Condon steps up as Avondhu surge past Muskerry

Muskerry's Eoin Clifford is tackled by Avondhu's Davy Jones during the Cork county divisions/colleges semi final at Donoughmore. Picture; Eddie O'Hare

Avondhu 3-18 Muskerry 0-19 

Avondhu secured their place in the Co-Op Superstores Cork Premier SHC Divisions/Colleges preliminary round final against Duhallow at Donoughmore tonight. Their passage to the decider, which is pencilled in for next Tuesday, was straight-forward enough. Once they gained a foothold on the approach to half-time that yielded an interval lead of five points, they pushed on in a wind-assisted second-half.

Stephen Condon, once again, their star-man in attack with an impressive return of 1-10. Condon was part of a very dangerous full-forward line that also included Jeremy Saich and James Magner.

After the teams had been level six times, it was Magner’s 23rd minute goal that turned the contest in favour of Avondhu. It kickstarted a 10-minute spell during which they outscored the mid Cork side 1-4 to two points. Winning their share of possession in the middle third, their superiority enabled them to lead 1-11 to 0-9 at the short whistle.

Muskerry, who were minus Sean O’ Donoghue (sick), were competitive early on and had David Kirwan and Shane Tarrant regularly on the scoresheet, made a couple of changes at the interval.

It was, however, the north Cork outfit that restarted emphatically with Condon finding the net in the 34th minute to push the advantage to eight points. The game was put to bed two minutes later when Jack Twomey goaled after Muskerry goalkeeper James Linehan initially saved from Magner.

Ten minutes into the half, Avondhu who were minus some of their backroom staff due to illness, took control when Condon added a free, 3-14 to 0-11.

The match, more or less, petered out from there to the finish. Despite their best efforts, the closest Muskerry could get to their opponents was seven points. Brian Keating, Kirwan, Tarrant along with subs Seamus Cronin, David O’Keeffe and Kevin Murphy raising flags.

This, though, was a really strong performance from the winners. The only concern they will have is a leg injury to captain Mark Keane - he was solid all through at centre-back - that necessitated his substitution in the second-half.

The favourable result now means two wins out of two, having followed up on their opening day five-point win over Carbery. Their top-scorer that night was Colin O’Brien, and management will be hoping he will return in time from holidays for next week’s showdown with neighbours Duhallow.

Scorers for Avondhu: S Condon (1-10, 0-4 frees), J Twomey (1-2), J Magner (1-1), D Jones (0-2), B O’Reilly, J Saich and J O’Sullivan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Muskerry: S Tarrant (0-6, 0-4 frees), B Keating (0-4, 0-2 frees), D Kirwan (0-3), J Mannix, M Walsh, A O’Shea, S Cronin, D O’Keeffe and K Murphy (0-1 each).

AVONDHU: K Walsh (Kilworth); F Herlihy (Ballygiblin), E McGrath (Kilworth), E Burke (Kilshannig); D O’Reilly (Ballyhooly), M Keane (Ballygiblin, Capt), B Buckley (Dromina); L Cronin (Killavullen), J O’Sullivan (Ballygiblin); D Jones (Dromina), J Twomey (Kilshannig), B O’Reilly (Shanballymore); J Magner (Killavullen), J Saich (Kilworth), S Condon (Harbour Rovers).

Subs: D Linehan (Ballyhooly) for M Keane (46 inj), E Cotter (Killavullen) for B O’Reilly (50), D Buckley (Dromina) for D Jones (55).

MUSKERRY: J Linehan (Ballincollig); F Denny (Ballincollig, Capt), B O’Mahony (Inniscarra), J Kelleher (Éire Óg); E Clifford (Cloughduv), S Sheehan (Inniscarra), A Murphy (Cloughduv); D Kirwan (Éire Óg), B Keating (Ballincollig); A O’Shea (Ballinora), J Mannix (Cloughduv), S Tarrant (Aghabullogue); C O’Driscoll (Ballincollig), J Dwyer (Ballincollig), M Walsh (Cloughduv).

Subs: S Cronin (Grenagh) for J Mannix (half-time), K Murphy (Ballinora) for M Walsh (half-time), D Coakley (Éire Óg) for A O’Shea (35), D O’Keeffe (Inniscarra) for E Clifford (40 inj), R Murphy (Kilmichael) for C O’Driscoll (56).

Referee: David Daly (Brian Dillons).