BALLINORA                    1-13

GABRIEL RANGERS    1-11

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

A DISAPPOINTING second-half performance saw Gabriel Rangers throw away a six-point lead before succumbing to Ballinora in the McCarthy Insurance Group Intermediate AFC quarter-finals at Rossmore.

Leading 1-7 to 0-4 at the short whistle, a confident Gabriels looked set for a second consecutive IAFC county semi-final appearance.

Instead, a third-quarter Ballinora surge, with Ivan Quirke and James Lordan lording the middle third, resulted in a complete turnaround.

Outscoring their opponents 1-9 to 0-4, and conceding a single point from open play, the Mid Cork club dominated proceedings to deservedly take their place in the last four of the competition.

For Gabriel Rangers manager Mike O’Brien, there were no excuses.

‘We didn’t turn up in the second half,’ O’Brien admitted to The Southern Star. ‘We didn’t win one ball around the middle. That killed us. We couldn’t pick up a break. They got momentum from that, got a few scores and we just couldn’t get back into it.

‘That second half was very disappointing. We didn’t turn up at all.’

Rangers got off to the best possible start, with wing-back Ger O’Callaghan ghosting in to score a goal inside the opening minute.

O’Callaghan and Sean Kelleher points extended the Carbery club’s lead before James Lordan got their opponents on the scoreboard.

It was 1-4 to 0-3 after quarter of an hour, with Gabriel’s Eddie Goggin and James O’Regan and Mark O’Brien and Darragh Holmes scoring at the opposite ends.

Gabriel’s needed some last-ditch tackles to twice deny Kevin Werner a goal after 17 minutes. Goalkeeper Liam Hegarty pulled of a terrific stop to deny Cork senior footballer Niall Lordan shortly after.

Converted James O’Regan and Mark Cronin frees along with a Killian O’Brien effort, answered by Michael Quirke, made it 1-7 to 0-4 at the break.

Robert Quirke and James O’Regan swapped frees at the beginning of the second half.

Wayward shooting hampered Ballinora ahead of Hegarty once again denying Werner from close range.

Yet it was Ballinora’s ability to win possession around the middle third that kick-started a dominant and eventually match-winning period.

Liam Lyons, Robert Quirke, Ivan Quirke and Mark Quirke raised consecutive white flags to make it 1-8 to 0-10.

A brace of James O’Regan frees failed to halt Ballinora’s momentum. Then, Kevin Werner was rewarded for his efforts with a superbly finished goal. From six points down to one point ahead, a dominant Ballinora were growing in confidence.

Ivan Quirke extended that lead, 1-12 to 1-10, with five minutes to go. Sean Kelleher fired over Rangers’ final score but it proved too little, too late.

Michael Quirke’s late black card couldn’t prevent Ballinora from emerging 1-13 to 1-11 winners after Ian Wycherley’s late point flew over the bar.

‘For some reason, we didn’t produce in the second half,’ Mike O’Brien concluded. ‘They came out fighting, which we knew they would, but we should have been better than that and I don’t think we were in the middle area.

‘We picked up no break or nothing. We seemed to shadow them and didn’t push on them, didn’t push off at all. If we got a couple of more scores early in the second half, we could have stretched it out, maybe, but we didn’t.

‘Look, we didn’t deserve it, the way we played in the second half.’

Scorers

Ballinora: K Werner 1-1, I Quirke, R Quirke (1f), M Quirke, M O’Brien 0-2 each, D Holmes, L Lyons, J Lordan, I Wycherley 0-1 each,

Gabriel Rangers: J O’Regan 0-5 (4f), G O’Callaghan 1-1, S Kelleher 0-2, E Goggin, M Cronin (1f), K O’Brien 0-1 each.

Ballinora: A McAllen; A Laverty, N Lordan, C O’Flynn; D Dineen, S Kingston, J Byrne; I Quirke, J Lordan (joint-captain); M O’Brien, D Holmes, L Lyons; M Quirke, R Quirke, K Werner.

Subs: I Wycherley for D Holmes (57), J Keohane for K Werner (62).

Gabriel Rangers: L Hegarty; K O’Sullivan, D Regan, R Roycroft; G O’Callaghan, R Hurley, K O’Brien; P O’Driscoll, S Kelleher (captain); C Moynihan, J O’Regan, L Bowen; M Cronin, K O’Driscoll, E Goggin.

Subs: D McSweeney for R Roycroft (40), J O’Brien for C Moynihan (42).

Referee: J Enright (Ballyteague).