First-half goal burst does trick for Fermoy
Early points from Kieran Morrison and Ronan O’Callaghan fired Fermoy ahead before Rockchapel were rocked by the 13th minute dismissal of Brendan Cahill.
The goals then began to flow for Fermoy with Brian O’Sullivan firing to the net after his penalty was initially saved. Fermoy’s relentless charge continued, stemming from the contributions of Tomás Clancy and O’Sullivan at midfield with James O’Sullivan, Jeoffrey Daly, Darragh Carroll and James Campion also in the thick of the action. Campion netted an opportunist goal before Rockchapel broke their duck in the 23rd minute from a Daniel Curtin pointed free. Campion flicked on for Clancy to shoot low past replacement Tony Collins for a 3-4 to 0-2 interval advantage.
And Fermoy held the whiphand upon the resumption, adding to their tally from points to Campion and Hutchings. Rockchapel kept battling away and were rewarded by an Ian Guiney goal and though Curtin and Guiney again cut the deficit, 3-6 to 2-5 with 10 minutes remaining, Fermoy finished strongly with a succession of points.
Scorers for Fermoy: J Campion 1-3, T Clancy 1-1, B O’Sullivan 1-0, P de Roiste 0-3, A O’Connor 0-2, K Morrison, R O’Callaghan and J Hutchings 0-1 each.
Scorers for Rockchapel: D Curtin 0-4f, I Guiney 1-1(1-0p, 0-2f), S Hickey 1-0.
FERMOY: I O’Callaghan; P Clancy, B O’Callaghan, J O’Sullivan; S Shanahan, J Daly, A Baragry; T Clancy, B O’Sullivan; P de Roiste, D O’Carroll, R O’Callaghan; J Campion, J Hutchings, K Morrison. Sub: A O’Connor for O’Callaghan(46).
ROCKCHAPEL: T J O’Connor; N O’Callaghan, B Curtin, M Doody; B Cahill, D J O’Callaghan, M Stack; W Murphy, J Doody; K Burke, L Collins, S Hickey; I Guiney, D Curtin, C Murphy. Subs: T Collins for O’Connor(23), P Murphy for N O’Callaghan((46), C Keppell for C Murphy(52).
Referee: P O’Leary (Kilmurry).
