Impressive home win boosts West Cork’s hopes of run in the Kennedy Cup

WEST Cork overpowered West Waterford East Cork to get their SFAI Kennedy Cup campaign back on track in Brinny recently.

Having suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat away to Clare in their first Kennedy Cup outing of 2021, the WCSSL got back on track in Munster Group E last weekend.

West Waterford East Cork (WWEC) were the visitors to Castlelack FC’s new home ground where they found the hosts in menacing form. Right from the first whistle, West Cork dictated the pace and tempo of a game decided by half time. A raft of second-half substitutions didn’t prevent the WCSSL from adding to their tally despite an improved WWEC performance.

First-half hat-tricks from Adam O’Donovan and Luke Murphy allied with an additional Jason Murray strike cemented the points before half an hour had elapsed. Paddy Collins scored from a corner with Jack Hennigan and Eoin Keohane also getting their names on the scoresheet during a much closer second period.

That result sees West Cork move into joint-second place in the SFAI Kennedy Cup Munster Group E alongside Clare. Cork defeated the latter 2-0 last weekend to maintain their perfect start. Cork travel to West Cork on the weekend of October 23rd/24th, the same day Clare hosts WWEC.

‘We got a reaction from our starting 11 and also from our bench,’ WCSSL head coach Áine O’Donovan explained.

‘The early goals settled us and made us more confident in our approach. We were able to bring on a lot of substitutes who made a massive impact. A few of the subs managed to get on the scoresheet which is hugely encouraging.

‘West Cork produced a really good team performance but, having said that, there were times the WWEC created chances. Only for our defence and goalkeeper Mike Crowley, it could have been a much different story.’

West Waterford East Cork are never easy opponents but when the pressure was won, West Cork showed they are capable of delivering a performance and getting a positive result.

Cork will be another step up in quality but there have been enough shock results in this season’s SFAI Kennedy Cup to warrant hope of an upset in two weeks’ time.

‘It was good for us to have multiple goal scorers today rather than relying on one player to get the goals up front,’ O’Donovan added.

‘Everyone gave 100 percent and this is just the boost we needed heading into the Cork game. We know we can score goals and keep clean sheets as well. It is just a case of knuckling down in training and driving on for that Cork game.’

The 2021 WCSSL Kennedy Cup squad includes Jack Hennigan, Jack Coomey, Adam Sexton, Adam O’Donovan, Dylan Heaton-Jones, Luke Murphy, Paddy Collins, Mike Crowley, Fintan O’Brien, Mark McCarthy, Alex Coughlan, Danny O’Donovan, Olan Murphy, Jamie Dullea, Rory McCarthy, Jason Murray, Eoin Keohane, Euan Lehane, Gearoid Coughlan, Matt Daly, Donnacha Hennigan and Ogie Walsh.