Cill na Martra 1-17 

Éire Óg 1-13

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

THAT the gap was just four points at the finish is deceptive.

Cill na Martra’s victory over Éire Óg in the McCarthy Insurance Group Senior A Football championship semi-final was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggests, with the outcome seldom in doubt after full-back Tadgh Ó Corcora goaled for the Gaeltacht side to make it 1-12 to 0-6 six minutes into the second half.

The writing was on the wall for Éire Óg even before that, as they struggled to match the intensity, pace and fluency of Cill na Martra’s play in the first half, at the end of which the Ovens men trailed by 0-11 to 0-5.

It could be argued Éire Óg were the architects of their own misfortune to a certain extent in that they clocked up eight wides before the break, totalling 14 over the hour  – 11 more than Cill na Martra.

But Cill na Martra, premier intermediate kingpins in 2023, were by far the better outfit overall. Particularly generous contributions to what was an excellent team display from Cill na Martra were provided by Daniel Ó Duinnin, Sean Ó Foirreidh, Gearoid Ó Goillidhe and Damien Ó hUrdail.

Roaming deep from centre-forward Ó Duinnin helped to repulse several promising Éire Óg raids, as well as demonstrating his acknowledged attacking prowess on occasions, not least when posting a brace of sublime points shortly before half time.

Ó Foirreidh embellished a forceful display at wing-back with two fine points, kicked when the contest was reasonably competitive in the opening quarter, while Ó Goillidhe, ably supported by Antoin Ó Cuana, was very much to the fore at midfield before the break.

Ó hUrdail had his moments at full-forward in the first half, but he was seen at his best inside the last quarter, landing his second two-pointer that left Cill na Martra with a massive 1-17 to 0-9 lead with eight minutes of regulation time remaining.

Cill na Martra's Ciarán Ó Duinnin gets away from Éire Óg's Darragh Clifford.

Cill na Martra manager Morgan O’Sullivan admitted he didn’t expect to have it so easy against an Éire Óg side relegated from premier senior last season.

‘I thought this was a 50-50 game, and I certainly didn’t expect we’d have it in the bag so early in the second-half. I felt we were lucky to be in the position we were in at half time, because the eight or nine wides Éire Óg had in the first half probably killed them,’ O’Sullivan suggested.

‘If things had gone their way a little bit more before we got the goal, it could have been a different picture at the finish, but I’m obviously very pleased with our performance at the same time. I thought our work-rate was brilliant from start to finish.’

The teams were tied at 0-4 apiece before a Shane Ó Duinnin point in the 12th minute pushed Cill na Martra in front where they remained until the finish.

Moving up the gears, they stretched the gap to five before Conor McGoldrick replied for Éire Óg from a free, but Daniel Ó Duinnin completed the first-half scoring with his two inspirational points, ensuring Cill na Martra went in at the interval with their tails up.

Although Darragh Clifford drew first blood for Éire Óg in the turnover, his point was quickly negated by Shane Ó Duinnin, who then combined with Antoin Ó Cuana to create the opening that led to the goal from Ó Corcora, which effectively settled the issue. 

Éire Óg did briefly threaten to make a fight of it, replying with two tasty scores from Rian O’Flynn, but it wasn’t to be. It took three late points and a goal from their top performer O’Flynn to put a more respectable appearance on the scoreboard at the finish.

Scorers - Cill na Martra: D Ó hUrdail 0-5 (2 2pt); T Ó Corcora 1-0; J MacCarthaigh (1f, 1 2pt) D Ó Duinnin 0-3 each; S Ó Foirreidh, S Ó Duinnin 0-2 each; A Ó Cuana, D McLochlainn 0-1 each. Éire Óg: R O’Flynn 1-3; D Goulding 0-4 (2ptf, 1f); D Clifford 0-3; D Foley, C McGoldrick (f), C O’Callaghan 0-1.

Cill na Martra: M Ó Deasuna; F Ó Faolain, T Ó Corcora, D McLochlainn; S Ó Foirreidh, D Ó Conail, C Ó Meachair; A Ó Cuana, G Ó Goillidhe; J MacCarthaigh, D Ó Duinnin, C Ó Duinnin; E Ó Conail, D Ó hUrdail, S Ó Duinnin. Subs: C O’Foirreidh for O’Conail (ht), C McLochlainn for O’Corcora (inj, 45), A Ó Duinnin for Ó Cuana (51), M Ó Duinnin for C Ó Duinnin (inj, 57), A Ó hUidhir for S Ó Duinnin (61).

Éire Óg: C Kelly; C Clifford, M Brady, H Murphy; M Griffin, C McGoldrick, D McCarthy; C O’Callaghan, D Clifford; R O’Flynn, R O’Toole, J Murphy; D Foley, E O’Shea, B Hurley. Subs: M Corkery for McCarthy (ht), J Sheehan for J Murphy (ht), D Goulding for Hurley (36), J Galvin for Sheehan (inj, 38), D Dineen for Foley (51).

Referee: P O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).