Ballincollig 4-14

St Michael’s 0-10

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

MUCH to the delight, and relief, of manager Aidan Kelleher, Ballincollig’s display in the Premier Senior Football Championship relegation play-off at Ovens last Saturday contrasted sharply with what they produced in their previous outing.

On the receiving end of a 23-point thrashing from Clonakilty in their final group-phase game, it was easy to appeciate why Kelleher was a little apprehensive about their prospects heading into the do-or-die clash with St Michael’s.

‘We were very concerned coming in off the back of the Clonakilty game because when you get a beating like that, you can never be sure how the players are going to respond. How they did respond was the most satisfying aspect of this performance, and I’m delighted the boys really showed what they are about today,’ remarked the Ballincollig boss, who admitted recent results have been ‘very tough to take'.

Ousted by eventual champions St Finbarr’s at the semi-final stage last year, Kelleher said they didn’t expect their Premier Senior status would be so seriously threatened in this season’s campaign.

‘We know we have really good footballers, and our second-half performance against a St Michael’s side that drew with us in last year’s championship showed just how much talent is in the team,’ Kelleher concluded.

That Ballincollig turned on the style after half-time is beyond dispute, enabling them to settle the issue long before the finish.

There was little to indicate during a lively first-half they’d run out such convincing victors, as St Michael’s looked well up for the fight.

Ben O'Connell of Ballincollig shoots for a point as St Michaels' Luke Carroll looks on. (Photo: George Hatchell)

Ballincollig got off to the best possible start courtesy of a goal from full-forward Darragh O’Mahony inside two minutes. Aided by points from Danny Miskella, Cian Dorgan (free), Ben O’Connell and O’Mahony, they were 1-4 to 0-2 to the good before the trend of the play took a definite swing in St Michael’s favour entering the second quarter.

With corner-forward Robbie Cotter and outstanding wing-back Rory Kavanagh to the fore, the city side cut the gap to two points before Danny Miskella ended a 15-minute barren spell for Ballincollig.

Darragh O’Mahony quickly added a point to make it 1-6 to 0-5 before Ballincollig midfielder Peter O’Neill was black-carded in the 25th minute. Making light of their numerical disadvantage, the Muskerry side tacked on points through Ben O’Connell and Dara Dorgan before the break.

In view of the manner in which fortunes had fluctuated in the first-half, the possibility that St Michael’s might be capable of making inroads on their six-point interval deficit when play resumed couldn’t be ruled out.

However, boosted by a brace of early points from seasoned midfielder Sean Kiely and a superb individual effort from centre-back Luke Fahy, Ballincollig proceeded to assert their authority in all sectors, with a 38th minute goal from David O’Leary marking the opening of the floodgates in earnest.

Aided by further goals from Dara Dorgan and Danny Miskella, who expertly converted a penalty won by Peter O’Neill, Ballincollig powered into a 4-13 to 0-6 lead before St Michael’s substitute Luke O’Herlihy completed the losers’ tally with four points, including one two-pointer, from frees in the closing stages.

It was highly impressive stuff from the winners, who were especially well-served by Darragh O’Mahony, Danny Miskella and Ben O’Connell up front, Sean Kiely at midfield, and Luke Fahy and Liam Jennings at the back, where Chris Walsh always inspired confidence between the sticks.

OUR STAR: So many Ballincollig players excelled, but Darragh O’Mahony probably merits the top rating.

Scorers

Ballincollig: D O’Mahony 1-3, D Miskella 1-3 (1-0 penalty), D Dorgan 1-1, D O’Leary 1-0, S Kiely, B O’Connell 0-2, C Dorgan (1f) 0-2 each, L Fahy 0-1

St Michael’s: L O’Herlihy 0-4 (1 2ptf), R Cotter 0-2, R Kavanagh, J Ryan (f), D Meaney, E De Burca (f) 0-1 each

Ballincollig: C Walsh; S O’Donoghue, P Rose, S Murphy; D Desmond, L Fahy, L Jennings; P O’Neill, S Kiely; B O’Connell, D Miskella, D O’Leary; D Dorgan, D O’Mahony, C Dorgan.

Subs: B Moore for O’Leary (50), R Noonan for D Dorgan (50), C Dalton for O’Neill (53), C Ahern for Miskella (55), C Power for Jennings (59).

St Michael’s: M O’Connell; R Ahern, D Corkery, S Keating; L Carroll, F Leahy, R Kavanagh; E Hickey, E De Burca; A Murphy, A Hennessy, J Ryan; R Cotter, R O’Shaughnessy, D Meaney.

Subs: T Deasy for Hennessy (ht), E Hegarty for Ryan (35), E Sheehan for Ahern (37), L O’Herlihy for Kavanagh (injured, 39), L O’Sullivan for Cotter (54).

Referee: James Regan.