RANDAL Óg know that avoiding defeat to St Colum’s in their final Roinn 1 clash of the RCM Tarmacadam Carbery JAHC will be enough to seal their place in the knockout stages.
Having drawn with Newcestown in their opener, Randals followed up with a 0-25 to 2-14 victory over St James in Clonakilty on Sunday, leaving them level at the top of the group with Newcestown.
Randals spread the scoring load impressively, with nine different players on target: Seán Daly (0-6), Seadhna Crowley (0-5, 3f), Donnacha Collins (0-5), Patrick Collins (0-3), Eoin O'Donovan (0-2), Jimmy O'Sullivan (0-1), Cathal Duggan (0-1), Peter Collins (0-1) and Séamus Crowley (0-1).
They led 0-9 to 0-3 after 24 minutes, but St James stormed back through a Seán Whelton goal and points from James O’Driscoll to level matters by the break, 0-9 to 1-6.
St James struck a further blow early in the second half when Liam Dooley’s goal pushed them into a four-point lead, 2-8 to 0-10. Randals, however, responded in style, reeling off six unanswered points to edge 0-19 to 2-10 ahead entering the final quarter. From there, they kept the Ardfield men at arm’s length to see out the win.
Meanwhile, reigning champions Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas maintained their perfect start in Roinn 2, making it two wins from two with a 1-16 to 0-13 victory over Dohenys to move clear at the top of the table.
Dohenys, buoyed by their opening-round win over St Mary’s, began brightly and held a four-point lead before Mathúnas hit their stride. Scores from Robbie Lucey, Caolán O’Donovan, Conor O’Sullivan and Gearóid O’Donovan helped turn the tide, before Jamie Lucey struck for a crucial goal just before half time, handing the champions a 1-8 to 0-8 advantage.
Dohenys rallied after the restart, closing the gap to a single point at the three-quarter stage (1-10 to 0-12), but Mathúnas finished strongly with further points from Caolán O’Donovan, Jamie Lucey, Gearóid O’Donovan and Kevin O’Donovan.
Mathúnas scorers were Jamie Lucey (1-1), Caolán O’Donovan (0-4, 1f), Gearóid O’Donovan (0-3), Kevin O’Donovan (0-2), Conor O’Sullivan (0-2), Ted Lordan (0-2), Robbie Lucey (0-1) and Micheál O’Sullivan (0-1). Mathúnas now face St Mary’s on September 7th, with Dohenys taking on Plunkett’s the same day.
