ILEN ROVERS 1-12
BOHERBUE 0-12
ILEN Rovers have rediscovered that winning feeling in championship football, and now they want more.
With a first championship win since 2022, Ilen are back in business after this McCarthy Insurance Group Intermediate A Football Championship Group 3 win in Inchigeela.
The Baltimore club was trailing 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time but they reeled off 1-6 without reply to turn the game around. The goal came from Adrian O’Driscoll, who scored 1-5 in a key display.
The Ilen full-forward line of O’Driscoll, Michéal Sheehy and Alan Holland nailed 1-8 between them.
Rovers had the aid of a slight breeze in the second spell and used it effectively. Hitting 1-6 in the third quarter was vital.
‘We were able to dominate the kick-outs and dominate possession. What was pleasing was that we were able to convert some chances. We put ourselves in a very strong position in that third quarter,’ Ilen manager Flor O'Driscoll told The Southern Star.
‘It’s very hard to win a championship game but this was a hard-won game. We were up against a really good team in Boherbue, who lost the final last year.
‘We had to stick at it, we knew it was going to be a 60-minute game. We really turned it on in the third quarter – that’s where we won the game.
‘Boherbue fought back obviously but we were able to keep them at a distance. I’m really happy with the performance and especially the effort from all the lads.’
Having had to wait for this championship win, this is a real boost to Ilen ahead of their remaining games against Kilmurry and St Vincent’s, but O'Driscoll still knows there is a job to do.
‘With the format, the first game is key but just because you win it doesn’t guarantee anything,’ the Ilen boss stressed.
‘There is still a lot of work to be done to, first of all, survive in the grade. More importantly, you need to pick up another win to get into the quarter-finals, which is our goal,’ he added.
O’Driscoll added: ‘I’m really delighted for the lads, they have been through a tough couple of years. It wasn’t that they didn’t prepare well or they didn’t have a good attitude, they did but a lot of things went against them.
‘It becomes a momentum that is hard to break. The lads have worked really hard this year and they showed their resilience and toughness to not just hang on for a win. It was deserved.’
Ilen Rovers scorers: Adrian O’Driscoll 1-5 (2f, 1tp); Michéal Sheehy 0-2; Alan Holland, Peadar O’Driscoll, Denis O’Driscoll, Barry Collins, Dermot Hegarty 0-1 each.
Ilen Rovers: Damien O’Sullivan; Daniel Coakley, Jack Collins, Ciaran O’Dwyer; Aaron O’Sullivan, Joseph Hickey, Denis O’Driscoll; Peadar O’Driscoll, Sean Minihane; Emmet Hourihane, Dermot Hegarty, Barry Collins; Adrian O’Driscoll, Michéal Sheehy, Alan Holland.
