St Nick's to face city derby in relegation final as Macroom ensure safety

Cork PIFC: Macroom 1-11 St Nick's 1-7 

Macroom made sure that their place in the Cork PIFC is secure following a close-fought contest with St Nick's in Ovens on Saturday night.

Following this result, Macroom’s status is safe in the Premier Intermediate grade, while the relegation trapdoor remains a very realistic proposition for St Nick's, who are set to face St Vincent’s in a relegation playoff.

It was Macroom that could breathe a sigh of relief at the full-time whistle after ending the game strong to secure the crucial win.

Macroom began this game in confident fashion. Pa Lucey got an early well-taken score for the Mid Cork side, with Conor O’Sullivan, David Goold, and Fintan Goold also slotting over points.

St Nick's got a point in reply from Stephen O’Callaghan from a tight angle to get the city side off the mark.

David Horgan added to the Macroom tally in the 13th minute, which was followed up by a good Blake O’Gorman score to leave Macroom 0-6 to 0-1 ahead at the first water break.

St Nick's got a number of points around the 20th-minute mark to drag themselves back into the contest through Ryan Long and David Brosnan.

Macroom ended the opening half with a pair of Fintan Goold points, as they led 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time.

St Nick's had the perfect start to the second half when they found the back of the net through a cool close-range finish from Ryan Long. 

Long had the city side in front at 1-7 to 0-9 with 46 minutes played as Nick’s sensed a potential victory could be theirs.

But Macroom had a purple patch in the latter stages and that proved to be crucial in deciding the overall outcome of this encounter.

The Mid Cork men responded with a score from Alan Quinn. Then, in the 54th minute, Macroom made a decisive breakthrough when Lucey finished from close range after John Murphy knocked the ball across the goalmouth.

From here Macroom drove to the finish line, with a further Quinn point and a Sean Kiely free securing the victory.

Scorers for Macroom: P Lucey 1-1, F Goold (2 frees) 0-3, A Quinn 0-2, S Kiely, B O’Gorman, C O’Sullivan, D Goold, D Horgan 0-1 each.

Scorers for St Nick's: R Long (3 frees) 1-4, D Dunlea, S O’Callaghan, D Brosnan 0-1 each.

Macroom: B O’Connell; J O’Riordan, M Cahill, R Buckley; T Dineen, S Kiely, B O’Gorman; C Donovan, D Horgan; P Lucey, M Cronin, A Quinn; C O’Sullivan, F Goold, D Goold.

Subs: E O’Gorman for Cronin (9, inj), M Corrigan for Cahill, J Murphy for O’Sullivan (both 38), D Creedon for D Goold (43), G Angland for B O’Gorman (55).

St Nick's: E Fuller; S Cronin, R Byrne, C Horgan; D Dunlea, K McCarthy Coade, G Mulcahy; L Forde, R Brosnan; S O’Callaghan, D Morris, D Brosnan; R Long, A Evans, K McEnery.

Subs: N Goulding for Forde (43), D Coughlan for Mulcahy (50), J Galvin for McEnery (55).

Referee: E Coleman (Youghal).