Rockchapel ignore outsiders tag to land Cork intermediate crown against Mitchelstown
Delighted Rockchapel players celebrate their County IAFC victory over Mitchelstown. Picture: John Tarrant
Rockchapel rose magnificently to the challenge of turning the formbook on its head by surprising Mitchelstown in a tough 2020 County IAFC final at a greasy Mallow on Saturday night.
All credit to Rockchapel for conjuring a tactically perfect performance, disrupting their opponents through intensity and passion that earned silverware to repeat their previous success from 1989. For the best part, a sporting tussle emerged only for tempers to simmer during the latter stages which overshadowed excellent passages of football.
Prior to a shutdown of activity, Mitchelstown had impressed with a series of standout performances and though not starting county player Cathail O’Mahony and Aussie Rules star Mark Keane, Mitchelstown were regarded as pretenders to the throne.
Rockchapel manager Jerry Casey isn’t prone to hyperbole and certainly doesn’t lose the run of himself but he couldn’t have asked for a better finish to a marathon campaign delayed owing to Covid and county teams. Casey agreed, an early goal from team captain Kevin Collins helped Rockchapel lay out their stall.
“The goal settled us, we were conscious of getting a good start, the longer we could stay with Mitchelstown the better for us as Mitchelstown had enjoyed big wins in their previous outings. We wanted to bring them down the home straight and see what they were made of”, he said.
Casey is domiciled in Kerry, a former Rockchapel player, he captained a team to defeat Carbery Rangers in the 1987 County JAFC final and surfaced as a key soldier on the Rock’ overcoming Mallow two years later at intermediate level. Modestly, he spoke of the latest triumph and the strides over the years, third time lucky given Rockchapel incurred defeats in finals to Éire Óg (2014) and Bandon (2016).
“These boys have been coached from U6 upwards, a lot of people in Rockchapel are rightly proud in their efforts towards landing this county title. The ability and skills from the players didn’t come from me, that’s sure to satisfy the many coaches involved over the years,” he said.
In their starting line-up, Rockchapel possessed a mixed blend of players, many of the older generation having helped Meelin to the 2010 All-Ireland JAHC title in Croke Park.
“It’s a perfect mix, the experienced Eamon O’Callaghan, Kevin Collins, Seamus Hickey, and others are in their 30s, their commitment and dedication is unreal, the fitness levels incredible. Add in the younger guys, we finished with six U21 players, that signals the future is bright. After this performance, the public will know where we are from. Everybody is proud of our football and tradition in Rockchapel.”
A nervy opening by both sides, crucially Rockchapel grabbed a breakthrough on nine minutes, a slick raid upfield saw a shot from James Forrest blocked only for team captain Collins get a leg in to goal from close range.
Mitchelstown answered with a pair of Pa Magee points but ill-discipline saw Magee pick up a second yellow card to take him out of the action. And with the ‘Town operating in a defensive mode, Rockchapel maintained a grip to lead 1-6 to 0-4 at the interval.
On the restart, Mitchelstown perked up with Cork U20 hurler Darragh Flynn joining Keane and O’Mahony into the action. Though ‘Town gathered points from Michael Walsh and Flynn, Rockchapel responded to the threat and back-to-back points from Jack Curtin allowed the Duhallow side see their task to a successful conclusion amidst unruly scenes during the closing exchanges.
For Casey and company, there is a sense of a new page to be turned ahead of facing St Vincent’s in their Premier IFC opener on Sunday week.
“We’ve talked about the upcoming 2021 championship, the one thing decided, win or lose against Mitchelstown, we were going to put it to bed within 48 hours. I was conscious that if we lost, it would be difficult to pick up, obviously, it's going to be much easier. But in the meanwhile, we will celebrate for county titles don’t come round too often.”
J Curtin (0-4); K Collins (1-0); J O’Callaghan (0-3); M McAulliffe (0-2); N O’Callaghan (0-1).
M Walsh (2 frees), P Magee (0-2 each); J Sheehan (free), S Cahill, D Flynn, J O’Sullivan, C O’Mahony (free) (0-1 each).
C Murphy; N O’Callaghan, E O'Callaghan, S Curtin; P Curtin, M O'Keeffe, D O'Callaghan; C Kepple, S Hickey; J O’Callaghan, W Murphy, K Collins; M McAuliffe, J Forrest, J Curtin.
J O’Sullivan for C Kepple (48), N Lenihan for J Forrest (51), L Collins for M McAulliffe (55).
L Hanna; K Roche, F Hurley, L Finn; G Carroll, S Beston, P Molloy; S Walsh, J O’Sullivan; P Magee, M Walsh, S O’Sullivan; J Sheahan, S Cahill, A O’Brien.
M Keane for P Molloy (28), D Flynn for A O’Brien (33), D Reidy Price for S O’Sullivan (45), C O’Mahony for J Sheehan (44), D Dineen for J O’Sullivan (59).
Michael Collins (Clonakilty).
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