Kinsale shakes soothed by Finn

Gearoid Finn proved the hero for Kinsale on Saturday when he kicked the winning point deep into injury time.

Kinsale had relinquished a considerable 1-6 to 0-2 half-time lead and the sides were level at 1-9 apiece by the 53rd minute but on work rate alone the South-East side deserved the victory.

Finn and Conor O’Brien raised white flags for Kinsale inside the sixth minute. Macroom replied with a point from Tony Dineen but a 13th-minute goal from teenager Finn settled Kinsale.

A superb point by Donal Murphy emphasised Kinsale’s superiority before the half-time whistle.

With Macroom’s looking dismal few held out for even a modicum of improvement in the second half but, led by Cork senior footballer Fintan Goold, they turned things around.

Brian Coughlan then hit the post and the let-off spurred the Muskerry side. Andrew Hegarty pointed a free before Ivor Casey got on the end of a Philip Corrigan pass and finished neatly to the Kinsale net in the 41st minute.

Eoin O’Mahony added a monstrous point, Goold rowed in with a brace and Conor O’Sullivan kicked Macroom’s seventh point to set up a cracking final 10 minutes.

O’Brien responded with a point for Kinsale but Kiely and Goold brought parity with seven minutes remaining. Finn kicked his sixth point for Kinsale to give them the edge heading in to injury time but Goold stepped up to score a 45 and extra-time beckoned.

Kinsale looked to have thrown away a gilt-edged chance to go ahead when Finn shot wide but he redeemed himself with the last kick of the game to send Kinsale through to a meeting with Clyda Rovers.

Macroom will now face Mayfield in a relegation play-off.

Scorers for Kinsale: G Finn 1-7 (3f, 1 45), C O’Brien 0-3, D Murphy 0-1.

Scorers for Macroom: F Goold 0-4 (1 45), I Casey 1-0, C O’Sullivan 0-2, S Kiely, E O’Mahony, T Dineen, A Hegarty (1f) 0-1 each.

KINSALE: C Hackett; N McCarthy, M O’Sullivan, W O’Hea; D Ward, R O’Sullivan, C Quigley; B Coughlan, D Coughlan; S O’Brien, B Grey, D Murphy; G Finn, A Gould, C O’Brien.

Subs: J Gould for S O’Brien (38), J Wright for A Gould (48), M Scully for W O’Hea (51) N Stanley for D Murphy (57).

MACROOM: J O’Connell; P Lynch, E O’Mahony, J Angland; M Cahill, R Buckley, S Kiely; F Goold, P Corrigan; I Casey, K Murphy, T Dineen; C O’Sullivan, D Kelly, A Hegarty.

Subs: M O’Donnell for J Angland (17), D Horgan for A Hegarty, O Murphy for D Kelly (42).

Referee: J Larkin (Douglas).