Cork Premier IFC: Quirke inspire late Ballinora victory over Nemo Rangers
Pictured is Ballinora's Danny Dineen at the championship launch. Pic: Jim Coughlan.
A late rally from Ballinora ensured they got their McCarthy Insurance Premier Intermediate football championship off to a winning start with a hard-earned win over Nemo Rangers at Ovens on Sunday.
In a game that was competitive for long periods, a superb late Robert Quirke kicking spree eventually proved the difference between two evenly matched sides.
The Trabeg side did take the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of a free from the boot of Dara O’Sullivan as the highly fancied Ballinora team were finding it hard to get clear looks, such was the solid defence they were facing.
Indeed, Ballinora had three wides in the opening seven minutes and they trailed by three points in the ninth minute when O’Sullivan kicked a monstrous two-pointer.
Another two-pointer followed from a long range free taken by goalkeeper Donagh O’Leary that increased the Nemo lead to five points before Ballinora broke their drought in the 12th minute when Robert Quirke split the posts.
Suddenly Ballinora got some inspiration and they added a second point three minutes later as it was evident they were beginning to find their rhythm.
The stiff wind was certainly helping Nemo and after a seven-minute drought O’Leary added a second two- pointer again from a placed ball.
In fairness Ballinora responded in style with four unanswered points the last coming from Mark O’Brien in the 25th minute.
Just when Nemo looked to be struggling, they responded with a sucker punch goal.
The experience of Conor O’Donovan saw him break through the Ballinora defence before he unleashed an unstoppable shot to the corner of the net.
Credit to both teams the tempo of the game increased big time and with both sides sharing a point each in the final minute Nemo went in at the break commanding a four-point lead 1-8 to 0-7.
Ballinora got the perfect start just two minutes into the half when Shane Kingston made use of the stiff wind with a magnificent two-pointer that reduced the deficit to two points.
Ballinora were then almost gifted a goal when O’Brien soloed through the static Nemo defence but his final pass was wayward, allowing the ball to be cleared out of defence.
The tempo of the game continued to increase, and Nemo began playing better football with their forwards getting into good space and consecutive points from Jack Horgan and Dylan O’Connor gave them a four- point lead in the 42nd minute.
A quality Ballinora point from Robert Quirke was followed when the same player made a stunning run and billowed the back of the net with a ferocious shot that brought the teams on parity.
The game was now on a knife edge and once again Nemo responded with a point from Dara O’Sullivan his fourth of the game with nine minutes remaining.
Robert Quirke certainly found his mojo when his team needed inspiration and when he added a two-pointer four minutes later Ballinora led for the first time 1-15 to 1-13.
That’s as good as it got for Nemo as Ballinora held out for the all-important win.
R Quirke 1-5 (1-2pt,0-1f), M Quirke 0-4, S Kingston 0-2, (1-2pt), I Quirke 0-2, K Werner 0-2, M O’Brien, J Keohane (0-1 each).
D O’Leary 0-5 (2-2pt-f, 0-1f), D O’Sullivan 0-5, C O’Donovan 1-0, D O’Connor 0-3, J Horgan, D Coughlan (0-1 each).
A McAllen; A Laverty, C O’Flynn, T Forde; D Dineen, M Lordan, S O’Neill; S Kingston, J Lordan; M O’Brien, I Quirke, I Wycherley; M Quirke, R Quirke, K Werner.
J Keohane for I Wycherle (48), C Quirke for K Werner (56).
D O’Leary; C O’Neill, C Coughlan, A Cronin; O Whyte, E Nation, D Callanan; B O’Neill, E Kelly; D Coughlan, J Horgan, S O’Dwyer; D O’Sullivan, C O’Donovan, D O’Connor.
C Yelland for B O’Neill (h-t), M Keenan for D Coughlan (48).
Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).
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