The great turnaround: How Ballincollig completed 20-point swing to qualify for Cork knockouts

Ballincollig's senior footballers looked down and out of the Cork Premier SFC - before a remarkable last quarter turnaround at two venues

UNDER SIEGE: Ballincollig's Sean Kiely keeps possession under pressure from Valley Rovers' Cian O'Keeffe and Jacob O'Driscoll, during their Premier SFC clash, at Kilmurry.

Cork Premier SFC: Ballincollig 4-14 Valley Rovers 2-10 

Ballincollig are through, somehow, to the Cork Premier SFC quarter-finals after a 20-point turnaround on points difference in the final quarter-hour ensured they qualified ahead of Douglas from Group B.

Douglas led Mallow by 11, 2-10 to 1-2 on 45 minutes, just as Ballincollig had levelled this tie, 1-11 to 2-8, playing into a gale-force wind. But Ballincollig needed to better Douglas’s result by four points to ensure qualification. Their championship hopes appeared all but over.

Nobody told the 15 Ballincollig men out on that Kilmurry field.

An elemental final-quarter performance defied the conditions and the permutations. Back-to-back goals from Seán Kiely and Robert Noonan on 51 and 52 minutes were the key moments in an unanswered run of 2-4 during Kevin Canty’s time in the sin bin. 3-14 to 2-8 now.

Meanwhile, at Páirc Uí Rinn, Mallow were also surging. Just after Fiachra Lynch pointed for Valleys, a Mallow goal cut Douglas’s lead to six. Ballincollig just needed one more point as it stood.

They didn’t find it immediately. A Billy Crowley free for Valleys meant a goal appeared necessary.

In the second minute of stoppages, Kiely was again the man for the big moment, turning home a pass from his brother Cian.

There was much uncertainty at full-time. The scoreboard had Ballincollig winning by 11, rather than 10, as the best mathematicians among them checked their arithmetic. Meanwhile, Mallow’s comeback continued, their Twitter account reaching a record audience in Kilmurry as players held a phone to the air, battling with fans and reporters for scarce 3G coverage.

These were the scenes at Kilmurry as news filtered thru that @BallincolligGAA had done enough to progress to the @OfficialCorkGAA Premier SFC quarter-finals.

And here's the early report: Ballincollig complete 20-point swing to KO Valley Rovers and Douglashttps://t.co/p7BC8wktNH pic.twitter.com/scLoOqYvX5

— Stephen Barry (@StphnBarry) September 4, 2022

They had it back to three, to two, to one, as it became clear Ballincollig had completed a mission that seemed all but impossible 15 minutes earlier. They still didn’t allow themselves to believe it fully until the final whistle from Ballintemple sounded to even louder celebrations 20 miles down the road.

Douglas had won 2-11 to 2-10 but their points difference had been whittled away from plus 10 to zero as Ballincollig’s had ballooned from minus 6 at half-time to plus 6 by the finish.

As the dust settled around him, Podsie O’Mahony reflected on a 3-7 to 0-4 second-half turnaround with a satisfaction that will linger for much of the coming fortnight until they face Carbery in the quarter-final.

“I’m delighted. The second-half performance was sensational really. It’s the performance the team deserved all year,” he said, as a passing backroom member exclaimed: “The heart’s not good!” 

“That was a phenomenal performance against a gale-force wind to score what we did in the second half and especially to keep Valley Rovers to four points. It was an unbelievable performance.” 

A Darren Murphy goal had Ballincollig off to the best possible start as Liam O’Connell directed their attack but like Valleys in the second period, they failed to make anything of the wind urging them on. Back-to-back goals from Eoin O’Reilly and Adam Walsh Murphy on 23 and 25 minutes, the latter a goal-of-the-year contender, helped Valleys to a 2-6 to 1-7 half-time lead.

They appeared most likely to qualify until Ballincollig’s comeback, with four Cian Dorgan frees hauling them level, allowed Douglas in. But Ballincollig just weren’t for stopping in that final stretch.

The final of Dorgan’s frees came after Canty, so influential for Valleys, was sin-binned for a foul on Peter O’Neill. O’Neill and the Kiely brothers proceeded to take over the midfield in his absence. Cian surged forward for two points and Seán bundled in a goal, while subs Dara Dorgan and Noonan combined for another.

Chris Walsh made a fingertip save from William Hurley to keep the Village alive on the hour mark. That, and so much more, allowed the Kielys have the final say.

Scorers for Ballincollig: C Dorgan (0-7, 6 frees); S Kiely (2-0); Darren Murphy (1-2); R Noonan (1-0); C Kiely (0-2); L O’Connell, H Aherne, S Dore (0-1 each).

Scorers for Valley Rovers: F Lynch (0-5, 3 frees); E O’Reilly, A Walsh Murphy (1-0 each); B Crowley (1 free), E Delaney (0-2 each); A Kennealy (0-1).

BALLINCOLLIG: C Walsh; N Galvin, S Ó Murchú, G O'Donoghue; L Fahy, L Jennings, C Kiely; S Dore, S Kiely; J O'Connor, L O'Connell, D O'Mahony; H Aherne, C Dorgan, Darren Murphy.

Subs: P O’Neill for Dore (h-t), D Dorgan for O’Connor (h-t), R Noonan for O’Mahony (47).

VALLEY ROVERS: E O'Sullivan; C O'Keeffe, T O'Brien, D Muckian; J Kiely, J O'Driscoll, A Walsh Murphy; D Murphy, K Canty; R O'Sullivan, W Hurley, A Kenneally; E O'Reilly, B Crowley, F Lynch.

Subs: E Delaney for O’Sullivan (23 inj), C McCarthy for Kenneally (50), J Cottrell for Lynch (56).

Referee: C Lane (Banteer/Lyre).