CARRIGALINE ended a 34-year wait for glory as they claimed the Procure.ie South East junior A football title, overcoming reigning champions Ballygarvan by 1-9 to 0-7 in Minane Bridge, reports JJ Hurley.

The contest remained finely balanced until the 41st minute, with little separating the sides. However, Carrigaline took control during a decisive ten-minute spell, producing a strong surge that ultimately settled the outcome.

A key moment came in the 50th minute when an Olan Barry effort for a point was caught by the wind and dropped into the path of Mossy Vaughan. He made no mistake, blasting the ball into the net to give Carrigaline a commanding lead that Ballygarvan could not recover from.

For former Cork senior footballer and current team selector Nicholas Murphy, Sunday’s victory is very important.

‘Look it’s massive for the club. We’ve been trying for years to win it, but I suppose the last four or five years since Kevin Sullivan came in, he has really pushed the club on.

‘He’s driven the standards and the juniors are playing senior level at training every night.’

With scores at a premium throughout, it was Evan O’Connor who opened the proceedings almost immediately from a free, but it was eight minutes before the next score arrived as Ben Delaney scored.

The deadlock was short-lived as Cork senior footballer Séan Brady, who was prominent over the hour, set up O’Connor for his second point on 11 minutes.

On 16 minutes O'Connor added his third point, before an injury to Stephen Fenton led to a break in play. On the resumption, Carrigaline roared back into the contest, despite trailing by 0-3 to 0-1.

Man-of-the-match Mossy Vaughan added Carrig’s second on 23 minutes, as Delaney chipped over for his second and tied the contest with three minutes to the break.

The advantage swung in the Owenabue side’s favour almost on the stroke of half-time as Tim Cronin kicked over a free to give his side the advantage at the break, 0-4 to 0-3.

Aided by the wind, O’Connor hit two early second-half scores as Ballygarvan hit the front on 40 minutes, but Cronin had it all square a minute later.

Scores from Delaney (two-point free) and a point apiece from Jack Kelly and Vaughan had Carrigaline in control at 0-9 to 0-5, with 11 minutes remaining.

But it was definitely game over minutes later as Vaughan cracked home a goal. Despite two late scores from Ray O’Halloran and O’Connor, it was never going to be enough to mount a late comeback.

Reflecting on what had been a great day for Carrigaline, manager John Roberts thinks there is a lot more to come from his side.

‘There’s plenty more in these lads. We need them to play at a high level. Our aim was to get out of the South East and to get up into premier junior.’

OUR STAR: A couple of candidates, including Sean Brady, who showed his class for Ballygarvan, but ultimately the day belonged to Carrigaline and Mossy Vaughan deserved the accolade.

Scorers - Carrigaline: M Vaughan 1-2; B Delaney 0-4 (1ptf); T Cronin 0-2 (1f); J Kelly 0-1. Ballygarvan: E O’Connor 0-6 (4f); R O’Halloran 0-1.

Carrigaline: S Mellett; M Kiernan, I Sheerin, E Murphy; N O’Keeffe, J Kelly, J Shannahan; N O’Keeffe, T Foley; E Ryle, B Delaney, K McNulty; T Cronin, O Barry, M Vaughan. Subs: S Turner for J Shannahan (42), R McCarthy for Olan Barry (52).

Ballygarvan: C Fitzgerald; P Ryan, A Dunne, I Crowley; S O’Donovan, S Brady, K Lyons; J Fenton, S Fenton, C Mackey, K Fitzgerald, C O’Regan, E O'Connor; D Mackey, N Dowd. Subs: L Collins for S Fenton (11 inj), J O’Callaghan for N Dowd (35), Ray O’Halloran for D Mackey (50).

Referee: Brian Coniry (Crosshaven).