Steely Meelin edge Argideen

Meelin 1-12 Argideen Rangers 0-14

In the fifth minute of injury-time, referee Ciaran O’Regan awarded Argideen a close-in free but they were denied by a heroic Meelin defence who tipped goalkeeper Noel Coomey’s piledriver over the bar.

Consequently, Argideen just fell short in a game where the sides went toe-to-toe for most of the hour.

In the end, 1-7 from outstanding corner-forward Eamonn Brosnan was enough to see Meelin through. The Duhallow representatives made a bright start with an 11th-minute goal from Brosnan their first score of the day.

But they paid the price for erratic shooting, slowly allowing Argideen Rangers back into the game.

Rory O’Sullivan fired over the opening two points for the Timoleague men but scores were hard to come by thereafter. However, six points on the spin on the run up to half-time — including five from Michael Walsh, who worked extremely hard to turn this game in his side’s favour — sent Argideen Rangers to the dressing room a point ahead (0-9 to 1-5). It could have been more but Meelin keeper Stephen M O’Sullivan produced an excellent save.

Meelin, with corner forward DJ O’Sullivan playing a roving role, angled over three inspirational points from Brosnan immediately after the restart to resume control. However, white flags from Walsh and John Sheehan tied it up 10 minutes into the second half. Noel Coomey pulled off a great save from Shane O’Riordan, but back came Meelin with points from Brosnan (2) and John Forrest to edge 1-11 to 0-11 ahead.

Meelin missed a glorious goal chance but Jeremy Curtin did increase the lead with a fine point as Argideen were off target with a couple of frees. They hadn’t scored for almost 20 minutes but a pair of frees from Walsh made it a two-point game with normal time elapsed. Tensions were running high as Alan O’Leary was fouled and a free was awarded to the west Cork team. But Meelin survived Coomey’s well-struck effort and they will await the winners of Charleville and Kanturk in the quarter-final.

Scorers for Meelin: E Brosnan (1-7, five frees), John Forrest (0-2), W Buckley, DJ O’Sullivan and J Curtin (0-1 each).

Scorers for Argideen Rangers: M Walsh (0-8, seven frees), R O’Sullivan (0-2), C O’Brien, S Coomey, N Coomey (free) and J Sheehan (0-1 each).

MEELIN: S M O’Sullivan; D O’Riordan, TJ Brosnan, M Forrest; J O’Callghan, B O’Sullivan, Jerry Forrest; L Collins, W Murphy; J Curtin, S O’Riordan, John Forrest; E Brosnan, W Buckley, DJ O’Sullivan.

Subs: J O’Doherty for Jerry Forrest (40).

ARGIDEEN RANGERS: N Coomey; P Butler, R Nolan, N Harte; S Coomey, M O’Callaghan, E O’Brien; C O’Brien, J Deasy; J M O’Callaghan, J Murphy, J Sheehan; M Walsh, R O’Sullivan, F Butler.

Subs: A O’Leary for R O’Sullivan (55).

Referee: Ciaran O’Regan (Ballyhea).