Brave show from 13-man Youghal

Youghal 1-07 Adrigole 0-06

Youghal manager Tony Barrett’s elation at the final whistle was understandable: “This win will give us a great boost as Adrigole have been our bogey team over the last few years and to win with just 13 men is extra special.

“In fairness to them they gave us a good battle and we knew this game was going to go right down to the wire but we managed to pull through in the end”.

Adrigole entered the final quarter of a disappointing encounter with the advantage of a strong wind and their opponents reduced to 13 men following two red card offences.

Yet the Beara side’s inability to maximise their numerical supremacy plus the inexplicable concession of 1-1 in the final six minutes saw Youghal deservedly book their place in the fourth round.

Referee John Ryan didn’t endear himself to either sideline by brandishing ten cards (including two red) but wasn’t helped by two teams that struggled to come to terms with the difficult weather conditions.

A stop-start game littered with petty fouling and numerous flare-ups resulted in a low-scoring encounter despite Youghal’s bright start that saw the Imokilly side race into an early four point lead.

Using the gale force wind to their advantage, Paul Moylan’s brace of frees plus superb long range efforts from Conor O’Sullivan and Paul Kelly saw Youghal move 0-4 to 0-0 in front by the 11th minute.

Adrigole began without the services of the injured Brendan Jer O’Sullivan and took 19 minutes to register their first score via a Kevin Goggin free. Youghal’s goalkeeper Shane Spillane denied Tom O’Sullivan a certain goal with a point-blank stop but O’Sullivan collected the rebound and slotted over before Kevin Jer O’Sullivan converted another free to reduce the deficit.

Paul Moylan set up Nigel Roche for a cracking point before converting his third free to leave Youghal 0-6 to 0-3 ahead at the interval. Adrigole responded with Kevin Jer O’Sullivan and Kevin Goggin combining for O’Sullivan to float over a marvellous score 10 minutes into the second period.

Youghal’s cause became even more precarious when two of their players were sent to the line during a crazy three minute spell.

A flare-up on the edge of the Adrigole square resulted in Youghal’s Leigh Desmond receiving his marching orders after 44 minutes. Worse was to follow shortly when an off the ball incident was spotted by a linesman and James O’Mahony received his second yellow card, reducing Youghal to 13 players for the remaining 14 minutes.

Their opponents failed to take advantage however and squandered numerous scoring opportunities before Jonathan Ormonde released Nigel Roche for a crucial Youghal point with six minutes remaining.

The maroon and gold’s gutsy second half efforts were rewarded with the game’s only goal deep into stoppage-time as Paul Moylan fisted into the net from the edge of the square to cement a merited Youghal victory.

Scorers for Youghal: P Moylan 1-3 (3f), N Roche 0-2, P Kelly 0-1, C O’Sullivan 0-1 Scorers for Adrigole: K J O’Sullivan 0-4 (2f), T O’Sullivan 0-1, K Goggin 0-1 (1f).

YOUGHAL: S Spillane; M Cronin, P O’Driscoll, A Kenny; B Ring, J Grace, D Ring; B O’Sullivan, A F O’Connor; N Roche, J O’Mahony, C O’Sullivan; P Moylan, L Desmond, P Kelly.

Sub: J Ormonde for John Grace (49).

ADRIGOLE: W O’Sullivan; M J O’Sullivan, T O’Se, M Neil; K Crowley, S O’Shea, K O’Sullivan; D Carey, J Goggin; P Green, K J O’Sullivan, G Green; D Harrington, K Goggin, T O’Sullivan.

Subs: B Goggin for P Green (49). C O’Neill for G Green (52), A O’Sullivan for M J O’Sullivan (57).

Referee: John Ryan (Macroom).