Donoughmore stun Aghinagh at the death to snatch Muskerry title in replay

Coach Danny Buckley hailed his side's resilience after a dramatic finale.

The Donoughmore team celebrate their win in the Ross Oil Junior A football final replay at Macroom, Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

Donoughmore 2-15 (2-3-9) Aghinagh 2-14 (2-2-10)

Fourteen years waiting, six points down with three minutes left, and then a surge that belonged to folklore. Donoughmore are Muskerry champions again, snatching the Ross Oil Junior A Football crown in Macroom with a finish that stunned Aghinagh.

They did it the hard way – fisted goals in stoppage time from Sean O’Hanlon, and the ice-veined composure of Gavin O’Sullivan from a placed ball to flip a final that seemed long gone.

“When the first goal went in, it just went a little bit crazy,” said Donoughmore coach Danny Buckley. “That’s the beauty of sport, you think you've seen it all.

“When it’s unfolding in front of your eyes, you’re just watching in and hoping for the best. We can’t deny Aghinagh were the better team overall. But we kept ourselves in the game.

“We had one or two chances before we got our first goal and you're thinking, today is not our day.” 

O’Hanlon made sure it would be their day. Donoughmore led early, 0-4 to 0-1, Aghanigh raced clear at 1-8 to 0-4 with 23 minutes elapsed, but the eventual winners had shaved the margin down to four by the break.

Liam Twohig and Con Buckley nudged Aghinagh further clear on the restart before Donoughmore mounted a flicker of response, hauling it back to 1-12 to 0-12 after 45 minutes. But again, Aghinagh found the hammer. Sean Cummins rattled the top corner, then tagged on a point, Twohig adding another.

For the longest stretch, it was Aghinagh’s day. Two weekends, two wars. There was seemingly no way back for Donoughmore. And then the magic happened.

“The resilience they showed there in the last five or six minutes was extraordinary,” said Buckley. “A lot of teams would have just dropped the head.” Heading into added time, O’Hanlon struck the first with a fisted goal. Then he did it again. Suddenly level – and O’Sullivan produced the heroic score to win it.

“There's an awful lot of work gone in on the underage scene,” Buckley explained. “Especially in the last, seven to eight years.

“You see the dividends there being paid with the two Premier 2 Minor counties in a row and the U21 team winning mid Cork this year. They’re very young and they're very talented. As a group they're only starting their journey.” 

Scorers for Donoughmore: S O’Hanlon 2-1, G O’Sullivan 0-7 (2 2pt f, 0-2 f, 0-1 45), D Keating 0-5 (1 2pt f, 0-2 f), S Barrett, K O’Connell 0-1 each.

Scorers for Aghinagh: L Twohig 1-8 (1 2pt, 0-4 f), S Cummins 1-1, C Buckley 0-3 (1 2pt), S Corkery, S O’Riordan 0-1 each.

DONOUGHMORE: K O’Riordan; F Honohan, M Foley, S Broderick; R Honohan, J Crowley, K O’Connell; S O’Hanlon, M Lucey; A Dinan, G O’Sullivan, D Holland; D Keating, J McCarthy, S Barrett Subs: D McDonnell for Barrett (24, inj), D Morrissey for McCarthy (39), L O’Sullivan for Honohan (43), J Murphy for Dinan (51), D Forde for Foley (59).

AGHINAGH: J McCarthy; D O’Callaghan, D O’Riordan, TJ Buckley; D Ambrose, L O’Leary, T Buckley; S Corkery, T Morgans; S O’Riordan, C Buckley, M McCarthy; W Coakley, L Twohig, G O’Sullivan.

Subs: S Cummins for O’Sullivan, T Sheehan for O’Riordan (both 43), J Kearney for Buckley (52), A Twomey for Coakley (53).

Referee: P O’Leary (Kilmurry)