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