Three goals propel Erin's Own into Cork IAHC final
GOALS KEY: Erin's Own through to Cork IAHC final after defeating Midleton. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Three crucial goals propelled Erin’s Own into the Intermediate A decider against an injury-hit Midleton squad in Cobh. Brian O’Shea’s squad will now take on Lisgoold in the final, which is their third in as many years.
Key to their pursuit of the hat-trick of finals was the continuation of Alan Bowen’s heroics, who struck seven points with four frees, in addition to the strength of the backline. Players like Brian Nolan and Alan Moynihan were impervious and held Midleton to five scores from play on their 15 attempts.
After the teams traded wides through Alan Bowen and Aidan Ryan, it was the latter who would point the game’s first free in the fourth minute. Erin’s Own wasted no time in blowing the east Cork derby open however, as Tiernan Connell’s sideline from the left set up Kieran Murphy’s goal a minute later.
Murphy fired the sliotar into the bottom left corner first time, with Erin’s Own going on to dominate the opening exchanges of the semi-final. They had their first point through a Bowen free five minutes later, but Ryan replied in kind with his second point.
The Caherlag-based outfit hit the net once again through corner-forward Cathal Lenihan. Winning loose possession with a clear path to goal, Lenihan drove toward Midleton netminder Cillian Hurley and drilled the ball to the bottom right, giving them a six-point lead over their near neighbours.
Alan Bowen would tack on two more in quick succession including a sideline from a tight right-sided angle. Ryder’s third free was cancelled out by Ronan Blackton of last years Premier Junior champions, as Bowen duly converted his second free three minutes after.
After a superb display against Mayfield in Erin’s Own’s quarter-final win with 12 points, Bowen was once again in space to the right of Midleton’s goal. He fired over his fifth point just before the half hour mark.
Just before half-time, the Magpies would get their first score from play on the turn from midfielder Rory Hartnett. The score was set up by some nice play and a tidy ball in from Ryan, but was hit back from Murphy to give Erin’s Own a nine point lead at the interval, 2-7 to 0-4.
While it seemed an insurmountable task for Midleton, they didn’t shirk away from the challenge. By five minutes into the second half, they had outscored their entire tally from play in the first period. Garan Manley came off the Midleton bench to score two tidy points from close range in a timely fashion.
The rising Midleton ship was soon sunk by the concession of the all-important third goal from Stephen Horgan. Miscommunication in the Magpies backline allowed an easy pass to be squared to the opportunistic forward - who made no mistake in hammering the ball home – extending the lead back out to nine with 10 minutes played.
Midleton would outscore Erin’s Own by six points to three in remaining 25 minutes, with points from Hartnett and midfield partner Evan McCarthy joining another four frees from Ryan. Despite Midleton’s late efforts, Erin’s own now have a chance at three promotions in succession.
: K Murphy (1-1), S Horgan (1-0), C Lenihan (1-0), A Bowen (0-7, 0-4 frees and 0-1 sideline), J Kavanagh, B Nolan, R Blackton (0-1 each)
: A Ryan (0-9 all frees), K Hartnett (0-2), G Manley (0-2), E McCarthy (0-1)
: T Dillon; B Nolan, P Fitzgerald, A Moynihan; D Twomey, Ian O’Mahony (c), S Cronin; C Coakley, G O’Mahony; R Blackton, A Bowen, T Connell; C Lenihan, K Murphy, S Horgan
: J Kavanagh for T Connell (38’), O O’Regan for C Coakley (43’) S Power for G O’Mahony (48’), A O’Sullivan for A Bowen (56’), J McMahon for C Lenihan (60’)
: C Hurley; C O’Brien, C Murphy, G Bagnell; B O’Shea, A Faye, D Scanlon (c); R Hartnett, E McCarthy; G Carroll, A Ryan, D McCarthy; T Roche, K Farmer, C Crowley
: G Manley for D McCarthy (HT), P O’Brien for T Roche (HT), E McGrath for G Carroll (46’)
: Patrick O’Mahony (Kilbrittain)
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