Aghada book PIFC semi-final after victory over spirited Glanmire

Joint captain Kyle O'Shea. File picture: Larry Cummins

Cork PIFC quarter-final: Aghada 2-12 Glanmire 0-10

Games may last for sixty minutes plus in the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork PIFC, but they can be won in a minute. That was certainly the case in sun splashed Lisgoold on Saturday evening.

Aghada led Glanmire by 1-6 to 0-6 at the change of ends in this highly entertaining quarter-final tie, though as they faced to play up the slope, they may have wondered if that lead would be enough. They owned the ball on the resumption though all they had to show for their efforts were a Jordan Tynan point and a Cian Hegarty free.

Glanmire were waiting to take off, but they were to be kept waiting as their championship hopes went up in smoke in the 42nd minute. Firstly, the excellent Sean Morrissey set up Jamie O’Hanlon’s second point of the game to push Agahda six clear and from the resulting kickout, they put the game to bed.

Former Cork footballer Colm O’Neill was manning the posts for Glanmire and he had already landed a superb two-point free in the opening half and had found his target from restarts regularly. However, a moment of hesitation in the restart that came after O’Hanlon’s point saw the ball end up in the arms of Tim Hartnett, and the Aghada centre-forward charged forward to bang in the game defining goal. It made it 2-9 to 0-6, and Glanmire had a mountain to climb.

They made a good fist of climbing the mountain as a two pointer from David Lynch was followed by another orange flag from O’Neill to leave five in it with two to play, but there was to be no denying a highly motivated Aghada.

The outstanding Diarmuid Phelan fisted over a point before kicking another while Hartnett rounded off the scoring with a beautiful point from play. Goalkeeper Cian O’Shea also earned his crust as he saved brilliantly from Conor Crowley and in the final play of the game, it was the great Pearse O’Neill who claimed possession.

After a flirtation with relegation last season, Aghada will now play Uibh Laoire in the semi-final. Nobody will give them much of a chance. That won’t bother them in the slightest. As for Glanmire, they can be more than happy with their season after gaining promotion from the IAFC last season.

They got off to a poor start when they lost Conor Nelliugan to a black card in the third minute. O’Hanlon slotted over the free, but Glanmire then dealt with the challenge well, holding possession patiently while O’Neill’s first orange flag gave them the lead for the only time in the game. 

A score from Morrissey was then supplemented by a two-pointer from Diarmuid Byrne to leave Aghada 0-4 to 0-2 to the good at the end of the opening quarter.

Morrissey then blew the game open with a sublime pass to O’Hanlon who finished brilliantly to put Aghada in control. Glanmire’s response was impressive, as Daniel Molden, Brian Galvin and Crowley cancelled out the goal. 

Then Morrissey’s second point and a ’45 from Hegarty sandwiched a Dan Hogan point for Glanmire to make it 1-6 to 0-6 at the interval.

From there, Agahda showed their mettle to take the victory and a place in the final four.

Scorers for Aghada: J O’Hanlon (1-2, 0-1 free), T Hartnett (1-1), D Phelan, D Byrne (2 pt), S Morrissey and C Hegarty (0-1 ’45, 0-1 free) (0-2 each), J Tynan (0-1).

Scorers for Glanmire: C O’Neill (0-4, 2 x 2pt frees), D Lynch (0-2, 2 pt), B Galvin (free), D Hogan, D Molden and C Crowley (0-1 each).

AGHADA: C O’Shea; R Murphy, J Colbert, K O’Shea; J O’Donoghue, E Leahy, J Tynan; D Phelan, C Hegarty; D Byrne, T Hartnett, S Maloney; S Morrissey, J O’Hanlon, P O’Neill.

Subs: D Wallace for Maloney (h/t), S Whyte for Colbert (49), J Norris for Murphy (53), J McKenna for Byrne (55), C O’Driscoll for Hegarty (58).

GLANMIRE: C O’Neill; R McSweeney, O Kelleher, B Murphy; S Odriscoll, C Nelligan, D Murray; C Crowley, D Kenneally; T Hourihan, L Hackett, D Hogan; B Galvin, H Jones, D Molden.

Subs: J Kingston for Hackett (h/t), A Marron for Murphy (39), D Lynch for McSweeney (42), J Crowley for Jones (47), K Kenneally for Galvin (58).

Referee: Aidan Hyland (Kilworth).