Cowhig hails ‘great’ Clon win

THEIR season began on a low note in Rosscarbery when they suffered a first-round reversal, but Clonakilty enjoyed happier times on their return to the same venue yesterday.

For the second successive year they claimed the scalp of Ilen Rovers at the fourth-round stage of the Cork SFC, their latest success arriving in a hugely entertaining game. In excellent conditions, Clonakilty fashioned a four-point victory that was a tribute to their dynamism all over the pitch, their highly disciplined defending and the strength of their panel as they unleashed substitutes to great effect in the final quarter.

“It was a great win,” reflected a delighted Clonakilty manager Sean Cowhig afterwards. “Nobody gave us an asses roar coming down here today but we reacted very well to that. The lads hit the ground running today and we got our powerful running game going. We stopped Ilen playing their game and kept their full-forward line quiet. We had too many injuries earlier on in the year but the lads have bounced back and having everyone fit today was key.”

Clonakilty have impressively overcome this year the loss of attacking stars like Padraig Griffin, Colm Callanan and Conor McManus. That trio were central to their county championship win two years ago yet Clonakilty still posted a fine total of 2-13 on the scoreboard here. Colin O’Donovan was inventive from open play and accurate in his kicking, while Conrad Murphy made a welcome return from his injury travails to register a brace of points.

Tomas Clancy has forged a reputation as a defender through his exploits for the Cork minor and U21 sides recently but he showcased his versatility in this clash. And substitute Gearóid Barry, still participating in the minor ranks, made a major impression as he showed great composure to land two vital points.

“Gearóid started out this year as a Cork minor but wasn’t involved as the year went on,” revealed Cowhig. “He proved today that he is good enough when he came on. Cork were looking for scoring forwards and there was one of them there today.”

Ilen Rovers were left to ponder defeat in a game which they were in strong contention for long stages. They were level at the break 0-8 to 1-5 with Kevin O’Sullivan having provided much of their inspiration from centre-forward. He knocked over five points in the opening half while midfielder Conor O’Driscoll barged forward to swing over a couple of classy scores.

They recovered well from the setback of conceding a goal to Clon in the 15th minute. Martin O’Brien and Timmy Anglin did brilliantly to tear apart the Ilen Rovers defence and release Clancy who finished well to the net, although there looked to have been a pick off the ground earlier in that same move by a Clonakilty player.

That score put Clonakilty in the ascendancy by 1-3 to 0-4 but Ilen Rovers fought back through the marksmanship of O’Sullivan and O’Driscoll. Colin O’Donovan was to the fore for Clonakilty in maintaining their advantage but Alan Holland split the posts on the stroke of half-time to ensure the sides were level at the break.

The momentum shifted to Clonakilty upon the resumption when Clancy managed to squirm through the Ilen Rovers defence and prod a left-footed shot to the net, after Donal Lyons had passed to him. However Ilen Rovers fought back and raised a green flag of their own in the 38th minute. The score originated from sparkling work by wing-back Michael Hellen, who was very prominent in the second half, and after he offloaded to Kevin O’Sullivan, the attacker coolly dummied past the goalkeeper and shot to the empty net.

As the game entering the closing quarter it was delicately balanced as Holland grabbed a point for Ilen Rovers to tie the match at 2-7 to 1-10. But crucially Clonakilty started to get to grips with Ilen Rovers marquee forwards with the threats of O’Sullivan, Holland and Dan MacEoin nullified. Denis Murphy was in fantastic form at right half-back while Anglin got on top around the middle.

Ilen Rovers introduced the experienced duo of John Wycherley and Kieran Daly, who had both been plagued with injuries yet the structure of the Clonakilty defence was sound. When Ilen were in possession, they flooded their backline with bodies to repel their efforts and raided forward successfully for points themselves. Substitutes Jonathan Leahy, Barry and David O’Regan all hit points during their late cameos and that strength in depth was instrumental to spur them on to a quarter-final meeting with St Nicholas or UCC.

Scorers for Clonakilty: T Clancy 2-1, C O’Donovan 0-4 (0-1f), C Murphy, G Barry 0-2 each, T Anglin, B O’Mahony, J Leahy (0-1f), D O’Regan 0-1 each.

Scorers for Ilen Rovers: K O’Sullivan 1-5 (0-2f), Conor O’Driscoll 0-3, A Holland 0-2, Cian O’Driscoll, K Daly 0-1 each.

CLONAKILTY: J O’Brien; T O’Sullivan, D O’Brien, D Horan; D Murphy, F Coughlan, N Hayes; T Anglin, S Nagle; D Lyons, M O’Brien, T Clancy; B O’Mahony, C Murphy, C O’Donovan.

Subs: B O’Sullivan for Coughlan (43), J Leahy for O’Mahony (43), D O’Regan for M O’Brien (inj) (52), G Barry for Clancy (inj) (57).

ILEN ROVERS: G Coakley; P Hickey, D Coughlan, D O’Donovan; C Cotter, P Minihane, M Hellen; F Collins, Conor O’Drisc-oll; A Coughlan, K O’Sullivan, T O’Regan; D MacEoin, B O’Sullivan, A Holland.

Subs: Cian O’Driscoll for Cotter (35), K Daly for A Coughlan (40), J Wycherley for Collins (40), B Duggan for O’Regan (54), D O’Sullivan for B O’Sullivan (57).

Referee: J Bermingham (Bride Rovers).