Éire Óg look well equipped for first tilt at Cork football's top tier

“When you think we only won junior in 2008, it is a huge achievement for the whole club to now be premier senior,” said Éire Óg manager Harry O’Reilly

WINNING FEELING: Éire Óg celebrate after their victory over Mallow in the Cork SAFC final in Páirc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday.  Picture: Ger Bonus

Éire Óg 2-13 Mallow 1-7 

Save for their wastefulness in front of goal, this was a pretty phenomenal effort from the footballers of Éire Óg.

Any analysis of Saturday’s Covid-delayed Cork Senior A final must take into consideration the fact that both teams had no more than six weeks collective training under their belt after a near seven-month pause on such get-togethers. Moreover, both sides had played the sum total of three competitive games between them since their respective semi-final wins last autumn.

It is from this vantage point that the Éire Óg performance — minus Ciarán Sheehan, minus full-back John Mullins, and minus the injured Colm O’Callaghan from the 29th minute onward — becomes all the more impressive.

The men from Ovens held their opponents scoreless for periods of 12 and 14 minutes in the first half, as well as the opening 22 minutes of the second period. Their turnover count is sure to have made for satisfactory reading, while their transitioning from defence to attack suggests this is a group who will be anything but out of their depth when operating at premier senior level later in the summer.

Yes, their catalogue of first-half misses, which included nine wides and three goal opportunities, was of staggering proportions, but outside of the closing minutes of the first half when Mallow pared the gap to three, Éire Óg’s total dominance of this decider meant they were never in danger of being made to rue those missed chances.

All told, their ascension to the top table of Cork club football for the first time in Éire Óg’s history was beyond impressive.

“We knew we had this performance in us. We showed signs of playing like this in the two league matches since we came back. To do it on county final day, it is just so satisfying and we are so delighted,” said Éire Óg manager Harry O’Reilly.

“We missed a lot of chances in the first half, a little bit afraid that might come back to bite us, but the fitness levels are huge and we drove on again in the second half.”

The latter point made by O’Reilly is so pertinent to this Éire Óg performance. Having had no option but to work individually from January right through to May 10, their collective fitness levels were off the charts on Saturday.

The winners brought a high-tempo, high-intensity game to Páirc Uí Chaoimh that Mallow — who had beaten their final opponents 0-14 to 0-7 in a Group B encounter last August — simply had no answer to.

“We thought it would be a more physical game, but the big, open pitch suited us. We have plenty of legs, plenty of lads with pace, and so we kept the play wide, kept running at them.”

Praise for their conditioning and style of play was laid at the doorstep of trainer Paudie Kissane.

“Absolutely massive,” replied O’Reilly when asked to explain the influence of the former Cork footballer.

“There is nobody that matches Paudie at what he does. He trains the lads like a senior inter-county team. He sets very high standards. The players love the professionalism Paudie brings to it and they respond to it significantly. That showed in their fitness levels, their football, and in the way they played the game.”

It was a Ronan O’Toole charge, after winning a Mallow restart, that paved the way for their opening goal two minutes in. He offloaded to Joe Cooper who, despite having a bit of work still to do, finished well.

Mallow responded with a goal of their own through Michael O’Rourke less than 60 seconds later. But it was one-way traffic thereafter.

Brian Hurley (0-2), Daniel Goulding (two frees), and Dylan Foley propelled Éire Óg 1-6 to 1-1 in front at the water break. They had tallied six wides by this juncture, with Mallow ‘keeper Kevin Doyle saving well to deny Eoin O’Shea. A further goal opportunity went a-begging on 23 minutes, O’Toole hitting the outside of the post.

James Loughrey, Shane Merritt (free), and Eoin Stanton kicked three on the bounce for Mallow at the end of the first half to leave the interval scoreline reading 1-7 to 1-4. It was a scoreline most unreflective of the opening half hour’s fare. Mallow, though they shouldn’t have been, were still alive in proceedings.

Éire Óg finally made their supremacy count upon the resumption of play. Dylan Foley’s goal, after collecting and finishing a Joe Cooper effort that came off the crossbar, was part of an unanswered 1-5 that made certain of back-to-back county titles and promotion to premier senior ranks.

“When you think we only won junior in 2008, it is a huge achievement for the whole club to now be premier senior,” O’Reilly concluded.

The 60-second report

IT MATTERED

The unanswered 1-5 Éire Óg reeled off in the 22 minutes after half-time to put 11 points between the sides. This burst killed the momentum Mallow had generated for themselves when finishing the opening period with three points in a row to halve their opponents’ lead from six to three.

CAN’T IGNORE

Éire Óg’s first-half wastefulness. They left roughly 3-7 behind them.

GOOD DAY

The restructuring of the Cork county championships ahead of the 2020 season meant Éire Óg’s 2019 premier intermediate final win did not translate into a seat at the top table of Cork club football. But a second successive county final win — this time at Senior A — means they have more than earned their Premier Senior status.

BAD DAY

After an eight-month wait to play this delayed county final, what will gnaw away at Mallow most is their failure to show up.

BEST ON SHOW

Plenty of fine showings in the Éire Óg corner, including Ronan O’Toole, Jack Murphy, and Joe Cooper, but top of the class was outstanding centre-back John Cooper. His driving runs into the opposition half of the field were a cornerstone of Éire Óg’s dominance, particularly in the first half.

SIDELINE SMARTS

Might Mallow have moved Cork defender Mattie Taylor from left half-back into a more central role to increase his involvement and influence on proceedings?

PHYSIO ROOM

Éire Óg and Cork forward Colm O’Callaghan departed the action on 29 minutes with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. He left the ground on crutches. Cork manager Ronan McCarthy could do without another addition to an already extensive injury list ahead of the county’s Munster campaign. Éire Óg full-back John Mullins, a Cork senior in 2017, missed the final because of an ankle injury sustained in the League win over Nemo Rangers last weekend.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Brian Coniry used the whistle sparingly, his common-sense approach contributing to the quality of fare.

WHAT’S NEXT

Before Éire Óg begin life as a premier senior football side, they will hope to sign off on the 2020 season with a Championship double. Aghabullogue await their hurlers in the delayed Intermediate A county final. The August Bank Holiday weekend has been set as the provisional date for this long-awaited fixture.

Scorers for Éire Óg: Joe Cooper, D Foley (1-2 each); D Goulding (0-4, 0-4 frees); B Hurley (0-2); J Murphy, E O’Shea, D Dineen (0-1 each).

Scorers for Mallow: M O’Rourke (1-0); J Loughrey (0-2); S Merritt (0-1 free), E Stanton, C O’Riordan (0-1 free), K Sheehan, S Hayes (0-1 each).

ÉIRE ÓG: C Kelly; D O’Herlihy, M Corkery, C McGoldrick; D McCarthy, John Cooper, D Dineen; J Murphy, R O’Toole; E O’Shea, C O’Callaghan, Joe Cooper; D Foley, D Goulding, B Hurley.

Subs: K Hallissey for O’Callaghan (29 mins, inj); Jerome Kelleher for Hurley (52); L Sheehan for Cooper (60); John Kelleher for Dineen (62).

MALLOW: K Doyle; E Barry, J Loughrey, B Myers; T McEvoy, S Merritt, M Taylor; D Moynihan, E Stanton; K O’Sullivan, R Harkin, M O’Rourke; C O’Riordan, K Sheehan, S McDonnell.

Subs: J Dillon for Harkin, S Hayes for Moynihan (both 40); P Herlihy for Sheehan (42); M Quirke for McEvoy (48); P Hennessy for O’Rourke (55).

Referee: B Coniry.