Kilmacabea dig deep to snatch draw with Erin's Own

Kilmacabea’s hopes of adding a Cork county Junior A football championship title to their first ever South West junior crown remain alive after an absorbing and nail-biting county semi-final against Erin’s Own at Brinny this afternoon that ended in a draw after extra time.

The sides were level (Kilmacabea 1-4, Erin’s Own 0-7) at the end of the first half and, with Kilmacabea leading after normal time had elapsed, Erin’s Own substitute Eoghan Murphy hit the levelling point in the 62nd minute to send the game to extra time.

With the match starting half an hour later than initially scheduled, light began to fade at the Brinny venue, but substitute and ex-rugby star Tomás O’Leary raised the green flag for Erin’s Own (Interestingly, his brother-in-law, Timmy Nyhan, wore the No 10 shirt for Kilmacabea.)

At the halfway point in extra time, Erin’s Own led by 1-11 to 1-9 and, when the East Cork side tapped over the first point in the second half of extra time, it looked ominous for the Kilmacs. However, the West Cork men weren’t giving up without a fight and scored the final three points of the game to snatch a draw and leave the final score: Kilmacabea 1-12, Erin’s Own 1-12.

•    Full report and analysis in this week’s Southern Star, in the shops on Thursday 19th.