Uibh Laoire 3-18
Kiskeam 0-17
B KENNEALLY REPORTS
UIBH Laoire flexed serious championship muscle on Sunday evening with a commanding ten-point win over Kiskeam in their Group 3 opener of the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier Intermediate Football Championship.
Pre-match predictions tipped the Mid Cork men as one of the teams to beat – and they lived up to the billing.
Led by the electric Chris Óg Jones, who delivered a sensational 2-9 (only one point from a free), Uibh Laoire were ruthless early on, blitzing Kiskeam with pace, power and precision to lead 2-11 to 0-3 at half time.
That gap proved unbridgeable. While Kiskeam battled gamely in the second half and picked off some fine long-range two-pointers, a third Uibh Laoire goal, this time from Sam Pickering, sealed the result before the hour mark.
After a cagey opening, where Macroom’s Alan Quinn opened the scoring and Fintan Fenner equalised, Uibh Laoire took complete control. A burst of points from James Spencer (2), Tomás Murphy (2), and a beauty from Jones put the winners 0-5 to 0-1 ahead by the 15th minute.
Kiskeam, slow in the build-up, struggled to break down a solid Uibh Laoire defence marshalled by Seán O’Leary and Barry Murphy.
The first goal came in the 18th minute – a flowing move initiated by Ciarán O’Riordan and finished brilliantly by Jones, after a slick final pass from Pickering. Seán O’Leary and Jones added further points, before the latter struck again on 29 minutes, rifling to the net after a clever assist from the influential O’Leary. Cathal Vaughan added a two-pointer just before the break to make it 2-11 to 0-3 at the short whistle – a devastating half from the Mid Cork outfit.
To their credit, Kiskeam rallied after the restart, notching five two-pointers in a spirited third quarter, with Seán O’Sullivan (3), Thomas Casey and Mike Herlihy showing their class. But Jones continued to punish any lapse in concentration, hitting three more points, and when Pickering fired in Uibh Laoire’s third goal in the 43rd minute, it was effectively game over.
At 3-14 to 0-8, the result was beyond doubt. Kiskeam did chip away at the lead, and with ten minutes left it was 3-15 to 0-15, but the Iveleary men managed the closing stages well, with Jones and Vaughan adding frees to keep the scoreboard ticking.
It was a real team effort from Uibh Laoire. Seán O’Leary and Ciarán Galvin were excellent at the back, midfielders Conor O’Leary and Timmy Roberts got through a mountain of work, while Barry O’Leary and Cathal Vaughan gave Jones great support up front. It’s clear this is a side built for a serious title push.
For Kiskeam, there were bright moments – especially in the second half – but the damage was done in that blistering first-half spell. They’ll need wins against Castletownbere and Macroom to stay in the hunt.
Scorers
Uibh Laoire: C Óg Jones 2-9 (2ptf, 1f); S Pickering 1-0; C Vaughan 0-3 (2pt, 1f); B O’Leary 0-2; T Roberts, S O’Riordan, S O’Leary, C O’Riordan 0-1 each.
Kiskeam: S O’Sullivan 0-8 (2 2ptf, 2pt, 1f); T Casey 0-4 (2pt, 1f); M Herlihy 0-3 (2pt); D Fitzgerald, S O’Riordan 0-1 each.
Uibh Laoire: Joe Creedon; Barry Murphy, Daniel O’Donovan, Daniel O’Riordan; Ciarán O’Riordan, Seán O’Leary, Ciarán Galvin; Timmy Roberts, Conor O’Leary; Seán O’Riordan, Cathal Vaughan, Barry O’Leary; Brian Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Sam Pickering.
Subs: Kevin Manning for C Galvin (inj, 43), Aaron O’Donovan for B Cronin (45).
Kiskeam: Billy Daly; Jack Daly, Seán Meehan, Jack O’Connor; Mike Casey, Kieran O’Connor, AJ O’Connor; Maurice Casey, Gene Casey; Daniel Fitzgerald, Thomas Casey, Paul O’Callaghan; Seán O’Sullivan, Dave Scannell, Anthony Dennehy.
Subs: Shane O’Riordan and Daire Murphy for P O’Callaghan and M Casey (ht), Mike Herlihy for D Fitzgerald (46), Robert Carroll for A Dennehy (48), Martin Collins for G Casey (53).
Referee: James Bermingham (Bride Rovers)
