Douglas and St Finbarrs to meet in Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC final
FINAL COUNTDOWN: Ronan Dooley, Douglas kicking a point past Donagh Shiels, Valley Rovers in the Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC semi-final at the Mardyke , Cork. Picture Dan Linehan
Defending champions Douglas and St Finbarr’s will contest the Rebel Óg Premier 1 MFC final on Monday week in Páirc Uí Rinn.
Douglas, who maintained their 100 percent record from the group stages at the Mardyke on Wednesday night, cruised into their second final in a row with an emphatic 3-17 to 0-8 semi final win over Valley Rovers.
However the victory may have come at quite the cost with Cork minor joint-captain and main attacking threat Seán Coakley helped from the field in the 50th min with a serious looking knee injury.
It was the only bum note for Douglas who led 0-8 to 0-3 at the break but went up a gear after the interval with well worked goals from Mark O’Brien, Jamie O'Brien and Rob Long.
Their inside forwards worked hard throughout to find good positions, especially Jimmy Harte and Ronan Dooley.
Valley Rovers kept going and were denied the consolation of a goal when they struck the crossbar in the final few minutes.
In the second semi-final, also at the Mardyke, Cian O’Sullivan starred for last season’s Premier 2 winners St Finbarr’s with 3-4 as they recorded a comfortable 7-9 to 1-14 victory over Mallow.
A blistering start which yielded three goals in the opening quarter set the tone. Ricky Barrett surged through the centre to fire their first green flag in the sixth minute, and two minutes later O’Sullivan turned and netted after going highest to collect a delivery in the corner.
O’Sullivan was on hand again on the quarter hour mark to give his side a lead of 3-2 to 0-3.
A string of points for the Togher club - who finished second in their group to Douglas - put them in a commanding 3-6 to 0-7 position at the short whistle.
This, despite their midfielder Thomas Egan getting a black card 10 minutes before the interval, while ‘keeper Jack O’Leary pulled off an incredible point-blank save from Luke Buckley.
Further goals after the restart from Jack Brady and O’Sullivan, who completed his hat-trick, and the Barrs never looked back.
Ricky Barrett nailed his second major 10 minutes from time, and at the death Mark Heterington added St Finbarr’s seventh goal.
To their credit, Mallow never gave up and they got their goal in the 57th minute when county joint-captain Gearóid Daly burst through to raise the green flag. And Cathal Mullins finished with 10 points.
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