Shannon keep hopes alive with easy win
Short seven of their regulars, the principal reason being a flu bug, Youghal never looked like winning against a most resilient and compact Shannon team.
An exhibition of free-taking from stylish left half-forward Damien Browne, who scored seven points from placed balls, allied to two snap goals, courtesy of their twin-strike force of Eoin O’Brien and David Reidy, laid the foundations for a Shannon victory that keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages.
From the start, Youghal found themselves under siege and were three points adrift, primarily because of the magnificent marksmanship of Browne in the most testing of conditions, before team captain Brendan Ring opened the Cork side’s account with a point from a free in the 14th minute.
Before Youghal, playing with the wind, could make any further in-roads, however, Shannon stunned them with the most fortuitous of goals. A shot from left corner-forward Stephen Kelly was fumbled by goalkeeper Edmond Donovan on his mud-strewn goal-line and right corner-forward Eoin O’Brien was perfectly positioned to usher the ball home.
Youghal responded well and two points from Ring, their only forward to score over the hour, brought them briefly back into contention.
But they lacked the craft and the power to break down a splendidly-organised Shannon defence, in which centre-back David Barrett was a tower of strength as players found it difficult to hold their footing.
It was glaringly obvious, when they trailed by 1-5 to 0-3 at the interval, that Youghal had a real mountain to climb. Ring, who scored five of their six points
total, the other coming from corner-back Martin O’Brien, gave them brief cause for hope when he tapped over a point from a free immediately after the resumption.
Then Shannon full-forward David Reidy billowed their net with a cracking first-time drive from 25-metres in the 43rd minute.
Shannon emphasised their superiority with a succession of points in the closing quarter and they will look forward with confidence of strengthening their challenge for a place in the quarter-final.
Scorers for Shannon Comprehensive. E. O’Brien 1-0; D. Reidy 1-0; D. Browne 0-7 (0-7 from frees); B. Tierney and S. Kelly 0-1 each.
Youghal CBS: B. Ring 0-5 (0-4 from frees); M. O’Brien 0-1.
SHANNON COMP: C. McDonagh; A. Leamy, D. McMahon, E. Barrett; C. King, D. Barrett, S. Stack; J. Reidy, P, Butler; S. O’Sullivan, J. O’Neill, D. Browne; E. O’Brien, D. Reidy, S. Kelly. Subs. B. Tierney for O’Sullivan; P. Tobin for O’Brien; N. Hartigan for Kelly; C. Loughnane for D. Reidy.
YOUGHAL CBS: E. Donovan; M. O’Brien, J. Cotter, D. Coyne; A. Mythen, C. Spillane, E. O’Connell; B. Harnedy, K. Dunne; N. Roche, E. Coleman, E. Kelly; I. Coyne, B. Ring, E. Griffen. Subs. M. Smith for I. Coyne; M. Barry for Kelly; C. Lane for Coleman; S. Coyne for O’Brien.
Referee: P. Coffey (Cappamore).
