Muskerry set up Carbery showdown with impressive win over Avondhu

Muskerry’s Liam Twohig negotiates a tackle from the Avondhu defence. Pic: Noel Sweeney

Divisions/Colleges Premier SFC: Muskerry 3-17 (3-2-13) Avondhu 3-12 (3-2-8) 

Muskerry had too much for Avondhu in a lively McCarthy Insurance Group Divisions/Colleges Premier SFC seeded semi-final at Macroom on Tuesday evening.

Conor Hurley’s side now face a quick turnaround, with Carbery awaiting in Friday’s final on the back of this five-point win.

The result is all the more impressive given it was Muskerry’s first competitive outing of the year, while Avondhu had three games under their belt in the unseeded section. 

The beaten side, however, were without a number of key players who had featured in their earlier victories.

Muskerry were driven on by the likes of Conor Dodd, Liam Twohig and Mark O’Brien as they recovered from being two points down at the short whistle. 

Three goals in a short burst during the second half went a long way towards securing the win. They did so without Cork footballer Chris Óg Jones.

Muskerry set the tone with four of the first five points, including two from Liam O’Connor and one from Cork U20 O’Brien.

The sides traded scores as the Mid Cork outfit led 0-5 to 0-2 after eight minutes.

The impressive Dodd pushed the lead out to four before a Conor Hanlon free kept Avondhu in touch in what was an end-to-end opening.

Joey Hanlon’s side began to get a grip, with Aaron Trimm and Mark Lenahan seeing plenty of ball around the middle.

Kevin Crowley pointed to eat further into the deficit, followed by a David Hanlon two-pointer to level matters at 0-6 apiece after 17 minutes.

Muskerry responded again, helped by an orange flag from Dodd, to move 0-10 to 0-8 ahead.

Muskerry’s Conor Dodd solos towards goal. Pic: Noel Sweeney

In keeping with a tight first half, a Conor Hanlon orange flag drew Avondhu level before O’Brien nudged Muskerry back in front before the break.

The half ended in great excitement. A bursting run from Ben Twomey resulted in the forward finishing low into the net, before Muskerry thought they had immediately replied with a green flag of their own.

William Ronan would have been an unlikely scorer, but it was ruled out for a double hop. It left Avondhu 1-10 to 0-11 ahead at half-time.

Ian Jones, brother of Chris Óg Jones, had a great goal chance on the resumption, but Buttevant goalkeeper Ronan Donovan got down well to push it away.

Wayward shooting was hurting Muskerry, but they eventually found the net after 40 minutes when Dodd finished brilliantly, followed a minute later by another tidy finish from Eolan O’Leary, making it 2-11 to 1-10.

Muskerry were always a goal threat, and a third arrived before the three-quarter mark when sub Jack Kelleher fisted home after a long delivery.

A Trimm point left Avondhu six adrift. There would be no comeback.

Muskerry moved 3-15 to 1-11 ahead, aided by another Dodd two-pointer.

Avondhu did get a consolation when David Hanlon tucked away a penalty with ten minutes remaining.

Muskerry added two more points before Mark Lenahan goaled for Avondhu approaching added time. The same player clipped the final point as time ran out for them.

Muskerry advance to Friday’s final against Carbery.

Scorers for Muskerry: C Dodd 1-5 (2 2pt), L Twohig 0-5 (0-1 f), J Kelleher 1-1, L O’Connor 0-3 (0-1 f), E O’Leary 1-0, M O’Brien 0-2, I Jones 0-1.

Scorers for Avondhu: D Hanlon (1 2pt, 1-0 pen), M Lenahan 1-2 each, C Hanlon 0-4 (0-2 f, 1 2pt), B Twomey 1-1, O O’Callaghan, A Trimm, K Crowley 0-1 each.

MUSKERRY: G Ó Luasa (Naomh Abán); R Sabas (Macroom), W Ronan (Kilmurry), L Ryan (Inniscarra); C Dodd (Canovee), M Corrigan (Macroom), A Quinn (Macroom); S Dornan (Inniscarra), S O’Hanlon (Donoughmore); M O’Brien (Ballinora), I Jones (Uibh Laoire), E O’Leary (Macroom); L O’Connor (Inniscarra), C Donovan (Macroom), L Twohig (Aghinagh).

Subs: J Kelleher (Canovee) for C Donovan (27-29, temp), J Kelleher (Canovee) for C Donovan (h-t, inj), R Buckley (Macroom) for R Sabas (44), K O’Connell (Donoughmore) for S O’Hanlon (46), D Morrissey (Donoughmore) for L Twohig (59).

AVONDHU: R Donovan (Buttevant); P O’Neill (Fermoy), J Whelan (Buttevant), B O’Riordan (Buttevant); O O’Callaghan (Liscarroll/Churchtown Gaels), K Crowley (Buttevant), A Trimm (Buttevant); K Lenahan (Buttevant), C O’Brien (Liscarroll/Churchtown Gaels); M Lenahan (Buttevant), D Hanlon (Buttevant), A Finnegan (Buttevant); D Lardner (Fermoy), C Hanlon (Buttevant), B Twomey (Fermoy).

Subs: A Horgan (Buttevant) for O O’Callaghan (h-t), A O’Neill (Buttevant) for A Finnegan (46), M O’Neill (Buttevant) for K Lenahan (50).

Referee: Jerry Kelleher (St John’s).

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