Cork IAFC: County star O'Mahony shines, AFL star Keane features as Mitchelstown advance to quarters

Mitchelstown's Mark Keane holds off Adrigole's Daniel Harrington. Pic; Eddie O'Hare

On an exciting afternoon in the Cork IAFC, none of the teams who entered the final round on top of their respective groups were there when the action concluded. 

The biggest winners were Glanmire and Adrigole who claimed the semi-final berths after they beat Boherbue and Gabriel Rangers respectively.

Mitchelstown topped Group 2 and will play Gabriel Rangers in the quarterfinal, while the knockout stages will be completed by a clash between Boherbue and Glanworth. 

The relegation playoff will be an all-city affair between St Vincent’s and Na Piarsaigh.

Adrigole secured their spot after they recorded a tight 0-10 to 1-5 victory over Gabriel Rangers in Kealkil. Cian O’Shea kicked 0-4 for the Beara men while two-point contributions from Ben O’Sullivan and Kevin Goggin also helped them over the line. Ger O’Callaghan raised a green flag early on for Gabriel Rangers, while Paddy and Keith O’Driscoll also split the posts.

Glanmire just about held on in Mourneabbey to defeat Boherbue by 0-10 to 0-9 to top Group 3. Three first-half points from David Lynch helped Glanmire into a 0-6 to 0-2 half time lead, but with John Corkery and David O’Connor, who kicked 0-4 and 0-3 respectively, sharp for Boherbue the game was soon level. However, a late point from David McCarthy and free from goalkeeper Brendan O’Connell proved to be enough for Glanmire.

Mitchelstown jumped from third place to top spot in Group 2 after they defeated Glanworth by 0-17 to 1-10 in Araglen. Cork forward Cathail O’Mahony was Mitchelstown’s top scorer with 0-6 while Jimmy Sheehan clipped 0-4 and returning Aussie Rules star, Mark Keane, kicked 0-2. 

Mikey Sheehan had 1-1 for Glanworth and David Pyne registered 0-4 to leave them on four points with a score difference of plus two.

That score difference gave them the edge over Ballinora after the Muskerry side beat St Vincent’s by 2-13 to 3-8 in Ovens. Ivan Quirke scored 1-1 for Ballinora, Robert Quirke kicked 0-5 while James Keohane buried the other goal. Blake Murphy’s 3-3 for the northsiders wasn’t enough to keep them from the relegation playoff, but it did dent Ballinora’s score difference enough to put them out.

Na Piarsaigh’s place in that playoff seemed guaranteed before the action began, and it proved to be the case as St Finbarr’s defeated them by 4-16 to 0-6 in Mayfield. 

Eoin Sheehan and Sean Paul Cooke did give Na Piarsaigh some early impetus, but goals from Adrian Murphy, Shane Fenton, Denis O’Brien and Michael Shields gave the Barrs an easy win, but Glanmire’s win over Boherbue means that they are out.

Finally, Dromtarriffe’s 1-13 to 0-12 win over Kildorrey in Churchtown meant that both sides will still be playing Intermediate ‘A’ football next season. 

Daniel and Brian O’Keeffe did most of the scoring for Dromtarriffe, while Luke Keating scored 0-4 for Kildorrery.