Seán Coakley leads from the front as Douglas annex Cork U21 football title
DOUGLAS DELIGHT: The Douglas U21s savour their McCarthy Insurance Group-sponsored Cork U21 A football title after a thrilling decider in Macroom. Pic" Dan Linehan
FIVE unanswered points in the closing stages gave Douglas victory over Ibane Gaels in Sunday’s Cork U21AFC final at Macroom.
With the wind behind in the first half, Douglas trailed by six points inside the opening quarter after the concession of two early goals but they retained their poise and battled back to trail by one at half-time, 2-5 to 0-10.
While Olan O’Donovan and Kevin Hennessy pushed the Argideen Rangers/Barryroe combination three clear on the resumption, Douglas settled down and disciplined defending allowed them to take control.
Jack O’Brien and Harry Quilligan combined for a good Jack Cunningham point - one of five for him - and they had the lead at the three-quarter mark. Eoin O’Flynn found the tireless O’Brien on another of his surges from midfield and his lofted handpass gave Seán Coakley a half-chance: he made the most of it as he held off a challenge and slotted a ground shot to the corner of the net.
Ibane Gaels reacted strongly - captain Tomás Ó Buachalla sent over a great point and then sub Jamie Collins rounded off a nice move featuring O’Donovan and Luke Murphy. That made it 2-9 to 1-11 but it was their last score.
Douglas’s depth stood them in good stead: Donncha Mac Pháidín won some key kickouts at midfield, allowing O’Brien to move to wing-forward. Then, after corner-back Luis Dwan Fogarty levelled with his second point, it was O’Brien who set up another impressive sub, Ronan Dooley, for a lead that would not be lost.
Dooley was the provider for Cunningham to make it a two-point game heading into injury time, but a black card for Seán O’Leary meant that Ibane were able to push again. They had good territory but Douglas restricted them to speculative efforts and a quick break ended with Cunningham setting up Coakley for a point to put them three ahead and before the finish Coakley sent over a free to ensure victory and give himself a personal tally of 1-6.
Douglas manager Conor Buckley was delighted with how his team battled for the result.
“We conceded two goals in the first half, which were the first two goals they conceded all year, but it was good how they reacted. They came back and they fought back. I think they were disappointed with the half-time [score, trailing by a point]. The second half, we did have a lot of energy and we had a lot of good play. We did a lot of good defending.
“There's a lot of grit in that bunch, there's an awful lot of grit in them. It showed when it mattered, especially coming into the last ten minutes.
“The subs made a big impact also. The first guys were really out on their feet there at times, but you couldn't fault anyone.”
It was a denouement they certainly had to work for as the Carbery champions Ibane put them under a lot of pressure in the first half. The opening score, a long-range O’Donovan free, would have garnered two points but for a vital touch by Douglas goalkeeper James O’Flaherty and the west Cork side were boosted by a sixth-minute goal.
A lovely ball from Donagh Flynn found Mike Collins - superb throughout in a roving half-back role - and his lay-off allowed Dara Walsh to make space before producing a deft finish.
Good points from O’Donovan ensured they held the whip-hand as Douglas tried to get to grips with proceedings and it was 1-3 to 0-3 when Ibane struck again. This time, Collins was the goalscorer from a Walsh pass - there was, however, an element of luck as his point effort was half-blocked and looped over O’Flaherty and into the net.
As the conditions worsened late in the half, Douglas improved, with Coakley becoming more prominent while captain David Buckley, back from a hamstring injury, showed up well in midfield. A score from Quilligan to leave it 2-4 to 0-7 was just inside the two-point arc but there was no doubting that Coakley’s on that followed - set up by Colm Mac Pháidín and Jack O’Brien - was from orange-flag range.
They were level as O’Brien set up Cunningham, though O’Donovan did have the last score of the half to send Ibane in leading. That advantage would grow early in the second half, but Douglas summoned an emphatic response.
: S Coakley (1-6, 1 2pt, 0-1 f), J Cunningham (0-5, 2f), L Dwan Fogarty (0-2), D O’Callaghan, J O’Brien, H Quilligan, R Dooley (0-1 each).
O O’Donovan (0-5, 2f), D Walsh (1-1), M Collins (1-0), T Ó Buachalla, K Hennessy J Collins (0-1 each).
J O’Flaherty; D O’Callaghan, J O’Callaghan Maher, L Dwan Fogarty; C Mac Pháidín, O Barry, J Burke; D Buckley, J O’Brien; S Coakley, S O’Leary, A Young; E O’Flynn, H Quilligan, J Cunningham.
: D Mac Pháidín for Young, J Mouret for C Mac Pháidín (both 41), R Dooley for Quilligan (51), C O’Keeffe for O’Flynn (56).
L McCarthy; K Hennessy, D Moloney, A Walsh; M Collins, D McCarthy, C Twomey; D Dineen, T Ó Buachalla; J Crowley, D Flynn, D Walsh; L Murphy, O O’Donovan, J Twomey.
: J Collins for Crowley (46).
: J Ryan (Macroom).
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