Goulding deadly as Éire Óg end Kiskeam’s hopes

Colm O'Callaghan and Jack Murphy, Eire Og, Kieran O'Connor and Donal Linehan, Kiskeam.

Cork SAFC

Éire Óg 2-13 

Kiskeam 1-10

Éire Óg landed a precious six-point victory over Kiskeam in a hotly competitive Cork  SAFC tussle at Glantane yesterday.

At the outset, both sides were fully aware of what lay in store and the consequences to an intriguing clash. Following a shock defeat to Mallow in the previous outing, Éire Óg had work to perform and they duly recovered from that sluggish performance to deliver on their potential with experienced campaigner Daniel Goulding clocking a 2-7 tally that laid the groundwork for a quarter-final meeting with St Michael's.

A short huddle after the full time whistle no doubt acknowledged a job well done as indicated by manager Harry O’Reilly.

“Coming here, we had to win by three points, we bettered that, Kiskeam started on fire, it was worrying for it took us a time to settle. Some of the young players stood out, giving the team impetus going forward,” he said.

“Its fair to say, we were disappointed with the Mallow performance, we were dead in the week leading into it, maybe no surprise for it was the fourth championship game in quick succession between hurling and football. We trained really well during the past week, all quietly confident of putting up a big performance here despite a number of injuries,” said O’Reilly.

The outcome contrasted sharply to Kiskeam, entered the contest on the back of two outstanding victories yet because of Mallow’s win over Bantry Blues, they agonisingly lose out on progression because of an inferior scoring aggregate.

Indeed Kiskeam looked good from the off with David Scannell, Gene Casey, and Tom Sullivan landing the opening four points. A nervy spell for Éire Óg was compounded on a black card picked up by defender David Twomey.

Steadily Éire Óg improved once the energetic Joe Cooper opened their account. The initiative began to run with the Ovens side, confirmed on Dylan Foley setting up Goulding for a trademark goal.

That score allowed Éire Óg establish their authority, the commanding play of Conor McGoldrick, John Cooper and Twomey emerged in defence with Jack Murphy and Ronan O’Toole winning possession in the centre.

And in attack, Éire Óg stitched together excellent moves for Joe Cooper, Brian Hurley, and Goulding to add points. Kiskeam remained in touch, Éire Óg keeper Chris Kelly saving superbly from Casey.

However Éire Óg took a big step towards victory in injury time, Kiskeam netminder Anthony Casey grounded full forward Foley and Goulding netted the resultant penalty for a clear 2-6 to 0-7 advantage.

For a spell on the restart, both sides were let down by poor shooting, Kiskeam’s cause not helped on a second yellow for forward Michael Herlihy. That allowed Éire Óg maintain a grip, availing of excellent points to Goulding, Colm O’Callaghan, and Joe Cooper.

Kiskeam needed scores to maintain an interest, close to a goal only for substitute Thomas Casey denied by a marvellous block from defender Dermot O’Herlihy.

Éire Óg held the whip hand to the finish before Sean Meehan netted a consolation goal for Kiskeam.

Scorers for Éire Óg: D Goulding 2-7(0-1f), J Cooper (0-3), C O’Callaghan (0-2), B Hurley 0-1.

Kiskeam: S Meehan (1-1), S O’Sullivan 0-3f, T O’Sullivan 0-3(0-2f), G Casey (0-2), S Scannell (0-1).

ÉIRE ÓG: C Kelly; D O'Herlihy, J Mullins, C McGoldrick; D McCarthy, John Cooper, D Twomey; R O'Toole, J Murphy; Joe Cooper, C O'Callaghan, E O’Shea; D Goulding, D Foley, B Hurley. Subs: D Dineen for D Twomey(48), L Sheehan for D Foley(53), D O’Connor for J Cooper(58).

KISKEAM: A Casey; J O’Connor, D Linehan, M Casey; S Meehan, AJ O’Connor, K O’Connor; T Dennehy, A Carroll; M Casey, G Casey, M Herlihy; D Scannell, S O’Sullivan, T O’Sullivan.

Subs: D Fitzgerald for G Casey (26 inj), T Casey for D Scannell (42), E O’Leary for M Casey (46), D Murphy for A Carroll(58).

Referee: C Dineen (Douglas).