Ballincollig 1-21

Inniscarra 2-12

BY BRENDAN KENNEALLY

BALLINCOLLIG are Farho Heating Muskerry U21A hurling champions for the second year in a row after proving much too strong for Inniscarra at Ovens.

A superb opening half display put The Village on the path to victory.  Team captain James Dwyer gave an outstanding performance in a dominant defence and up front Conor Dalton scored 1-3 to help the winners to a six-point interval lead.

Inniscarra had started well but Ballincollig responded to level at 0-2 each before going 0-6 to 0-2 up after 12 minutes. After Ballincollig’s impressive centre forward Conor Dalton crashed to the net, Inniscarra were fighting an uphill battle at this stage and were trailing by 1-10 to 0-7 at the break.

On resumption, Inniscarra landed an early free from Darragh O’Brien, but Ballincollig ended the game as a contest with five points without reply from Ciarán Buckley, Tadgh O’Connell, James Dwyer (free) and a super brace from the impressive Cian O’Connor.

It was one-way traffic at this stage, 1-19 to 0-10 after 50 minutes, and then 1-20 to 0-12 on 55. Ballincollig substitute Tadgh Murphy landed another free to complete his side’s scoring before a late surge from Inniscarra added two goals and respectability to the scoreline, James O’Mahony crashed a loose ball to the net and Daniel Murphy added a second Inniscarra goal after a nice finish to the net.

In the county championship, Ballincollig will play the East Cork champions Midleton.

Scorers 

Ballincollig: C Dalton 1-3; C O’Connor, E Dwyer (3f) 0-3 each; T O’Connell, P Kelly, J Dwyer (2f) T Murphy (2f) 0-2 each; D O’Leary, J Murray, C Buckley, T Morgan 0-1 each.

Inniscarra: D O’Brien 0-4 (4f); D Murphy 1-1; J O’Mahony 1-0; N Buckley 0-2; S Murphy, Cormac Dineen, D Enright, M Murphy 0-1 each.

Ballincollig: D Hurley; R Power, B Dore, D Ward; K O’Leary, J Dwyer, D O’Leary; T Morgan, P Kelly; T O’Connell, C Dalton, C O’Connor; E Dwyer, C Buckley, J Murray.

Subs: B O’Sullivan for C Buckley (42), T Murphy for E Dwyer (50), D Lee for J Murray (50), C Power for P Kelly ( 55 inj).

Inniscarra: B Gleeson, C O’Herlihy, D Keane, C O’Sullivan; S Murphy, T Lyons, C Dineen; D Enright, N Buckley; M Murphy, J Shine , C Lyons, D Murphy, D O’Brien, C Lynch.

Subs: A Heelan for J Shine (ht), J O’Mahony for N Buckley (40m), S Linehan for C Lyons (45).

Referee: Luke Knight (Kilmurry).

***

Kilmichael 1-15

Canovee 1-8

A glorious Sunday morning game in Annahala saw Kilmichael take the Rochestown Park Hotel Muskerry C Football Championship with a deserved win over Canovee, and so end their year on a positive note.

Ronan Murphy and Cian McCarthy had early points to get the home side off to a good start. Brian Verling had a Canovee point in reply, and it was 0-2 to 0-1 after a lively opening five minutes.

Kilmichael moved 0-6 to 0-1 up with points from Cian McCarthy and Ronan Murphy, and Ciarán Foley followed with a two-pointer before Mark Walsh got a point back for Canovee.

In the 13th minute, Cian McCarthy set up Ciarán Foley for a vital Kilmichael goal. James McCarthy and Graham Lynch replied with Canovee points, Kilmichael getting another from Cian McCarthy, Jonathan McCarthy and a Conor Horgan free. It was 1-9 to 0-5 at the break, Mark Walsh on target for Canovee.

Canovee rallied in the second half, and a goal from Graham Lynch cut the gap to 1-10 to 1-7. But Kilmichael finished strongly to win, with points from Conor Horgan and Kevin Kelleher.

Kilmichael: Patrick O’Mahony; Alan Murphy, Kieran Murphy; Diarmuid Kelleher, Conor McCarthy, Simon Foley; Jonathan McCarthy, Michael Healy; Tom Downey, Ronan Murphy, Conor Horgan; Cian McCarthy, Ciarán Foley.

Subs: Luke Hennigan, Kevin Kelleher, Cian Dromey.

Canovee: Derek O’Shea; Jerry Murphy, David Lyons; Michael Quinlan, James McCarthy, Sean Browne; Michael Dunne, Pádraig O’Driscoll; Graham Lynch, Mark Walsh, Niall Cronin; Paddy Fehily, Brian Verling.

Sub: Gearóid Lucey.

Referee: Brian Harte (Kilmurry).