Valley Rovers 0-28

Carrigaline 0-17

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

CHRIS O’Leary hit 13 points as Valley Rovers overpowered Carrigdhoun rivals Carrigaline in the opening round of the Co-op Superstores Premier IHC at Riverstick on Saturday.

Registering a comfortable Group 3 win, the Brinny club was dominant in every sector of the pitch during a sometimes one-sided second period.

Four points up, despite playing into a strong wind at the conclusion of the opening half, Valleys kept their opponents at arm’s length throughout the second period.

At the heart of Rovers’ success was Chris O’Leary.

The winning captain was nerveless from placed sliotars, converting eight frees and a 65 as part of his 13-point individual haul.

In the end, it took a full and impressive team effort for Valleys to get over their Carrigdhoun rivals. O’Leary was delighted with his club’s ability to build on the previous weekend’s premier senior football victory over St Michael’s.

‘It is a good start especially after beating St Michael’s last week,’ the Valley Rovers captain told The Southern Star.

‘We just have to keep the momentum going now. As for the frees, it was all about getting into a rhythm, especially for championship. Some days they don’t go your way but today they did.

‘We played against a good team in Carrigaline. Sure, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Four points up at half time, and after playing against that wind, we were happy enough.

‘Still, we know there is more in us and we have got work to do. So, it is all about keeping the buzz going now.’

Carrigaline manager Gary Harrington admitted: ‘Chris is a good player, and if you give him a free shot at goal, 99 percent of the time he will put them over the bar. We will go back home, watch a video of the game, see where we went wrong and hopefully, fix things for the next day.’

Rovers announced their intentions when Donnacha O’Connell was denied a goal by Carrigaline goalkeeper Robert Foster inside the first minute.

It was quickly 0-3 to no score when Chris O’Leary (point and free) and Eoghan Crowley fired over, the latter raising a white flag following a poor puck out.

Things got even worse for Carrigaline once Shane Ryan and Joe Twohig points increased a rampant Valley’s advantage.

Ciarán Kearney finally got Carrigaline off the mark after 12 minutes. But it was 0-6 to 0-1 in Rovers’ favour once Jack Walsh split the posts at the end of a dominant first quarter.

Midfielders Eanna Desmond and Ronan Kelleher’s combined influence began to grow and Carrigaline enjoyed their most productive spell. Desmond and Kelleher points sandwiched a Chris O’Leary effort to make it 0-7 to 0-3.

A flurry of scores closed the opening half and saw Brian Kelleher (two), Desmond and Ronan Kelleher increase Carrigaline’s total.

O’Leary converted a free in response and Valleys were denied a goal by another excellent Foster save.

It was 0-12 to 0-8 in Rovers’ favour thanks to O’Leary (two), Eoghan Crowley and Brian McCarthy efforts at the interval. Brian Kelleher converted a free in reply.

Another flurry of scores saw a reinvigorated Carrigaline slim the deficit to four, 0-16 to 0-12, at the start of the third quarter.

The closing period belonged to the eventual winners. Backed by a strong wind, Rovers pressed high up the pitch and gave Carrigaline zero breathing space.

O’Leary continued to punish his opponents from placed sliotars. Joe Twohig and Matthew Woods also chipped in with some excellent long range scores.

Rhys McCarthy and Brian Kelleher fired over some terrific points at the opposite end but Carrigaline were powerless to prevent Rovers from moving 0-21 to 0-16 ahead.

Upping the tempo once again, Jack Walsh, Eoghan Crowley and Chris O’Leary points put the result beyond doubt as time ticked down.

0-24 to 0-17 ahead, sub Colm Butler put the seal on a commanding display with three superb unanswered points.

Eoghan Crowley’s long-range effort brought the curtain down on an impressive but fully merited 11-point Valley Rovers win.

Next up for the Brinny club is a Group 3 clash with Kilworth. Carrigaline face a second consecutive Carrigdhoun derby against Ballymartle.

Scorers 

Valley Rovers: C O’Leary 0-13 (8f, 1 65); E Crowley 0-4; C Butler 0-3; J Twohig, J Walsh 0-2 each; S Ryan, C O’Shea, B McCarthy, M Woods 0-1 each.

Carrigaline: B Kelleher 0-8 (8f); E Desmond 0-3; R Kelleher, R McCarthy 0-2 each; C Kearney, D Drake 0-1 each.

Valley Rovers: M Kelleher, C Johnson, M O’Leary, T McGrath; C O’Shea, R Guinane, W Hurley; S Ryan, M Woods; J Walsh, B McCarthy, J Twohig; C O’Leary (captain), D O’Connell, E Crowley.

Sub: C Butler for O’Connell (43).

Carrigaline: R Foster; D Stack, D Greene, K Kavanagh; O O’Connell, D Griffin, P Mellett; R Kelleher, E Desmond (captain); A Andrews, B Kelleher, C Kearney; K O’Reilly, D Drake, N O’Keefe.

Sub: R McCarthy for O’Keefe (ht).

Referee: Willie Wallis (Aghada).