Carrigaline 2-15

Valley Rovers 1-16

JJ HURLEY REPORTS

CORK minor star Eoghan Ahern broke Valley Rovers’ hearts as he scored a goal in each half to help Carrigaline win the Huntsman Bar U21 A football title in Belgooly on Friday night.

A match that was eagerly awaited by both sets of supporters lived up to expectations.

Ultimately, it was two brilliant individual Ahern goals that proved decisive, despite Seán McEntee almost single-handedly rescuing the game for the Innishannon outfit.

Played on a perfect surface for football, Rovers opened the scoring as Oisín McCarthy found the target with a two-point score, but it was level pegging as Ben Delaney opened his account after six minutes.

The early exchanges had Valleys bossing this contest, and it was reflected on the scoreboard as Eoin Guinane (two-pointer) and Mark Woods put distance between the sides on 13 minutes, making the gap 0-5 to 0-2.

Ahern was proving a handful as he landed a fine point midway through the first half, but Valleys response was swift, with McCarthy and Woods making no mistake with a point apiece.

Fearing the game was getting away from them, Delaney and Ahern combined for a white flag, and when Vaughan added a second moments later, the gap was down to two after 25 minutes.

Then, a moment of brilliance had Ahern waltzing through the Valleys’ defence and slamming the ball past Billy Curtin.

With their tails up, Jack Connolly blazed a shot over the bar with the goal at his mercy, but it added a point to his side’s tally as they led at the interval by 1-6 to 0-7.

The early period of the second half had Carrig in the ascendancy, as scores from Tomás Vaughan, Connolly (both two-pointers), Delaney, and Brian Murphy built an advantage of 1-12 to 0-7 on 36 minutes.

With Vaughan and McEntee swapping scores, it looked like Carrigaline were still in control, but three McEntee points and a Luke Casey score left only four points between the teams on 48 minutes.

Cue Ahern on 50 minutes to rifle a shot into the Valleys’ net, but to be fair, they struck back with a two-point score from Guinane.

Another Ahern white flag made the score 2-14 to 0-14 with less than five minutes remaining.

Two more McEntee points shaved the difference between the sides, but Delaney was on target to give his side some breathing space on 58 minutes.
Valleys, eventually through McEntee’s hard work, pierced the Carrigaline defence for a goal, but it was too late and Carrig carried the day.

Scorers

Carrigaline: E Ahern 2-3; B Delaney (1 2pt), T Vaughan (1 2pt) 0-4 each; J Connolly 0-3 (1 2pt); B Murphy 0-1.

Valley Rovers: S McEntee 1-6 (2f); E Guinane 0-4 (2 2pt); O McCarthy 0-3 (1 2pt); M Wood 0-2; L Casey 0-1.

Carrigaline: R McGrath; N O'Keeffe, T Foley, E Murphy; B Murphy, K McCarthy, S Turner; O O'Connell, D Sutton; E Ahern, B Delaney, C
Kearney; J Connolly, R Delaney, T Vaughan.

Subs: J Shanahan for S Turner and S Collins for D Sutton (44).

Valley Rovers: B Curtin; N Daly, T McGarth, A Browne; L Casey, M Woods, C Murphy; O McCarthy, S Browne; S Ryan, E Guinane, E O'Sullivan; K Dart O'Flynn, S McEntee, D O'Sullivan.

Subs: C Reardon for C Murphy, L Dineen for A Browne (both 34), B Keane for D O'Sullivan (45).

Referee: Mark Maher (St Finbarr's).