Cian Murray to the fore as Midleton secure second title

Midleton 3-6 Douglas 2-6: As the fog began to lift around the ground, Midleton’s Cian Murray lit up this Premier 1 U15 football championship final, scoring 1-5 as his side clinched their second title in two years in dramatic style.

Midleton opened the scoring through Murray before Robert O’Mahony and Conor Russell began to pull the strings for Douglas who struck for two goals in quick succession.

O’Mahony followed up on Russell’s shot to fist home and minutes later Colin O’Mahony had slotted their second.

Midleton responded with Garry Carroll firing home before Murray stroked over two more points before the break to leave his side a point adrift (2-1 to 1-3) at the break.

The decisive moment of the game came in the 50th minute when Murray’s pass found Tommy O’Connell in the danger area. O’Connell was dragged down and Murray tucked away the resultant penalty.

The momentum was now with Midleton and they made the most of it, substitute David Scanlon netting their third goal with the next attack.

Douglas tried desperately to get back into the tie, Russell firing over four points but it was too little too late and when the final whistle blew, Midleton were crowned champions to add to their U14 Premier 2 triumph last year.

Meanwhile, three goals in an epic final quarter snatched victory for Killmurry over Urhan in the Clayton Silversprings sponsored U16A County football final played in Kilmichael yesterday (3-11 to 2-12).

Facing into the last 15 minutes seven points in arrears, the east Cork representatives produced an incredible fightback and goals from Denis Dullea, captain Greg Fitton and the tireless James O’Mullane ensured victory.

Scorers for Midleton:

G Carroll (1-1), C Murray (1-5 (2 frees), D Scanlon (1-0).

Scorers for Douglas:

R O’Mahony (1-0), C Russell (0-4), C O’Mahony (1-0), D O’Driscoll (0-1), D Fenton (0-1).

MIDLETON:

Sean O’Sullivan; Alan Power, Ciaran Evans, Mark Daly; Christian Murphy, Tommy O’Connell, Conor O’Leary; Cormac O’Brien, Ronan Lynch; Evan Rowlands, Kevin Finn, Kian Farmer; Garry Carroll, Cian Murray, Griffin Hurley.

DOUGLAS:

Alan Kellher; Brian Freeman, Sean Henry Squires, Joe O’Connell; Brian Lynch, Oisin Carroll, Harvey Cummins; Robert O’Mahony, Pat Buckley; David Harrington, Conor Russell, Colin O’Mahony; Andrew O’Connell, Rory Doyle, Darragh O’Driscoll.

Referee:

Miah Moynihan (Grenagh).