ST MARY’S 1-11
CARBERY RANGERS 1-10
MATTHEW HURLEY REPORTS
ST Mary’s sealed their place in the Bandon Co-op Carbery Junior A Football Championship quarter-finals, but the win came at a cost with star forward Olan Corcoran picking up a worrying injury.
The former Cork U20 and leading scorer went down in the first quarter of their victory over Carbery Rangers in Rossmore, and the setback looked serious.
The Ballineen/Enniskeane outfit ploughed on to lead 1-9 to 0-4 at half time, converting ten out of 14 attempts, compared to Carbery Rangers’ four from ten.
St Mary’s only scored two points in the second half, though, and this will be a concern for boss Daniel Cronin.
‘We had one job to do – get the win, no matter how. We got away with it, but a win is a win and we’ll take it,’ Cronin told The Southern Star.
‘We’ve been trying to build consistency over the last few championship games, so we were really disappointed with that second half. If we play like that again, any team in this championship will punish us.
‘In fairness to the lads, even in the league, when we weren’t playing well, we were still grinding out draws or wins. That shows the buy-in is there, and that’s a real positive,’ he added.
Olan Corcoran opened the scoring with a trademark score before Brian McCarthy made it 0-2 to nil after three minutes. No score for ten minutes followed, but Marys’ Niall Kelleher ended the drought with a free. Ross finally got into the game with Ben Linehan splitting the posts before a misplaced kick-out led to Colm Hayes kicking the ball over to make it 0-3 to 0-2.
Mary’s – without Corcoran who went off after 13 minutes – started to take over again, as Kelleher and Darren O’Donovan linked up for the former to score. Another Kelleher score followed but it was O’Donovan who got the opening goal after 20 minutes. Getting the nudge on his marker, he spun into space before finishing low, 1-5 to 0-2.
Jack O’Regan kicked a brace of points for Ross but Kelleher and Rory O’Connor made sure Mary’s led by eight at the break, even without their star forward.
‘In fairness to all the other boys, they stepped up when needed,’ Daniel Cronin acknowledged.
Three Ross scores early in the second period from O’Regan (2) and Hayes closed the gap, but Aaron O’Driscoll got the Ballineen/Enniskeane club back on track. O’Regan and Kelleher then swapped frees, Kelleher’s proving to be Mary’s last score. They led 1-11 to 0-8 after 47 minutes.
Goleen were winning in the other group game against St Colum’s, so Ross knew they needed a result and threw everything into the cause. Michael Maguire billowed his way through to goal on 58 minutes. At 1-11 to 1-9, it was a lifeline for Ross. Mary’s were down to 14 after a Dylan Scannell black card. An O’Regan free followed, cutting the gap to the minimum. But Mary’s hung on to seal a knockout spot.
OUR STAR: The link between defence and attack was tied together by Mary’s Rory O’Connor, who worked tirelessly throughout.
Scorers
St Mary’s: Niall Kelleher 0-7 (6f); Darren O’Donovan 1-0; Olan Corcoran, Brian McCarthy, Rory O’Connor, Aaron O’Driscoll 0-1 each.
Carbery Rangers: Jack O’Regan 0-7 (5f); Michael Maguire 1-0; Colm Hayes 0-2; Ben Linehan 0-1.
St Mary’s: Peter Daly; Mark O’Driscoll, Ryan Scannell, Jack Hurley; Dylan Scannell, David Curtin, Rory O’Connor; Cillian McGillicuddy, Eoin Cullinane; Michael O’Driscoll, Olan Corcoran, Gearoid Harrington; Niall Kelleher, Darren O’Donovan, Brian McCarthy.
Subs: Aaron O’Driscoll for O Corcoran (13, inj); Jack Eady for G Harrington (48); Eoin Keohane for B McCarthy (55).
Carbery Rangers: Aaron O’Brien; Alan O’Rourke (captain), Killian Eady, Peter Óg Hill; Jerry McCarthy, Caolan Hayes, Niall Keane; Padraig Tobin, Michael Maguire; Eoghan Hayes, Alan Jennings, Padraig Hodnett; Colm Hayes, Jack O’Regan, Ben Linehan.
Subs: David O’Dwyer for N Keane (ht); Michael Mennis for P Hodnett, Chris O’Donovan for E Hayes (both 54); Padraig Hodnett for M Maguire (65, inj).
Referee: Anthony O’Regan (Kilbrittain).
