Joy for battling Crab Lane

DAY two of the Allianz Sciath na Scol finals at Pairc Uí Rinn yesterday produced a mixed bag with two evenly contested games and two one-sided affairs.

Crab Lane Ballintemple NS 3-3 Rylane NS 3-1

THE mid-Cork school couldn’t have asked for a better start to the F9 boys final when Dylan Kelleher’s long range kick went all the way to the net after just 20 seconds.

Kelleher was hugely influential for Rylane around the middle and when he raced through to smash home a tremendous individual goal, things weren’t looking good for Ballintemple as they trailed by five points at the break, 2-1 to 0-2.

The second half developed into a tremendous contest as the city side, with Kevin Long playing a blinder, hit back strongly they were back in the game when Luke Leahy nipped in behind the hesitant Rylane defence to fist home a goal.

It proved the perfect tonic for Ballintemple who applied enormous pressure for the next ten minutes and were rewarded with goals by Alan Courtney and Kevin Long to lead for the first time, and they hung on for a victory they just about deserved.

Scorers: Ballintemple: L. Leahy, A. Courtney, K. Long 1-0 each; J. Boland, H. Watkins, A. Joyce 0-1 each. Rylane: D. Kelleher 2-1; E. O’Sullivan 1-0.

BALLINTEMPLE: K. Galvin; J. Daly, G. Murphy, M. Bond, R. Daly, J. Boland, A. Joyce, A. Courtney, K. Ring, L. Leahy, K. Desmond.

RYLANE: P. Buckley; G. Long, A. Corkery, C. Long, S. O’Sullivan, J. Corkery, E. O’Sullivan, D. Kelleher, R. Dennehy, C. Keeney, C. Cummins.

Referee: D. Kelly (Chriost Ri).

Kilmagner NS 1-4 Rusheen NS 1-1

THIS F12 nine-a-side final turned out to be a marvellous contest with little between the teams throughout.

Rusheen, with three girls in their team, were by no means intimidated by the more skilful Kilmagner side, for whom the Lawlor twins Darragh and Coran and Cian O’Leary were very impressive.

Rusheen were grateful for some great goalkeeping by Ross Crowley for not falling too far behind; at the end of the first half the east Cork school led 0-4 to 0-1, Cian O’Leary scoring three of his side’s points.

It was backs to the wall defending by Rusheen on the changeover as Kilmagner threatened to run riot, but Dermot O’Callaghan and Ellen Coakley gave nothing away. The pressure on the Rusheen defence was enormous and it finally told when Darragh Lawlor drove home a splendid goal.

However, Rusheen refused to give up the chase and the introduction of Ruairi Cotter and a switch which brought Dermot O’Callaghan to corner-forward paid off when O’Callaghan forced the ball over the line in a hectic goalmouth scramble.

There was still time for Rusheen to grab a winner, but despite the best efforts of O’Callaghan, Cotter and Marie Lucey, the Kilmagner defence, in which corner back Ronan Bransfield was outstanding, held firm for an exciting victory.

Scorers: Kilmagner: C. O’Leary 0-3; D. Lawlor 1-0; S. Moroney 0-1. Rusheen: D. O’Callaghan 1-0; D. O’Riordan 0-1.

KILMAGNER: J. Barry; R. Bransfield, L. Moloney, T. Carroll, C. Barry, C. O’Leary, S. Moroney, D. Lawlor, C. Lawlor.

RUSHEEN: R. Crowley; D. O’Callaghan, E. Coakley, S. Kelleher, D. O’Connell, M. Lucey, W. Coakley, K. O’Callaghan, D. O’Riordan.

Referee: D. Kelly (Chriost Ri).

St Peters (Dungourney) NS 7-6 Gael Scoil Douglas 1-0

MARTIN HENNESSEY was the scoring hero for St Peters in this one-sided F6 final, accounting for 4-3 of his side’s tally. He had the ball in the Douglas net after just 20 seconds and while Douglas got back on level terms a minute later when Scott O’Reilly’s cross was ushered over the line by the onrushing Olan Hanley, the city side were always chasing this game.

Hennessy was a constant thorn in the Douglas defence using his strength to great effect and at the break the east Cork school held an unassailable lead of 4-4 to 1-0, and there was only going to be one result.

Despite the best efforts of Ruairi O Murchu and Gary Beecher, the goals continued to come for Dungourney in the second half as Martin Hennessy powered forward at every opportunity and in the end the Saints were worthy winners of a one-sided contest.

Scorers: Dungourney: M. Hennessy 4-3 (0-2 frees); M. Kenneally 2-0; D. Rohan 1-1; H. O’Donnell, J. McCarthy 0-1 each. Douglas: O. Hanley 1-0.

DUNGOURNEY: P. Harney; B. O’Neill, S. Hegarty, N. Motherway, J. McCarthy, C. Fitzpatrick, E. O’Donnell, H. O’Donnell, D. Rohan, M. Hennessy, B. Ahern.

DOUGLAS: R. O Murchu; R O Fianai, G. Beecher, S. MacRoghnaill, C. MacConcra, S. O Croinin, A. O Creimmin, , E. O Corragain, S. O Raghallaigh, C. O Ceallaigh, O. O hAinle.

Referee: J. Kelly (Ballincollig).

St Brigids Midleton NS 5-7 Scoil Barra Ballintemple NS 0-2

A WELL-TUTORED Midleton side had little difficulty in disposing of the Beaumont challenge in the GF6 Urban final, and when the impressive corner-forward Taylor Knishell scored two goals inside the opening minutes, there was only going to be one result.

The Beaumont girls had no answer to the skill of the east Cork side and Amber Cope drove home another goal. Beaumont struggled to get out of their half such was the pressure exerted on them, but they finally managed to break out and Sarah Boyle kicked a point to leave Midleton comfortably in front at the break, 3-2 to 0-1.

Great defensive play by Laura Fitzgerald and Stephanie Shanahan meant Midleton weren’t going to concede any goals, while at the other end, Taylor Knishell completed her hat-trick with a third and it was plain sailing from there to the finish.

Scorers: Midleton: T. Knishell 3-0; A. Cope, A. Cotter 1-0 each; A. O’Connor 0-3; L. Delaney, E. Murphy 0-2 each. Beaumont: S. Boyle.

MIDLETON: S. Barrett; K. Ramsell, L. Fitzgerald, S. Shanahan, O. Tully, R. Donovan, S. Dennehy, L. Delaney, E. Murphy, A. O’Connor, T. Knishell, A. Cope, A. Horgan.

BEAUMONT: L. Daly; C. O’Sullivan, N. O’Leary, K. Daly, M. Taylor, C. Fahy, D. Greene, H. Higgins, L. Twomey, J. Parfrey, J. Tobin, S. Boyle, M. Holland.

Referee: J. Kelly (Ballincollig).