Goal-hungry Duhallow stroll past lacklustre Douglas 

FLYING MILSTREET MAN: Duhallow's Darragh Cashman wins is tackled by Douglas' Eoghan Nash during the Bon Secours Cork Premier SFC quarter final at Pairc Ui Rinn. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

Duhallow 3-11 Douglas 0-10 

A doddle for Duhallow.

Stepping back into the championship ring after a five-week layoff, the divisional outfit did not suffer from any collective staleness owing to their time away. They instead strolled into the Cork football semi-finals.

This double-digit quarter-final hammering returns them to the last four for the first time since 2020. It was Nemo who they met and fell to three years ago. It is Nemo who they will meet again this coming Sunday. It is a semi-final they will go confidently toward.

Even allowing for the paucity of opposition, Ger O’Sullivan’s men were efficient in the execution of their duties.

They were smart and sharp in funneling players back during Douglas attacks. They rushed to swarm inside forward Sean Powter each time the Cork senior got onto possession. 

Their numbers in front of goal meant Powter often had to go to the corners to collect a pass, sufficient distance from the posts that there was no threat of a score.

These efforts contributed to Douglas shooting blank from the 17th minute to half time and from the 38th to the 49th minute.

At the far end, Luke Murphy stood out with five points. Not enough of his forward colleagues, though, made anywhere near a similar impact. 

Indeed, Murphy finished as only one of two starting forwards, along with first half goal scorer Mikey McAuliffe, to raise a flag from play.

And while the midfield partnership of Seamus Hickey and Darragh Cashman and half-backs Shane Hickey and Conor O’Callaghan drove intently forward to write their names on the scoresheet, they’ll not trouble the champions if only two forwards are firing.

Duhallow were well down the road to securing a semi-final spot come the short whistle. 2-5 to 0-3. Their eight-point lead did not look in the remotest bit of danger given Douglas’ disjointed offerings.

Duhallow’s opening goal on nine minutes was practically walked in. Resistance from the Douglas rearguard was a missing person. Seamus Hickey sauntered through unchallenged. 

He offloaded to Donncha O’Connor who in turn offloaded to McAuliffe for the simplest of palm finishes.

Their second goal arrived five minutes later. Darragh Cashman with a perfectly placed finish into the corner.

Shane Kingston off the left offered the Douglas reply on 17 minutes. That last Douglas score of the half left the city men 2-1 to 0-3 in arrears.

Their problem wasn’t so much a complete absence of scores in the closing 15 minutes of the half. It was more their inability to defend. They were carved open as easily as they were frequently.

Every time Duhallow pressed, a score looked inevitable. There was the odd occasion where the credit lay with Duhallow’s approach work, as was the case when Donncha O’Connor showed superb vision to find and put through sub Shane Curtin for a point.

More often than not, though, it didn’t take a whole pile of ingenuity to breach the Douglas barricades.

A hattrick of Luke Murphy points and the aforementioned Curtin kick formed a four-in-a-row sequence between 18 and 27 minutes that doubled the division’s lead from four to eight.

Shane Kingston and a pair of Conor Russell frees ate into that advantage in the eight minutes after the turnaround. The deficit could have been smaller again had Darragh Kelly been on target with his goal shot.

As it was, five was as close as Douglas came. Murphy’s fourth point opened Duhallow’s second half account on 40 minutes. It began an unanswered 1-4. 

At the end of this burst was a Shane Hickey goal in which Murphy and Seamus Hickey helped engineer.

A 12-point Duhallow lead. 3-9 to 0-6. 

What followed thereafter was mere window dressing. Douglas were on their way tamely out, Duhallow minds drifting to Nemo.

Scorers for Duhallow: L Murphy (0-5); Shane Hickey, D Cashman (1-1 each); M McAuliffe (1-0); Seamus Hickey, C O’Callaghan, D O’Connor (0-1 free), S Curtin (0-1 each).

Scorers for Douglas: S Kingston (0-3); C Russell (0-2 frees), S Powter (0-2 each); B Hartnett, A Cantwell, J Cunningham (0-1 each).

Duhallow: F O’Connor (Cullen); K Crowley (Millstreet), K Cremin (Boherbue), D Buckley (Boherbue); S Hickey (Millstreet), C O’Callaghan (Dromtariffe), J Murphy (Dromtariffe); D Cashman (Millstreet), S Hickey (Rockchapel); A O’Connor (Boherbue), D O’Connor (Ballydesmond), B O’Keeffe (Dromtariffe); L Murphy (Cullen), G O’Sullivan (Boherbue), M McAuliffe (Rockchapel).

Subs: S Curtin (Rockchapel) for Shane Hickey (21-24, temporary); J Curtin (Rockchapel) for G O’Sullivan (50); S Curtin (Rockchapel) for Shane Hickey (54); J Linehan (Millstreet) for Crowley (57); D Linehan (Castlemagner) for O’Keeffe (59); L Moynihan (Boherbue) for O’Connor (62, inj).

Douglas: B Boyle; S Wilson, C Kenny, K Hayes Curtin; C Kingston, K Flahive, D Warde; E Nash; B Hartnett; D Kelly, A Cantwell, K Shanahan; C Russell, S Powter, S Kingston.

Subs: J Cunningham for Cantwell, A O’Hare for Shanahan, B Powter for Wilson (all HT); C O’Keeffe for Hayes Curtin (43); C Joyce for Russell (46); R Hanley for O’Hare (55-59, temporary).

Referee: J Bermingham.