Kilmacabea advance, but Damien Gore injury a worry

KILMACABEA 2-10

KILMEEN 0-11

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

KILMACABEA qualified for the knockout stages of this year’s Bandon Co-op Carbery JAFC following a hard-earned Group 3 win over Kilmeen in Rosscarbery.

Goals in either half from Donnacha Collins and Karl McCarthy (penalty) proved crucial in Kilmacabea’s win.

The victory confirmed the Leap club’s place in the knockout stages with a group game to spare but came at a cost. The winners lost their talismanic Cork forward Damien Gore to injury after only 12 minutes.

‘Our performance definitely wasn’t as good as the first day out in that there was no flow to our game,’ Kilmacabea manager Shane Crowley said. ‘We talked about it at half time, applying more pressure in the middle third and I think that worked.

‘There were some big contributions tonight, especially from “Big Dan” (Daniel O’Donovan), he was outstanding for the quarter of an hour he was on the pitch.’

Both sides were coming off Group 3 wins, Kilmacabea previously defeated Argideen Rangers and Kilmeen had proved too strong for Bandon. That meant whoever emerged from Rosscarbery with a victory would rubber-stamp their ticket to the knockout phase.

Aided by a strong wind, the Leap club got off to a perfect start. A Damien Gore point attempt rebounded back off the post. Possession was recycled and Donnacha McCarthy found the net from close range. A Gore free made it 1-1 to 0-0 after three minutes. Eamon Shanahan extended the leader’s advantage before Kilmeen were denied a certain goal by a magnificent Karl McCarthy double-save.

A major turning point occurred when Damien Gore went off with a suspected hamstring injury after 12 minutes. His team-mates didn’t miss a beat however, and rallied as Ruairi Hourihane scored from distance.

Ian Jennings added another point to make it 1-4 to 0-2 after Kilmeen’s Oisin O’Sullivan finally got his team on the scoreboard via a pair of frees. The same player added his third from play soon after as a resurgent Kilmeen changed ends 1-4 to 0-3 behind.

Experienced campaigner Shane Buttimer made it a three-point game courtesy of a long-range score immediately after the restart.

Keith Whelton replied for Kilmacabea but their opponents remained on the offensive with two Joseph O’Donovan scores making it 1-5 to 0-6. Oisin O’Donovan and Ian Jennings exchanged frees before Kilmacabea’s Liam McCarthy broke free and was brought down in the square at the opposite end. Goalkeeper Karl McCarthy strode forward and fired home the resulting penalty to push his team 2-6 to 0-7 ahead.

Donnacha McCarthy and Ian Jennings extended Kilmacabea’s lead, before an Oisin O’Donovan free made it 2-8 to 0-8. Then Kevin Keohane landed a brace and David O’Regan also scored to reduce the deficit to a goal with two minutes left.

Kilmacabea used all their experience and substitute Daniel O’Donovan’s aerial prowess to create two late chances which Donnacha McCarthy and Ian Jennings converted to win an entertaining game 2-10 to 0-11.

Scorers 

Kilmacabea: D McCarthy 1-2; I Jennings 0-4 (1f); K McCarthy 1-0 (1-0 pen); D Gore (1f), E Shanahan, R Hourihane, K Whelton 0-1 each.

Kilmeen: O O’Sullivan 0-5 (4f); J O’Donovan (1f), K Keohane 0-2 each; S Buttimer, D O’Regan 0-1 each.

Kilmacabea: K McCarthy; L Tobin, N Hayes, M Collins; D O’Callaghan, D Whooley, E Shanahan; J Collins, R Hourihane; D McCarthy, I Jennings, R Shanahan; O Tobin, K Whelton, D Gore.

Subs: L McCarthy for D Gore (12, inj), M Jennings for N Hayes (36, inj), D O’Donovan for J Collins (47), D Tobin for E Shanahan (56).

Kilmeen: W Tyner; B Kirby, S Deasy, D O’Leary; D O’Sullivan, B O’Donovan, C Murphy; D McCarthy, B Deasy; S Buttimer, K Keohane, O O’Sullivan; J O’Donovan, B Carmody, S O’Donovan.

Subs: J Bailey for D O’Sullivan (ht), D O’Regan for B Carmody (47).

Referee: J Hayes (Carbery Rangers).