Goold proves the inspiration for Macroom

MACROOM easily overcame Fermoy in the quarter-final of the Evening Echo Cork IFC at Páirc Uí Rinn last night.

The standard of football was poor but that won’t worry the Mid Cork side who now have a couple of weeks to put things right before meeting Castletownbere in the penultimate round after the All-Ireland final.

The fair sized crowd expected a lively contest and it was shaping up that way as the sides were level three times in the opening 20 minutes, all but one of the six points coming from play.

Lining out at centre-back, Fintan Goold was the dominant player and he landed two excellent points coming up to half-time which helped side into an 0-6 to 0-3 lead at the break.

However, the only real bit of excitement in that opening half came at the interval when Eoin Clancy (Fermoy) and Macroom’s Ciaran Murphy were red carded following a punch up.

Earlier Macroom should have lost a defender for an off-the-ball incident which left Fermoy midfielder Jack Hutchings on the ground, but, missed by the match officials, it went unpunished.

Significantly Fermoy failed to score from play in that first-half and it took them until the 57th minute to register their first score from play, a goal by Jack Hutchings.

By then the game was well out of their reach as Macroom stretched their half-time lead with a splendid goal by Gary Morris after John Ryan picked him out with an excellent pass.

There was no way back for the North Cork side after Morris’s goal and it got worse for them in the 45th minute when David Goold finished off a brilliant move begun inside their own half for a second Macroom goal to leave his side 2-8 to 0-3 in front.

Fermoy battled bravely through the efforts of Darragh O’Carroll and Hutchings, but they never threatened a goal thanks to excellent defending by Rory Buckley and Fintan Goold.

Persistent pressure on the Macroom defence eventually reaped its reward in the form of a Hutchings goal three minutes from time, and he added a point a minute later.

Scorers for Macroom: G. Morris 1-2 (0-1 free); D. Goold 1-1 (0-1 free); F. Goold 0-4 (0-1 free); C. O’Sullivan, J. Ryan, O. Murphy 0-1 each.

Fermoy: J. Hutchings 1-2 (0-2 frees); R. Callaghan 0-2 (frees).

MACROOM: J. O’Connell; P. Lynch, R. Buckley, B. O’Donnell; C. Murphy, F. Goold, M. Cahill; S. Kiely, P. Corrigan; O. Murphy, G. Morris, B. Lynch; C. O’Sullivan, D. Goold, J. Ryan.

Subs: T. Dineenn for C. O’Sullivan (32); G. Angland for J. Ryan (45); C. Hurley for D. Goold (55).

FERMOY: I. O’Callaghan; B. O’Callaghan, J. O’Sullivan, A. Baragry; E. Clancy, M. Hennessy, B. Hanrahan; J. Hutchings, A. O’Callaghan; B. O’Sullivan, T. Grumbridge, R. Callaghan; D. Galvin, I. Brennan, R. O’Hagan.

Subs: D. O’Carroll for Hennessy (15); T. Clancy for A. O’Callaghan (half time); L. Coleman for Breen (50); M. Pyne for Grumbridge (50); I. Wheeler for Galvin (55).Referee: N. Barrett (Carrigtwohill).