St Nick's relegated from Intermediate grade

St Nicks players at Pairc Ui Rinn on Saturday. Pic: @nicksgaa

TOP seeds Aghabullogue will face Kildorrery in the quarter-finals of the Cork Intermediate A Football Championship after a dramatic final round of games Saturday. Glenville consigned St Nick's to relegation on the final day at Pairc Ui Rinn but fell short of qualification for the knockout stages on scoring difference. 

Even though Kildorrery lost 0-9 to 0-5 to Glanworth, they went through and should have faced a local derby with Mitchelstown. However Aghabullogue and Dromtariffe couldn't meet again as they were in the same group, so Drom will now face Mitchelstown in the last eight. The other quarter-finals see the other group winners, Adrigole and Glanworth face Boherbue and Kilshannig respectively.

With sixteen teams in the IAFC grade this year for the final time, four clubs have been relegated back to junior football - including Blackpool's famed St Nick's club. Also on the way down are St Finbarr's second string - relegated on scoring difference - and Duhallow pair Millstreet and Ballydesmond.

There was double disappointment at Pairc Ui Rinn as Glenville beat St Nick's 1-11 to 0-10. The win saw Glenville come up shy for qualification to the knockout stages, but it also confirmed St Nicks' third successive relegation in the grades in Cork.

Glenville set out like a team with a point to prove and led 0-9 to 0-7 at half time. Sean Desmond had a particularly productive first period for the winners, contributing three points en route to a 0-5 tally. Sean Cronin was also making himself busy and productive in the forward line.

However Nicks' Luke Forde was a recurring thorn in their side, his physicality proving difficult for the Glenville defence to deal with at times as he popped over a couple of scores.

Nick’s improved in the second half but a handful of cheap wides hurt their momentum. With five minutes to go, Nick’s Dean Brosnan was fouled but put the ball over the bar as play continued to level the game. However referee Jack Forbes called it back for a free and then decided to hop the ball amid persistent complaints from the St Nick's players. It was a costly moment for the city side.

Nicks kept up the pressure but a late Ryan Murray goal put the final nail in their coffin.

Aghabullogue claimed top spot in Group D and top seed for the knockout stages by defeating Ballinora by 3-15 to 0-14 in Ovens. Davie Thompson was Aghabullogue’s top scorer with 1-8 while Cialan O’Sullivan hit two goals. The Group D winners will play Kildorrery in the last eight after they lost by 0-9 to 0-5 against Glanworth in Araglen. David Pyne hit 0-5 for Glanworth in a win that saw them go from third place to topping Group B.

At Kilmichael, Kieran Towmey’s injury-time winner broke Gabriel Rangers hearts and secured Kilshannig a quarter-final berth.

Adrigole’s expected Group A victory over Ballydesmond meant Gabriel Rangers needed to avoid defeat to reach the knockout stages. Nothing but a win would suffice for their opponents who made hard work of their victory despite playing against fourteen players for 54 minutes.

The opening half’s major talking point centred around the dismissal of Gabriel’s Keith O’Driscoll for a high challenge after only 6 minutes. Creditably, the west Cork side shook off that setback and proved more than a match for Kilshannig despite their numerical disadvantage.

Gabriel’s dug deep with James O’Regan, Ger O’Callaghan and Mark Cronin (free) making it 0-8 to 0-7 in the west Cork side’s favour before Kieran Twomey (free) levelled matters for a sixth time late in the third quarter.

Kilshannig lost Colm O’Shea to a black card with 8 minutes to go. Kieran Twomey and Eanna O’Hanlon plus Rangers’ Killian O’Brien scored to make it 0-9 each as the tension increased.

Deep into injury-time, Mark Cronin fired over a cracking point but, once again, Kilshanning provided a response as Conor McMahon equalised. Kilshannig needed a winning score and Kieran Twomey provided it right at the death.

Adrigole usurped Rangers for top spot as a result of their 2-13 to 0-7 win over Ballydesmond in Inchigeela. Gerard O’Shea raised a green flag for the Beara men while David Harrington was effective from placed balls as they will now play last year’s Junior champions, Boherbue, in the last eight.

The Duhallow side finished behind Mitchelstown on scoring difference in Group C after they played out a thrilling 2-10 to 0-16 draw in Buttevant. Shane Beston and Cormac Hyland hit the goals for Mitchelstown while Jerry and David O’Connor scored heavily for Boherbue as Andrew O’Connor kicked a late equaliser.

Dromtarriffe claimed the final quarterfinal place as a result of their 1-19 to 0-6 win over St Finbarr’s in Donoughmore. The Duhallow side went into the day at the bottom of Group D but 1-3 from Daniel O’Keeffe and 0-6 from Conor O’Callaghan saw them turn their fortunes around and sentenced the Togher side to relegation.

Cork IAFC quarter finals: Aghabullogue v Kildorrery;  Mitchelstown v Dromtarriffe, Adrigole v Boherbue, Glanworth v Kilshannig.

Relegated: Ballydesmond, St Nick’s, Millstreet, St Finbarr’s

Scorers for Glenville:

S Desmond (0-5), R Murray (1-0, S Curtin (0-2, 1f), J Cooke (free), D O’Sullivan, B Lehane, C Fitzgerald (0-1 each).

Scorers for St Nick's

: R Long (0-3, frees), L Forde (0-2, 1f), K McCarthy Coade, J Morrissey, S Cronin, D Morris, S Horgan (0-1 each).

GLENVILLE: D Quirke; T Dinan, E Delahunt, D Sheehan; D O’Sullivan, J Carver, S O’Reilly; K O’Neill, C Fitzgerald; D Farrell, B Lehane, D McCarthy; J Cooke, S Desmond, S Curtin.

Subs: P Moloney for D O’Sullivan (43), C O’Keefe for S Curtin (51), R Murray for C Fitzgerald (54), J Gowen for D McCarthy (59).

ST. NICKS: E Fuller; J Lynch, D Dunlea, C Horgan; A Evans, K McCarthy Coade, S Horgan; J Morrissey, E Downey; L Coughlan, D Coughlan, L Forde; R Long, L Quilligan, D Milner.

Subs: S Cronin for C Horgan (17), R Brosnan for D Milner (40), D Morris for L Quilligan (46), E Varian for D Dunlea (54).

Referee:

J Forbes (Dohenys).