Newcestown 0-19
Mallow 1-13
JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS
NEWCESTOWN manager Jim O’Sullivan hailed the late impact of David Buckley as his late scores helped to secure victory over Mallow in Friday’s McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC game at Macroom.
When former Cork player James Loughrey scored a 54th-minute goal for Mallow, it put them ahead by 1-13 to 0-14, a two-point gap strong currency in a game where the sides had been level on nine occasions up to then.
Parity would pertain once more, when Buckley stroked over a two-point free following a foul on Richard O’Sullivan, but from there Newcestown pushed on.
After Buckley claimed a break at midfield, was fouled and then illegally halted as he attempted to tap and go, the ball was brought up to the 20m line and he did the needful; then, in injury time, sub Jack Meade was felled outside the arc and Buckley again slotted over.
The win left Newcestown on four points, having already beaten Valley Rovers. At the time, it was not an absolute guarantee of progression but that came courtesy of Castlehaven’s win over Valleys on Saturday – the Newcestown-Haven clash will serve to determine first and second place in the group.
O’Sullivan was naturally delighted with how things had transpired.
‘It’s a relief, to be totally honest,’ he said.
‘It was a great performance, a great game of football I'd say, and we’re just delighted to get out of a tight game.
‘You have to credit David Buckley for standing up in the last ten minutes – he really carried us and kicked some immense scores under huge pressure.
‘If Mallow got another point or two [after the goal], it was game over. But with the new rules, a two-point free is a big game-changer, really.
‘David put us back into the game with some great scores and the momentum was with us towards the end, instead of momentum being with Mallow.’
The momentum had ebbed and flowed throughout, especially in a first half where neither side ever led by more than a point. Newcestown defended well, with Micheál McSweeney influential again at centre-back while early sub Niall Murray, on for the luckless Colm O’Donovan, made a couple of important interventions.
While Mallow threatened to make a move late in the half, equalisers from Buckley – well set-up by Gearóid O’Donovan – and Tadgh Twomey sent the sides in at 0-8 each.
Early in the second half, Paul Kelly had to make a good block on a goal effort from Mallow’s Michael O’Rourke and when Seán O’Donovan and Eoghan Collins began to get on top at midfield, Newcestown made headway.
Though Mallow had pushed 0-11 to 0-9 ahead, a good Buckley free cut the gap before Collins and Daire McAree combined to set him up for his sixth point of the evening.
Captain Luke Meade’s fine two-pointer made it 0-13 to 0-11 but Mallow replied with an orange flag from a free by Cork star Seán McDonnell.
Cárthach Keane put Newcestown back in front only for the goal to seemingly give Mallow the impetus. Newcestown had other ideas, though, combining graft with no little craft to get the win, much to O’Sullivan’s delight.
‘It was always a bug-bear of mine,’ he said, ‘if you were reading the paper, you know – ‘Newcestown dogged a victory, they showed great heart.’
‘But you can show great heart and have talent as well, and the talent the lads are showing at the moment, going from hurling to football, it shows the skill level they have.
‘They're not afraid to show it, either.’
They’ll get to show it again, one imagines.
OUR STAR: Finishing with 0-11, including the last three scores, David Buckley was literally the match-winner.
Scorers
Newcestown: David Buckley 0-11 (2 2ptf, 3f), Luke Meade 0-3 (1 2pt), Séamus O’Sullivan 0-2, Tadgh Twomey, Cárthach Keane, Niall Kelly 0-1 each.
Mallow: Seán McDonnell 0-5 (1 2pt, 1 2ptf), Kevin Sheehan 0-3 (0-1 f), James Loughrey 1-0, Michael O’Rourke 0-2, Eoin Kelleher, Eoin Stanton, Shane Merritt (1 45) 0-1 each.
Newcestown: Christopher White; Paul Kelly, Colm O’Donovan, James Kelleher; Gearóid O’Donovan, Micheál McSweeney, Colm Dinneen; Seán O’Donovan, Eoghan Collins; Luke Meade, Tadgh Twomey, David Buckley; Niall Kelly, Richard O’Sullivan, Séamus O’Sullivan.
Subs: Niall Murray for Colm O’Donovan (17, inj), Jack Meade for Twomey, Daire McAree for Niall Kelly (both 39), Cárthach Keane for Séamus O’Sullivan (47).
Mallow: Kevin Doyle; Gearóid Daly, Paul Lyons, Bill Myers; Trevor Kiely, Matty Taylor, Jimmy Glynn; Shane Merritt, Aiden Bolster; Eoin Stanton, Jack Dillon, Michael O’Rourke; Kevin Sheehan, Seán McDonnell, Eoin Kelleher.
Subs: James Loughrey for Stanton (42), Sam Copps for O’Rourke (49).
Referee: David Murnane (Macroom).
