Mark Keane and Cathail O'Mahony back as Mitchelstown outlast Adrigole in extra-time gripper
BACK IN RED: Mitchelstown's Mark Keane holds off Adrigole's Daniel Harrington during Saturday's Cork IAFC semi final at Kilmurry.
Mitchelstown may be through to their third Cork IAFC final in four years, but that doesn’t begin to tell the drama of their extra-time win over heartbroken Adrigole at Kilmurry on Saturday.
Dominant in the first half (0-7 to 0-2), Mitchelstown were rocked by a doughty Adrigole comeback that saw the west Cork men lead by a point entering the last minute of normal time.
Credit to Mitchelstown though. They steadied the ship in extra time to wear down their opponents and seal a final spot against double-chasing Aghabullogue.
Mitchelstown were short regulars, not least skipper Shane Cahill but had Mark Keane back for his first game from AFL duties while Cork's injury-cursed attacker Cathail O’Mahony played over 70 minutes and scored five points.
O’Mahony, with both hamstrings strapped, contributed four of those points in a dominant first half for Mitchelstown. Alongside him, Sean Walsh was an able and energetic focal point who kicked three points of his own, the same total as namesake Micheal, who only flew in from Australia on Thursday morning. "He trained Thursday night," said Mitchelstown manager Ricky Roynayne.
There will be a lot of neutral sympathy for the Adrigole lads who eventually wilted in extra-time having lost some of their more prominent personnel to injury.
"We were dead and buried at half-time", admitted a tearful manager Timmy O'Sullivan. "But we dug deep and put in a serious second-half performance that dragged us back into the game and with that effort, I suppose the extra-time was just a little bit too much for us. When we went ahead for the first time at ten points to nine with five minutes to go, there was a moment there where we thought we could have won, we had another chance after that too but in championship, you get those small chances and if you don't take them you regret it. It was a great battle."
It was all that. Their second-half surge brought a boisterous crowd in Kilmurry to fever pitch, Cian O’Shea kicking two points with sub Kevin Goggin deadly accurate with three frees.
Adrigole tied it all up for the first time at 0-7 each on 47 minutes and it was score for score then until Adrigole hit the front in the 57th minute when Cian O’Neill converted from a mark. It might have been easy at that stage for Mitchelstown to buckle. They'd gone 17 minutes without a second half score but in extra time, they had options and Sean Walsh, seemingly still with plenty in the tank, scored two massive points along with a Patrick Magee score to seal victory.
"Some key players weren't available today and we hope to have those lads back for the final," added Ricky Roynane. "Other lads were gone abroad for the year. So, we've really tried to work on the squad and I think that showed. Everytime we put on a sub they made an impact.
"We had a very tough league campaign. We were missing Mark Keane, Michael Walsh, Sean Walsh, who were all in Australia. More lads were involved in Cork set ups. We've blooded a lot of young lads. Ultimately, just delighted to get over the line though really.
"Michael Walsh, who was just back from Australia on Thursday morning, scored three massive points for us. Sean Walsh has the ability to play in any position and it's great to have that versatility in our team. He just keeps on going. I remember even last year in the quarter-final against Dromtarriffe he came up with a late score to win us that game."
And Cork's Cathail O'Mahony? "Cathail was out for seven months, and throughout the campaign we've been trying to manage him. He stayed on now today alright and he occupied two of their defenders which was a bonus for us although he wasn't really moving. He's still coming back and I suppose he's trying to make sure it doesn't happen again because he's had a couple of bad ones and we're just trying to manage it as well as we can.
"There's a lot of lads in that dressing room that have had three long years with Mitchelstown being in two county finals. Plus Balygiblin going all thr way to the All-Ireland in the hurling. So, when we went into the league campaign this year the lads hadn't had a break. It's been tough like that."
C O’Mahony (0-5, 3f), M Walsh (0-3, 2f), S Walsh (0-3), D Reidy Price (0-2), P Magee (0-1).
K Goggin (0-4, 4f), D Harrington (0-4, 3f), C O’Shea (0-3), C O’Neill (0-1, m).
L Hanna; F Herlihy, D Dineen, K Roche: J O’Sulluvan, M Keane, P Magee; S Beston, S Walsh; D Reidy Price, S O’Sullivan, K Fox; C O’Mahony, R Donegan, S Kenneally.
J Sheehan for S Kenneally (40), D Flynn for R Donegan (44), M Walsh for K Fox (44), K Cotter for D Reidy Price (76), P Molloy for C O’Mahony (78).
W O’Sullivan; L Harrington, F Carey, D Harrington; Cathal O’Sullivan, S O’Shea, S O’Sullivan; N O'Sullivan, Charlie O’Sullivan; C O'Neill, J Harrington, C O'Shea; B O’Sullivan, Connie O’Shea, D Harrington.
G O’Shea for Cathal O’Sullivan (22), K Goggin for B O’Sullivan (44), D Collins for Charlie O’Sullivan (53), T O’Sullivan for J Harrington (67), D O’Sullivan for S O’Sullivan (73).
Pat O’Leary (Kilmurry).
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