Clonakilty 1-18

Knocknagree 0-13

TOM LYONS REPORTS

PLAYING a superb brand of football, Clonakilty served notice that they will again be among the favourites to land the title come September.

This win over a high-flying Knocknagree, fancied by many to win this McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC clash, was as impressive as the final score suggests. It could even have been much more had Clon availed of the many goalscoring chances they created.

While Cork goalkeeper Pa Doyle brought off some point-blank saves, Clon won’t be happy that they registered only one green flag from five good chances.

But that was truly Clon’s only down point in a game that saw them kicking 1-18, of which 1-17 came from play, with four forwards sharing 1-16 between them. The two forwards who failed to raise a flag, newcomers Des Kenneally and Dylan Harrington, covered acres of grass from attack to defence.

Good and all as the forwards were, it was the heroic defence that laid the foundation for this welcome win, after failing to win the first two games last season.

Knocknagree are noted for scoring two-pointers but in the first half, with the strong breeze, their forwards failed to score any. It was their two midfielders, Michael McSweeney and David O’Connor, who kicked their two in that half. Even though they had some uncharacteristic wides, it was the covering, blockdowns, turnovers and interceptions by the hard-working Clon backs that frustrated the vaunted Knocknagree front men. Centre back Thomas Clancy was the fulcrum of the Clon defence with a man-of-the-match performance.

Clonakilty's Ben Ridgeway in control against Killian Cronin of Knocknagree. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

‘To be honest, we finished like that in our last game last season (against Carbery Rangers),’ said a delighted Clonakilty selector Eoin Ryan.

‘We knew what we were up against, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we knew we had to step up. A lot of people had written us off, Knocknagree were coming with a strong team, but we finished with the same amount of points as them in the league.

‘Against the wind in the first half, we managed the ball very well and to go in at half time a point up, after playing up the hill, against the wind, really set us up. We eased off for a while in the second half but finished strongly.’

Clon got off to a bright start, leading by 0-3 to 0-2 against the breeze with scores from Darragh Gough, Dara Ó Sé and Conor Daly, while David Twomey had a pair for Knocknagree.

The Duhallow men began to get a grip on the kickouts then and a Gearóid Looney point was followed by the first two-pointer from midfielder Michael McSweeney after a few wide efforts and balls falling short.

Clon goalkeeper Mark White plucked two efforts from just over the crossbar. It was 0-5 to 0-3 at the end of a first quarter of superb, sporting football.

Knocknagree's Gearóid Lowney challenges Clonakilty's Sean White. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The second quarter belonged to the rampant Clon men and even though they missed some goal chances, they kicked some superb points – Darragh Gough, in particular, landing three great scores.

Points from Maurice Shanley, Ó Sé and Mannix brought their total to six, with Knocknagree managing only three – a two-pointer from David O’Connor and a point from Michael McSweeney. Clon in front by 0-9 to 0-8 at half time.

A five-point surge in six minutes to begin the second half, including a two-pointer from Daly and points from Ó Sé (two) and Mannix had Clon in front by six before Knocknagree responded with scores from Pa Doyle (45), Denis R O’Connor and Eoin McSweeney to cut the lead to three, 0-14 to 0-11, to end a hectic third quarter.

Ó Sé kicked his fifth point before his black card on 47 minutes. Despite his absence, Clon controlled the proceedings, adding points from Daly, Chris Kenneally and Mannix while limiting the Duhallow men to two from Gearóid Looney and Fintan O’Connor.

Clon put the icing on the cake in the 58th minute when Thomas Clancy’s shot was brilliantly saved by Doyle but Daly grabbed the rebound to finish to the net. Knocknagree did win a penalty in the dying seconds but Anthony O’Connor saw his spot kick saved by White.

‘If we hadn’t performed here tonight, they’d have beaten us, as they’re used to winning,’ said Ryan.

‘We were completely focused on this game, trying fellas out in the league. Last year, we concentrated on the league but this time it was all about today, nothing else mattered, and it worked out. We’re delighted with the win.’

OUR STAR: Clonakilty centre back Thomas Clancy dictated the trend of this game with a masterly performance all through.

Scorers

Clonakilty: Conor Daly 1-5 (1 2pt); Dara Ó Sé 0-5 (1f); Darragh Gough, Ross Mannix 0-3 each; Chris Kenneally, Maurice Shanley 0-1 each.

Knocknagree: Michael McSweeney 0-3 (2pt); David O’Connor (2pt), Gearóid Looney , David Twomey 0-2 each; Denis R O’Connor, Fintan O’Connor, Eoin McSweeney and Pa Doyle (45) 0-1 each.

Clonakilty: Mark White; Dan Darragh, Dan Peet, David Lowney; Chris Kenneally, Thomas Clancy, Jack O’Mahony; Ben Ridgeway, Maurice Shanley; Des Kenneally, Dara Ó Sé, Dylan Harrington; Darragh Gough, Ross Mannix, Conor Daly.

Subs: Seán White for D Harrington (37), Seán McEvoy for D Kenneally (50), Eoghan Deasy for M Shanley (57).

Knocknagree: Patrick Doyle; Denis Mahoney, Kealan Buckley, Gary O’Connor; Gearóid Looney, Daniel O’Mahony, Timmy O’Connor; Michael McSweeney, David O’Connor; David Twomey, Eoin McSweeney, Killian Cronin; Denis R O’Connor, Niall O’Connor, Anthony O’Connor.

Subs: Michael Doyle for Kealan Buckley (28), Fintan O’Connor for N O’Connor (38), Matt Dilworth for T O’Connor (50).

Referee: James Regan (Lough Rovers).