Canovee 2-18

Parteen-Meelick 0-6

CANOVEE hit 1-14 without reply between the 12th and 47th minutes to record a comfortable AIB Munster Junior Football Championship quarter-final win over Clare club Parteen-Meelick away from home.

The county premier junior winners were 0-4 to 0-2 down inside 11 minutes but as soon they got to grips with the Clare club, Kieran Cronin’s team ran riot.

Up next is a provincial semi-final against CJ Kickhams Mullinahone from Tipperary on Saturday, November 21st.

Canovee only conceded 0-3 in this game from play and still haven’t conceded a goal. Their defence is going from strength to strength and could be key in their bid for Munster success.

‘We have a savage defence. I've never been so confident as a player playing in front of a full-back line in my life,’ wing-back Eoghan Lehane explained.

‘Now, I'm often stuck in there myself, but the three boys are brilliant. That starts from the goalkeeper. We have a new keeper this year. Frankie (Condon) is vocal and a great addition. He's a Tipp man, but he’s leading things from the back. It’s great, we’ve gone to another game without conceding a goal. We pride ourselves on our defending. We nearly let two in there, especially towards the end but great to keep a clean sheet at the same time.’

Canovee struck the first couple of points through Seán O’Connor and Jack Kelleher but Parteen wrestled back momentum with Seán Connelly and Jack Meaney to the fore, 0-4 to 0-2 to the Clare club.

The Mid Cork side began their scoring spree as 1-1 from Daire McMahon put them back in front.

A quick one-two with Evan Dodd made the space for McMahon to riffle to the net.

Two-pointers from each of the Dodd brothers, first Conor then Evan had Cronin’s charges 1-9 to 0-4 up at the break.

Parteen made a couple of subs at half-time but that didn’t stop Canovee’s flow.

Lehane really came into the game in the second period as he along with Kelleher, McMahon and William Aherne had the Cork club 1-14 to 0-4 ahead with 20 minutes to go.

Lehane fired over the next two scores before Parteen got their first score in 39 minutes through a Conneely free.

By then, the game was pretty much done but that didn’t stop Lehane from adding a major to his tally when Jason Riordan found him in space. 2-16 to 0-5 on 53 minutes.

Lehane, like most of the Canovee team, is enjoying his football and winning is a habit too.

‘I would have played a lot of my football in the old game man-marking players and I like doing that, but it’s great to get freedom on the park. Kieran (Cronin) is great, he's a Kerry man. He likes to see the ball on foot. He likes to see the ball going forward. We did a lot of that. 

‘I actually need to invest in an old stats board because I feel like I don’t cover enough ground. We have Kevin Graham in with us this year and he is savage with that stuff. I can only talk about myself, but I'm probably in the best shape I have been in in a long time, probably since I was 18,’ Lehane added.

Scorers

Canovee: Eoghan Lehane 1-3; Daire McMahon 1-2; Jack Kelleher 0-4 (2f); Evan Dodd 0-3 (1 2ptf); Conor Dodd 0-2 (2pt); Seán O’Connor, Aidan Murphy, William Aherne, Gavin Coleman 0-1 each.

Parteen-Meelick: Seán Connelly (1 45), Jack Meaney (2f) 0-3 each.

Canovee: Frankie Condon; Patrick Buckley, Liam Kelleher, William Aherne; Odhran O’Driscoll, Ryan Delaney, Eoghan Lehane; Aidan Murphy, Seán O’Connor; Conor Dodd, Evan Dodd, James Moynihan; Gavin Coleman, Daire McMahon, Jack Kelleher.

Subs: Mark Healy for J Moynihan, Evan Cunningham for P Buckley (both 38); Eoin McNabola for A Murphy, Jason Riordan for D McMahon (50); Cillian Newman for S O’Connor (54).

Parteen-Meelick: Joe Maxwell; Cameron Di Beneditto, Conor McInerney, Darragh McGleenon; Eoghan O’Connell, Tom Collins, Seán Maxwell; Tom Egan, Donal Kenny; Jack Kirwan, Daire Nolan, Seán Connelly; Jack Meaney, Danny Williamson, Evan O’Brien.

Subs: Dylan O’Connell for S Maxwell, Jay Deedigan for C McInerney (both ht); James Kelly for E O’Brien (53); Colm Davoren for D Nolan (57); Luke Tobín for T Egan (58).

Referee: Jack Bray (Waterford).